St. Petersburg City Council holds first of 2 votes on Rays stadium deal

St. Petersburg officials on Thursday took the first steps toward formal approval of a partnership with the Tampa Bay Rays.

Council members tentatively approved a development agreement for a new stadium and future Historic Gas Plant District, and agreed to zoning changes for 24 acres of property. They also agreed to extend the lifespan of the Intown Redevelopment Area, where the land is located.

All of these measures still require at least one more vote before they are passed. The next round of hearings and votes are scheduled for July 11.

The decisions made — the first time council members took a formal vote on anything regarding the proposal — were a temperature check for where officials stand on the broader project. All of this paves the way for formal approval of the overall project, which city officials hope will happen next month.

But some council members took issue with the fact that documents were not finalized ahead of the votes. The members’ annual summer break begins today and continues into early July, days before the next meeting is scheduled.

“We are making decisions based on drafts and not final documents. I cannot emphasize that more,” said council member Lisset Hanewicz. “It is our duty to do our due diligence and we can only do that appropriately with final documents and not being rushed through the process.”

The development agreement was tentatively approved with a 5-3 vote. The regulatory document establishes the geographic area of the district, the 30-year term and other parameters of the deal — like parking management, affordable housing promises and other requirements.

Council members Richie Floyd, John Muhammad and Hanewicz voted no in each instance.

By the same margins, the council approved the rezoning of seven parcels of public land — currently being used for Rays parking — for mixed-use development. City workers said the change would unify zoning for the Historic Gas Plant district.

“It’s very important to get Hines started in the permitting process,” said Rob Gerdes, city administrator, on why the target date was chosen. It also impacts whether the city can apply for certain state funding for the project’s affordable housing goals.

But if the final documents are not ready with enough time, Gerdes said the meeting would be postponed.

Council members also voted to extend the lifespan of the Intown district, which will let the city continue using tax increment financing — a tool designed to pay off projects with future tax gains on property values.

With this process, when property values increase, some of the new tax revenue stays in the Intown district, rather than being spent elsewhere. The city is banking on property values to increase 7% every year, so it can use some of that income on the Rays stadium and Historic Gas Plant District.

St. Petersburg is slated to put up $212.5 million from this revenue source for the stadium, as well as an additional $130 million for infrastructure related to Gas Plant redevelopment.

Some residents decried the existence of the Intown district and the use of tax increment financing in the first place, believing the money should be distributed throughout the city. Others disagreed with the money’s use to pay for the stadium, rather than other public services.

“I was really excited when I got elected to do the exact opposite of what we’re doing here today,” council member Floyd said. The practice “locks tons of wealth downtown.”

As the city’s policy currently stands, the district is set to use tax increment financing until 2032. The council voted 5-3 Thursday to extend the arrangement until 2042 for city taxes.

Council members also raised the cap the city can pay Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath, the legal firm assisting in negotiations with the baseball team, to $1.5 million. It was the third time since December that the cap was raised.

“It’s clear your attorneys are putting a ton of time into this,” Hanewicz said. “My concern from the get-go was the speed at which we were going. When I look at the bills and how they’re increasing, it’s because we’re having attorneys work around the clock because this is being pushed as fast as possible.”

Throughout the evening, residents also criticized the project’s timeline, calling the processed rushed and lacking in transparency.

At an event immediately before the meeting, organizers with the Sierra Club and Faith in Florida gathered in the sun outside City Hall to urge officials to slow the deal.

Dan Huber, a Sierra Club organizer, said he was more optimistic that his group’s environmental priorities would be considered. But he still called the negotiations a “runaway train.”

In a letter shared with council members ahead of Thursday’s meeting, attorneys at the Southern Poverty Law Center warned of potential civil rights violations if the city moves forward.

“These are not minor agreements, and in fact they deal with significant aspects of the proposed deal,” the letter reads. “We urge the City to reconsider this rushed and chaotic timeline for this decision of great public importance in light of these concerns and potential legal liabilities.”

A number of residents expressed support for the deal, though they often called it imperfect.

“There are many pros and cons that we can find on this deal either side,” said Kenneth Mack, a resident who said he was born in the Historic Gas Plant. “I do believe that we need to move forward. I believe we have a deal on the table that is workable”

Times staff writer Colleen Wright contributed to this report.