Historic brick Bay Street looking east from the intersection at Brevard - the local street where developers would route ALL COMMERCIAL SEMI-TRUCK DELIVERIES for the hotel, 2 restaurants, 2 special events venues, spa, gym, and residences along with all GARBAGE COLLECTION. The developer's illustrations do not show the real scale and complexities.

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I've called the beautiful Spanishtown Creek section of Hyde Park my home for over four decades. Nestled on Bay Street, a historic and fragile brick road just 24 feet wide and three blocks long, I have watched this community thrive peacefully. However, a Palm Beach developer's proposal threatens to disrupt our serene neighborhood by forcing commercial delivery trucks and garbage collection onto our narrow street. This proposal not only disregards the historic charm and residential nature of our area, but compromises the safety of our small streets that already face daily traffic jams due to school pick-ups at Gorrie and Wilson. 

Imagine the impact on our neighborhood with a towering 114-foot hotel complex, 122 hotel rooms, a 230-seat restaurant, 30 seat bistro, 29 condos, 2 rooftop party pools, spa, gym and apartment rental office. The congestion from a 271-car garage, compounded with event rentals, from a 150 seat ballroom and a "club room" would put incredible strain on this delicate infrastructure. This development is too intense for our streets – threatening the safety of joggers, dog walkers, and cyclists who use Bay Street to access Bayshore Boulevard. And adding traffic to the already overloaded Swann, Magnolia and Bayshore deadly intersection.

The developer is pressing for commercial rezoning and land use changes in an area with strict 35-foot height and density restrictions. It's crucial to stand against this by urging the Tampa City Council to deny these changes during their meeting now on February 12, 2026 at 5 pm at Tampa City Council chambers. By maintaining the current residential zoning, the community can preserve its quietude, historic significance, and safety.

Our quiet community should not accommodate such aggressive commercial development; it is not the future we envisage for Hyde Park. Let your voice be heard. Protect our neighborhood from undue commercial strain and uphold the character that is a defined and protected by the Historic Hyde Park Disrict. 

Join me in appealing to the Tampa City Council and ensure our neighborhood remains the vibrant, safe, and historic community it has always been. Please sign this petition today.

Not convinced?

Then consider the devastation from Hurricane Melissa this year to Jamaica and what Hurricanes Helene and Milton wrought on our neighborhood and the very site where developers propose this commercial complex. Such flooding in this location is a certainty. There is no holding back bay surge waters. 

Photo courtesy of WFTS-Channel 28 coverage of Hurricane Idalia (2023) at the intersection of Swann, Bayshore and Magnolia where a Palm Beach developer wants to build a 7-story hotel complex that will cover the entire block. The project is entirely within the Coastal High Hazard Area (CHHA) - a federal high risk zone for surge flooding - where county land use guidelines say density should not be increased.