TAMPA — The Rays' new ballpark cleared another city vote Thursday, by the narrowest margin possible.
In a special meeting, the Tampa City Council approved the team's community benefits agreement 4-3, with council members Charlie Miranda, Guido Maniscalco and Lynn Hurtak voting no, the Tampa Bay Times reported. The agreement is the Rays' promise to put money and programs into neighborhoods as part of the $2.3 billion stadium planned for Hillsborough College's Dale Mabry campus.
When TBO previewed the vote on Tuesday, the page listing the first projects was still blank. The Rays turned in a revised agreement at 7 a.m. Thursday, the day of the meeting, the Times reported.
Where the money goes
The full package is $60 million: $21 million in Tampa and $39 million in Hillsborough County, in cash, services or programs. Twelve million of that comes in the first five years, with $4.2 million for Tampa and $7.8 million for the county, according to the Times. Seventy percent of Tampa's first $4.2 million will be cash.
The projects fall into eight areas: mobility, jobs, housing, public safety, inclusion, youth and education, family access and transparency. Among them:
- $1.25 million for “housing stability and anti-displacement” in West Tampa Heights, Drew Park, Carver City, East Tampa and Sulphur Springs, the largest single item.
- Skilled trade apprenticeships and business opportunities for women- and minority-owned companies.
- Upgrades to Al Lopez Park and support for West Tampa Little League, FOX 13 reported.
- A public safety investment in New Tampa.
The Rays must report their progress to the city every year. If the team falls behind on a payment, it isn't in default as long as it keeps working in good faith to make up the shortfall within two years. The agreement also exempts the Rays from the city's usual community benefits process.
The arguments
Hurtak said too much of the money is going far from the stadium site, which sits in District 6.
“I'm not really sure why we have a New Tampa safety investment. New Tampa is nowhere near Drew Park,” she said, according to the Times. She also did the math on the housing money for FOX 13: with an average homeowner rehab grant of $135,000, “we're going to be able to help nine people in the next five years. Nine people.”
Council member Naya Young, whose district includes East Tampa, pushed back. “What I was elected to do was advocate for my district,” she said. “I'm not going to apologize for that.”
Luis Viera, who asked for Thursday's special meeting and backed the stadium on the promise of public safety and other community spending, agreed with her. “The community benefits agreement is all about buy-in for the community,” he said.
Bill Carlson voted yes but wasn't thrilled. He asked whether the Rays could drop the agreement and instead reduce the city's planned $80 million contribution to the stadium. “It's not like the Rays are giving us something,” he said. “We're taking the people's money, putting it in and then taking part of it back.” A city attorney said that would mean reopening the funding deal the city and county approved in August.
“It's not a perfect document,” Carlson told FOX 13. “If we had more time, there are more things that I would edit.”
Several residents asked the council to wait. “Please reject and postpone this agreement,” said Jaime Jones, president of the West Tampa Heights Neighborhood Association. “Give more time to all of your constituents to provide input.”
What happens next
The timing mattered. Viera is leaving the council to run for the Florida House, and without him the remaining six members are split 3-3 on stadium votes. His replacement hasn't been picked, and TBO has explained how that appointment works.
Hillsborough County still has to approve its $39 million share separately, and commissioners have several more votes before the stadium deal is binding.
At Thursday's meeting, Hillsborough College's president also showed renderings and a plan for moving students during construction. The college will keep using 65,000 square feet on its current campus, lease 19,000 square feet in the USF building on North Franklin Street and use another 150,000 square feet at North Himes Avenue and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, linked by a shuttle, FOX 13 reported. The college plans to start building in 2028 and finish in 2030.
Mayor Jane Castor told FOX 13 last week that she hopes to hold a groundbreaking by the end of November.