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Council advances rezoning for medical office on North Armenia after staff flagged parking inconsistency
Summary
An existing PD previously approved for religious assembly was advanced for first reading to a medical/professional office PD at 808 N. Armenia Ave. Staff found transportation‑related parking inconsistencies but planning staff and the applicant said the design meets overlay guidance; council approved first reading unanimously.
Tampa City Council advanced first reading of REZ2525, a request to convert an existing PD approved for religious assembly at 808 North Armenia Avenue and 2402 West State Street into a PD for medical and business professional office uses; second reading is scheduled for June 5, 2025.
Development coordination staff said the site is vacant and located in the West Tampa Overlay District; the applicant proposes a two‑story, roughly 5,400‑square‑foot building with surface parking and some parking under the building. Staff reported three requested waivers and said that transportation staff had findings of inconsistency related to a parking waiver. Planning commission staff later entered a revised staff report into the record and found the proposal consistent with comprehensive plan locational criteria and the overlay design guidance, noting the proposed 0.44 floor‑area ratio was below the Residential‑20 maximum.
Judah Rubin, agent for the applicant, described public outreach with the Armory Gardens neighborhood association and said the revised plan reduced the prior proposal’s height and massing. Project counsel argued the proposed medical tenant is a single‑practitioner ENT with relatively low parking demand: “It’s a single man, ENT practice, by definition of fairly low volume medical practice ... they will be sufficiently satisfied with the 5 per thousand,” counsel said, arguing the practical need for a full code parking ratio was lower in this case.
Council members asked whether the parking under the structure could be hidden and whether more forward‑facing building frontage on Armenia was possible; the applicant agreed to plantings and to work with staff to obscure parking visibility and comply with the West Tampa Overlay at permitting. The council voted unanimously to advance the ordinance to second reading with revision‑sheet changes to be completed between readings. Development coordination staff noted that the revisions would not resolve transportation’s technical finding of inconsistency, which remains on record.
