September 10, 2026 IS CRITICAL VARIANCE REVIEW BOARD MEETING ! All signed petitions will be sent to each city council member! 

⚠️ Important: If you're prompted to "chip in" after signing, please know that money goes to Change.org to promote petitions — not to Beach Park Preservation Society. Change.org keeps 100% of donations to promote the change.org platform. Zero dollars go to our group. If you would like to help us, please use the donorbox.com embedded field on our website preservebeachpark.org. We appreciate your support for the petition and any finical support you are able to provide.

Beach Park is one of Tampa's most historic and treasured neighborhoods. The charm and unique character of Beach Park derive from its single-family historic homes and quiet streets. However, a proposed development threatens to change the essence of this beloved neighborhood forever.

Northwood Ravin, a developer, is planning to construct a 150-foot, 11-story, 280-unit high-rise apartment complex at 5600 Mariner Street in Beach Park. This rezoning effort, seeking approval from the Tampa City Council, is alarming and poses several challenges that directly impact our community.

The developer is planning to build this gigantic building that is not compatible with the immediately surrounding neighborhood. The proposed development at 5600 Mariner Street conflicts with the Tampa Comprehensive Plan and Land Development Code in the following specific ways:

• Violates the Plan's core neighborhood protection mandate. The Tampa Comprehensive Plan explicitly states it "focuses growth and change to specific parts of the city while strengthening and protecting residential neighborhoods from development pressure." Beach Park is a historic residential neighborhood — not a Regional Activity Center, not a Multimodal Corridor, and not a Transit Supportive Development Area. The Plan's own framework directs high-density, high-rise development to those designated growth areas — not into established historic neighborhoods like ours.
• Conflicts with Context Sensitive Neighborhood standards (LU Policy 2.5.5). The Comprehensive Plan requires that new infill development and redevelopment in Context Sensitive Neighborhoods — which Beach Park qualifies as — "be designed in a manner that respects and complements the surrounding area in terms of architectural style, building scale, size and heights." A 150-foot, 11-story tower does not respect or complement the surrounding single-family homes, historic architecture, and low-density residential scale of Beach Park. It overwhelms it.
• Ignores the mandatory step-down requirement for high-density development (LU Table 3 — RMU and UMU descriptions). The Comprehensive Plan requires that high-intensity buildings in the Regional Mixed Use and Urban Mixed Use categories "step down where they abut established neighborhoods." No step-down transition whatsoever is proposed between the 150-foot tower and the immediately adjacent single-family homes and existing condominium properties.
• Fails the compatibility standard required for all Planned Development rezonings (LU Policy 3.3.9). The Plan requires that Planned Development rezonings "be integrated within and complement the existing built environment and demonstrate compatibility with the standards of the Euclidean zoning districts permitted within the FLU category." A 280-unit, 150-foot high-rise cannot credibly claim compatibility with the surrounding residential context.
• Conflicts with the mandatory findings required for Future Land Use Map amendments (LU Policy 3.67.2).Before approving any rezoning, the Tampa City Council must find that the proposal "would maintain a compatible land use pattern, a smooth transition in the land use, considering the type and location of uses involved, the density, and intensity." No smooth transition exists between this proposed tower and the historic single-family neighborhood surrounding it. The Council cannot make this finding honestly.
• The Plan directs high-density residential to Regional Activity Centers — not Beach Park (LU Policy 2.1.32).The Tampa Comprehensive Plan explicitly states that the "greatest concentration of housing" should be accommodated in Regional Activity Centers — pedestrian-oriented urban areas with access to transit. The 5600 Mariner parcel is not in a Regional Activity Center. It is not near fixed guideway transit. It has no pedestrian infrastructure. It does not belong in the high-density residential category the developer is seeking.
• Bonus density provisions are prohibited in the Coastal High Hazard Area (LU Policy 2.6.9). The Tampa Comprehensive Plan explicitly prohibits density and intensity bonuses within the Coastal High Hazard Area. Beach Park's waterfront location places portions of the project area within or adjacent to the CHHA. The developer must demonstrate that no bonus density is being claimed for any portion of the site within the CHHA — and the City Council must verify this before any approval.
• Conflicts with the Comprehensive Plan's resilience mandate for the Coastal High Hazard Area. The Plan specifically calls for managing "future population growth, particularly in the Coastal High Hazard Area, to create a resilient built environment that supports future generations." Adding 280 high-density residential units to a waterfront neighborhood still recovering from Hurricanes Helene and Milton directly contradicts this mandate. The Plan calls for restraint in the CHHA — not intensification.
• The PD rezoning mechanism is being misused (LU Policy 3.3.9 and LU Policy 3.1.67). The Comprehensive Plan limits Planned Development District rezonings to "allow development consistent with the Future Land Use designation, but otherwise not permitted in the current standard zoning district." PD zoning is intended as a tool for site-specific flexibility — not as a blank check to build whatever a developer wants regardless of neighborhood context. A 150-foot, 280-unit tower that no standard residential zoning district in this area would permit is not a legitimate use of the PD rezoning mechanism.
• Pedestrian infrastructure requirements cannot be met (LU Objective 5.2 and LU Policy 2.1.124). The Comprehensive Plan requires new development to follow Pedestrian-Oriented Design principles, including pedestrian connectivity, sidewalks, and safe walking environments. Beach Park has no sidewalks on most residential streets. The developer has proposed no pedestrian infrastructure whatsoever. A 280-unit development funneling hundreds of new pedestrians onto streets with no sidewalks violates the Plan's pedestrian safety and connectivity requirements.

We call upon the Tampa City Council to consider these concerns seriously and reject the rezoning proposal for 5600 Mariner Street. The future look, feel and safety of Beach Park is at stake, and it's crucial we protect it for us and future generations.

Please sign this petition to preserve the character, safety, and legacy of Beach Park.

⚠️ Important: If you're prompted to "chip in" after signing, please know that money goes to Change.org to promote petitions — not to Beach Park Preservation Society. Change.org keeps 100% of donations to promote the change.org platform.Zero dollars go to our group. If you would like to help us, please use the donorbox.com embedded field on our website preservebeachpark.org. We appreciate your support for the petition and any finical support you are able to provide.