Posted on June 26, 2018
By Mike Seemuth, The Real Deal
A private real estate developer that proposed filling an underwater site along the Tampa Bay shoreline would be the first to do so in decades.
Prime Companies of Cohoes, New York, wants to fill three underwater acres in Tampa Bay for a townhouse development.
In the 1970s, state and federal laws essentially ended the practice of dredging and filling underwater sites for real estate development.
The practice created such neighborhoods as the Davis Islands in Tampa and Snell Isles in St. Petersburg.
But no private developer has filled underwater sites along Tampa Bay’s shoreline in at least 20 years, according to city planning officials.
But agents of Prime say the firm meets environmental and other permitting standards to fill three acres of a nine-acre cove in the Rocky Point area of Tampa, where the company plans to build seven townhouses.
The Prime project won approval from the Hillsborough County City-County Planning Commission.
But city staff recommended that the Tampa City Council reject a proposed land-use amendment that would allow the townhouse project to proceed.
The city council will consider the proposal June 28. Mayor Bob Buckhorn says he is opposed to the Prime project.
Source: The Real Deal
