Downtown St. Pete restaurant owner sues city, claims it’s not doing enough to enforce law banning public sleep

City sued over public sleeping ban enforcement

A St. Pete business owner is suing the city, saying it has failed to enforce the laws that ban sleeping in public. Kailey Tracy reports.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Ronicca Whaley, the owner of Shiso Crispy in downtown St. Petersburg, said she, her staff and her customers have been harassed and threatened by people sleeping outside her store and in nearby Williams Park. 

She recently filed a lawsuit against the City of St. Petersburg, accusing local leaders of not enforcing the state law banning public sleeping. Her lawsuit includes pictures she took of people sleeping on the ground and on benches. 

Big picture view:

According to court documents, Whaley said people have dug through her trash and threatened to throw it on her, urinated and defecated on the restaurant’s property, spit or attempted to spit on her and her staff, called female employees derogatory names and made violent threats, including to slit their throats or shoot them in the face. 

The lawsuit said by allowing people to sleep and camp in Williams Park and on nearby sidewalks, the city jeopardizes the health and safety of Whaley, her employees and patrons, "while undermining the economic vitality of downtown St. Petersburg." It goes on to say residents and visitors "are deterred by fear and revulsion, avoid businesses plagued by such conduct, causing Plaintiff irreparable financial and reputational harm."

Whaley said in the lawsuit that police told her they can’t remove individuals, instead issuing verbal warnings or citations. According to a spokesperson for the St. Petersburg Police Department, there are two ordinances on the books that address public sleeping.

By the numbers:

In 2024, officers made 216 arrests for people sleeping or reclining on the right-of-way, and six for sleeping in public. So far this year, officers have made 269 arrests for sleeping on the right-of-way, and 27 for sleeping in public.

What they're saying:

Jason Mathis, the CEO of the St. Petersburg downtown Partnership, is not a part of the lawsuit, but he said the topic is a big issue that’s difficult to tackle.

"I do think it's a real challenge," Mathis said. "If people don't have aplace to sleep, that's obviously really a difficult situation, and I think one thing that we really need to focus on is making sure that any place that we have where we're directing unhoused people is safe, is clean, is comfortable. It's a place where they would feel comfortable spending the night, where they would feel like their belongings would be protected, where they would be safe with personal security, that they would have dignity. So, I think that that's really not related directly to Williams Park, but just something that as a community and a society you really should focus on."

He said his group is talking to city leaders about starting a Clean and Safe program for downtown, and they hope the city will fund it in its next budget this fall.

"The Clean and Safe program would have a dozen to 20 people out on the street every day, power washing, doing graffiti removal, weeding. If there are areas of the city that have code violations, we will be working on code enforcement with the property owners, but it's really about just really focused on downtown and making sure downtown is the best it can possibly be, making sure downtown St. Pete continues to be a dynamic, vibrant place that people love coming to," Mathis said.

Dig deeper:

Part of the plan includes hiring a homeless liaison that would connect the unhoused population with services to get them back on their feet.

"There's a lot stuff that we can do, but we also know that in any urban center, there's probably going to be some unhoused people, and we want to make sure that we're managing that in a way that's thoughtful, that is strategic, that's not haphazard," Mathis said.

The other side:

A spokesperson for St. Pete said it doesn’t comment on pending litigation. FOX 13 reached out to Whaley’s attorney and left a message.

What's next:

The Williams Park Partnership non-profit recently received $800,000 in the state budget for safety improvements. Mathis, who’s a board member, said it’ll be used to add more lighting, level out parts of the park and fix some sidewalks. He said the hope is to make it a place everyone, no matter their housing status, feels welcome.