Friends of Salt Creek Issues Statement on Proposed Development
For Immediate Release: June 18, 2024
Contact: Darden Rice [727] 560-2479
ST. PETERSBURG – Today, Friends of Salt Creek, a community-based non-profit organization, issued the following statement on impending development plans for the Salt Creek District:
“Salt Creek requires particular care and monitoring as a coastal waterway that flows through low-lying portions of south St. Petersburg. Economic development along this designated Waterway of Cultural and Environmental Importance must also take into account ecological realities.
“The City of St. Petersburg has established sensible zoning that “ensure[s] appropriate compatibility with the waterfront and adjacent neighborhoods.” Friends of Salt Creek invites the public to join us in standing against plans that allow high-density development in the Coastal High Hazard Area (below the elevation for a Category One storm surge) of the Salt Creek Marina District. We advocate only construction that adheres to meaningful resiliency design standards, ensuring the protection of both private and public interests along this vulnerable basin.
“We support community preservation principles that reflect the region’s historic and economic character and build connectivity across the entire city. We insist upon future-forward planning that benefits the common good and adheres to the spirit of St. Petersburg’s world-renowned waterfront park system and marine economy. Any future use of the area must consider the industrial past, including the release of industrial contaminants, and require mitigation. Public access heals the damage of long-term spatial divides. Our city’s long-term health and prosperity depend upon safe, inclusive, responsibly scaled development.”
Thomas Hallock, one of the group’s founders, says, “Salt Creek is a special area with a longtime legacy. We aim to work collaboratively to ensure proper protections are in place for Salt Creek, and we do not want to see fly-by-night, reckless development that erases and denigrates its value.”
More about the creek and organization can be learned at www.friendsofsaltcreek.org.
Further Reading:
Thomas Hallock, “Draining Paradise: A Tour of Salt Creek in St. Petersburg, Florida.” Southern Spaces (April 12, 2023).
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). National Hurricane Center Storm Surge Maps.
Michelle Sonnenberg, Hannah Gorski and Alison Hardage (eds.). Salt Creek Journal: Nature, Community, and Place in St. Petersburg (St. Petersburg, 2016).
Colleen Wright. “Who is buying up SaltCreek’s boatyards, and why?” Tampa Bay Times (May 30, 2024).
