Tampa council orders staff to draft higher sidewalk in‑lieu fee after months of complaints

Tampa City Council on Thursday directed city staff to draft a resolution that would raise the sidewalk in‑lieu fee to better match the actual cost of constructing sidewalks, a change mobility staff said would help close miles of sidewalk gaps across the city.

The council asked staff to return the draft resolution for formal consideration on April 17 after Mobility Department staff presented cost estimates and residents, pedestrian advocates and builders testified about the proposal.

The change responds to public pressure and staff analysis that found a wide range in per‑linear‑foot costs for city sidewalk projects. "Updates to sections 22‑103 and 22‑104 of city code made in 2021 significantly strengthened builder requirements for installation of sidewalks," said Beth Alden of Walk Bike Tampa, urging support. "The in‑lieu fee designed to provide exceptions has not been updated since 2010. At $29 per linear foot the fee does not reflect the actual cost of installation." Alden testified that increasing the fee to $220 per linear foot would better cover the city's actual construction costs.

Brandon Campbell, mobility department, described how staff calculated the proposed figure from recent city projects. "Of those five projects, one was a fairly simple project at $122.98 per linear foot and another had significant ditch infill at $635 per linear foot," Campbell said. To avoid outliers he said staff focused on a middle range of typical projects to arrive at the draft target.

Private contractors and developers told council their unit costs can be lower for small or bundled projects. "Their actual costs are $63.25 or $97.75 per linear foot," said developer consultant Steven Michelini, showing recent construction bids. "We need to compare like cost to like cost." Builder Stephanie Pointer urged council to keep the rule that developers may still install sidewalks themselves rather than pay the fee. "They should all install the sidewalks unless they can't, and then they pay the city to do it," Pointer said.

Council members emphasized safety and equity. "We have to do better for our community — pedestrians and people who don't use cars," said Councilmember Hertek. Councilmember Carlson noted council's earlier efforts to produce a citywide sidewalk plan and said the fee is one of several steps toward more comprehensive mobility solutions. Councilmember Henderson moved to set the staff draft resolution on the April 17 consent agenda; the motion passed.

Key numbers discussed included the existing fee ($29 per linear foot), the proposed figure presented by staff ($220 per linear foot), recent project extremes ($122.98 and $635 per linear foot), and staff's working average unit that would make a 71‑foot sidewalk roughly $15,000. Mobility staff told council there were 44 in‑lieu fee permit applications so far in the calendar year and that per‑project costs vary widely by scope, grading, drainage and tree protection.

The council did not adopt a final fee on Thursday. Instead members asked staff to return a formal resolution with additional data points, including several quarters of project cost history and clearer documentation of assumptions, for council action on April 17. Staff said the drafted resolution would set the fee administratively once adopted; council also requested analysis of whether the city's operations teams could reduce unit costs by performing more sidewalk construction in‑house.

If adopted, the new fee would apply when an applicant is granted a "sidewalk not practical" finding and chooses to pay into the sidewalk trust fund instead of building on‑site. Councilmembers stressed that developers retain the option to construct sidewalks at their own cost rather than pay the fee.

Next steps: mobility staff will return to council with a formal resolution and expanded cost data on April 17; council also asked staff to evaluate whether city crews could lower per‑unit costs by performing more construction work internally.