Residents, builders clash over Tampa's "in-lieu" sidewalk fee at public comment

Multiple residents, builders and neighborhood advocates used the council’s public-comment period to press the city to change how it calculates the sidewalk “in-lieu” fee — the payment property owners or developers can make instead of constructing sidewalks in front of their property.

Speakers including Kevin Robles, John Lum, Gary Brown and Steve Michelini told the council the fee the city has proposed (discussed in staff reports) vastly overstates the cost a builder would avoid by not installing a sidewalk. “The average cost is running about somewhere between $40 and $50 a linear foot, not the $220 that the city is proposing,” said Steve Michelini, who identified himself as a builder and cited city project cost estimates that he said included mobilization, utility relocation and other items not normally incurred for a single infill lot.

Gary Brown gave examples applying the city’s $222-per-foot figure to standard lot sizes and said the suggested in-lieu payment would collect thousands of dollars per lot, while builders historically used lower fee amounts to reflect only direct construction savings. “It was always the intent of the fee amount to include only the cost items that a builder would save by not constructing the required sidewalk,” Brown said.

Other speakers focused on neighborhoods and equity. Carol Ann Bennett and other residents described blocks with missing sidewalks and said the current fee levels and the inconsistent application of waivers left elderly pedestrians and children without safe routes. “There is only 1 side of 1 local street in all of Virginia Park that has a complete sidewalk,” Bennett said, describing neighbors who must drive to travel short distances where sidewalks exist.

Some commenters argued the city’s design-build sidewalk contract that lists several miles of sidewalk work is an imperfect comparator for infill sidewalk unit costs. Builders and speakers referenced a city design-build solicitation that aggregates larger work and includes elements such as inlets, drainage and mobilization that are not required in small infill projects.

Speakers asked the council to require the city to use a narrower cost basis (survey, demo, grading, forms, pouring concrete) when calculating the in-lieu fee, or to revisit the fee so it more closely matches the typical builder’s avoided costs. Several said the city’s budget analyst has prepared an independent evaluation that supports lower per-foot numbers than the city’s engineering project estimates.

Council did not take a vote during general public comment. The issue was discussed elsewhere on the agenda and several council members noted they had received many emails and that further discussion with staff and the budget analyst would be appropriate.

Ending: The council left the item on the consent calendar for later discussion and asked staff and the budget analyst to follow up with more detailed cost breakdowns the council can use when they consider the ordinance.