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NOTICE OF PROPOSED WATERFRONT REFERENDUM ORDINANCE CONCERNING THE ST. PETERSBURG MUNICIPAL MARINA
The St. Petersburg Municipal Marina is a City-owned facility that currently consists of approximately 650 boat slips located on a combination of City-owned waterfront park property known as Demens Landing and adjacent submerged lands under the Central and South Yacht Basins, as generally depicted in the image below (collectively, the “
Marina
”). The address of the Marina is 500 First Avenue Southeast, St. Petersburg, Florida 33701. The Marina was designed and constructed in the 1960s (Central Yacht Basin) and 1970s (South Yacht Basin). It has been operated by the City since being constructed. According to the City’s master plan for the Marina completed in 2017, the Marina’s structural elements are reaching the end of their useful life and need to be renovated or replaced. In 2018, the City received an unsolicited proposal from a private marina development entity for the lease, operation, and renovation of the Marina. In response, the City issued a Public Notice of the unsolicited offer and invited alternative proposals to be submitted. After review, the Mayor selected the proposal from Safe Harbor Development, LLC (“
SHD
”), and the City entered into a pre-development agreement for SHD to provide the City with a concept plan for the renovation of the Marina. In anticipation of obtaining a lease to manage and operate the Marina, SHD created a new entity: St. Pete Marina, LLC (“
St. Pete Marina
”), which would be the lessee if the proposed lease is ultimately approved. St. Pete Marina is proposing that the City enter into a 25-year lease under which St. Pete Marina would be required to manage and operate the Marina, pay rent to the City, and fund and complete a series of capital improvements identified in the concept plan in accordance with requirements and milestones set forth in the proposed lease, which include sustainability and resiliency requirements. These improvements include (i) dock and dock component reconstruction/replacement, (ii) support facilities replacement/remodeling, and (iii) installation of wave attenuation systems. These improvements would ultimately be owned by the City. However, if the lease is terminated prior to the end of the 25-year term, under certain circumstances, the City would be subject to payment of an acquisition fee. St. Pete Marina would also be required to coordinate and contract for repairs or replacement of seawalls, which would be funded by the City.
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Because the Marina is partially located within the Demens Landing parcel (38) on the City Park and Waterfront Map and on adjacent City-owned submerged lands, it is considered park and waterfront property pursuant to City Charter section 1.02. And because it is considered a “lease” for commercially zoned property with a term of greater than five years, approval of the proposed lease requires a City-wide referendum pursuant to City Charter section 1.02. Accordingly, the St. Petersburg City Council is expected to consider an ordinance that would call such a City-wide referendum. The proposed ordinance is scheduled for a first reading before City Council at the meeting beginning at 9:00 am on Thursday, August 5, 2021. The proposed ordinance is tentatively scheduled for a second reading and public hearing before City Council at the meeting beginning at 3:00 pm on Thursday, August 12, 2021. These will be held at St. Petersburg City Hall Council Chambers located at 175 Fifth Street North. If the proposed ordinance is adopted by a majority vote of City Council, a City-wide referendum concerning the issue will be held as part of the municipal general election scheduled for November 2, 2021. If that referendum passes with a majority vote, the Mayor (or designee) will be authorized to execute the lease incorporated into the ordinance, subject to the conditions set forth in the ordinance (which may include authorization for certain types of revisions and subsequent amendment). In accordance with the notice requirements of Charter subsection 1.02(d) and City Code subsection 30-1(b), this notice is being sent to all owners and residents of property located within 200 yards of the perimeter of the parcel occupied by the Marina. This notice explains the general purpose of the proposed ordinance and is not intended to be an exhaustive summary of the ordinance or a commitment to incorporate any term of this notice into the final version of the ordinance. For more information about the proposed ordinance, contact Joseph Zeoli, Managing Director of City Development Administration at (727) 892-5065 or joe.zeoli@stpete.org, attend the meetings of City Council described above, or watch those meetings on St. Pete TV (http://www.stpete.org/connect/stpetetv/).
Owner’s obligation to promote distribution to tenants and other residents
Pursuant to City Code subsection 30-1(b), if you are the owner of property entitled to receive this notice and, with your permission and knowledge, a tenant or other person/entity who is not a member of your family or household has, for more than 30 days, resided at the property or operated a business at the property, you are required to take at least one of the following actions to promote distribution of this notice to that person/entity: (i) get confirmation (either oral, physical, or electronic) that the person/entity has received a copy of the notice; (ii) deliver a copy of the notice directly to the person/entity; (iii) place a copy of the notice in an internal mailbox regularly used by you to communicate with that person/entity; (iv) post a copy of the notice on the portion of the property at which the person/entity resides; or (v) deliver an electronic copy of the notice to the person/entity via email or another means of electronic communication regularly used by you to communicate with the person/entity. This requirement applies to any property or portion of a property, including an accessory dwelling unit, duplex, triplex, apartment building, hotel, motel, group home, nursing home, community residential facility, campground, mobile home park, or marina.