Council adopts Sunrunner TOD overlay, asks staff to advance follow‑up package on FAR/parking/tree/stormwater issues

St. Petersburg City Council on May 15 adopted an ordinance creating a Transit‑Oriented Development overlay for the Sunrunner bus rapid transit (BRT) corridor. The ordinance, amended in response to public testimony, removes certain parking minimums for qualifying development near Sunrunner stations and creates station‑area standards intended to promote walkable, transit‑oriented redevelopment.

The public hearing drew broad participation from residents, business owners, developers, affordable‑housing advocates and environmental groups. Speakers in favor stressed the overlay’s potential to increase housing supply near frequent transit, reduce car dependence, and spur walkable retail. Opponents — largely neighborhood residents in areas such as Kenwood and Historic Hemphill — worried that reduced parking requirements and higher allowable intensity could shift on‑street parking into adjacent neighborhoods and urged stronger mitigation (residential parking permits, turnover strategies).

Key items raised during public comment and council discussion:

• Inclusion of downtown Sunrunner stations: advocates asked that the downtown stations also be covered by the overlay’s exemptions (staff said GIS mapping and title language required clarification). Council asked staff to evaluate including downtown stations in follow‑up work.

• Grand Central FAR consistency: several developers and property owners urged higher and more consistent floor‑area‑ratio (FAR) across contiguous Grand Central blocks (requests ranged from 5 FAR to up to 8.6 to align with height allowances). Councilmembers signaled support for exploring contiguous FAR increases and asked staff to prepare a package for committee consideration.

• Stormwater and green infrastructure: advocates recommended adding defined incentives or requirements — for example, a “first‑inch” performance standard to manage the first inch of rainfall on site via bioswales, permeable pavement, cisterns, green roofs — and stronger canopy protection. Council asked staff to study these ideas for inclusion in subsequent packages where legally and technically feasible.

• Parking mitigation: several councilmembers and speakers discussed residential parking permits, time‑of‑day turnover measures, and targeted strategies to reduce spillover parking into adjacent neighborhoods; staff noted these tools and legal constraints will be part of the follow‑up.

Council adopted the TOD overlay ordinance as amended; Councilmember Harding recused due to a business interest. After the vote, the council unanimously approved a referral directing staff to prepare a new or amended package for committee review that would explore the Grand Central FAR consistency, downtown station inclusion, canopy/stormwater incentives and other mitigation measures. Staff and legal clarified the process: changes that affect comprehensive plan designations or require code alignment will need their own ordinance packages and public hearings and cannot be accomplished by dais amendments alone.

Next steps: staff will prepare a committee package (timeline discussed for July committee consideration) to pursue the additional items council identified, and continue stakeholder outreach about station boundaries, parking mitigation and green infrastructure options.