SoHo neighbors, businesses at odds ahead of $93M flood relief vote

TAMPA, Fla. - The city of Tampa is preparing to move forward with the South Howard Flood Relief Project, a major infrastructure overhaul designed to address chronic flooding in the South Howard business and residential area.

Tampa South Howard flood relief

The project would replace the century-old storm drainage system beneath South Howard Avenue with a 10-by-10-foot drainage line capable of carrying large volumes of stormwater away from the surrounding neighborhoods and toward Hillsborough Bay.

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The South Howard Flood Relief Project is expected to take about three years to complete and would require significant construction and road closures, including portions of South Howard Avenue being closed for several weeks at a time.

The city says it has studied two dozen different alternatives before settling on the current proposal.

"This is a project that we have planned over many years," Tampa Mobility Director Brandon Campbell said. "We have considered 24 different alternatives, different routes, different technologies. This is the project that will do the most for the least cost."

The project has faced significant opposition from the SoHo Business Alliance, which says the construction could severely disrupt, and even bankrupt, businesses along the corridor.

The alliance is expected to make one final appeal ahead of the city council vote, presenting an alternative flood relief proposal and data it says shows the city’s plan will not deliver the benefits officials are claiming.

City's perspective

Dig deeper:

Ahead of the vote, Tampa released a flood simulation showing the projected impact of the project during a severe summer storm.

The simulation models more than five inches of rain falling over eight hours.

Under the city’s "before" scenario, significant flooding is shown throughout portions of Palma Ceia Pines and Parkland Estates, with at least 96 structures affected.

The "after" scenario, with the South Howard Flood Relief Project in place, shows no flooding in Parkland Estates and significantly less flooding in Palma Ceia Pines.

Most significantly, the city says the project would eliminate structural flooding in both neighborhoods under the modeled storm.

"You can see that in Parkland Estates virtually all of that flooding is eliminated throughout the duration," Campbell said. "Looking into Palma Ceia Pines, what you’ll see is, again, the elimination of the structural flooding, but a significant reduction of the duration of remaining roadway flooding after our project is complete."

Campbell cautioned that the project is not designed to eliminate every type of flooding during a major hurricane.

"It does not eliminate all structural flooding in a hurricane, that’s beyond our capabilities," he said. "But it does make a significant impact in reducing the flooding in the neighborhood, including those 220-plus homes and businesses in the area."

South Tampa neighborhood impact

What they're saying:

Residents who support the project say repeated flooding has become an increasingly serious threat to the community.

Megan Luca, a Parkland Estates resident, said the impact extends far beyond individual homes.

"This isn’t just a few homes," Luca said. "Among the entities that were impacted are a preschool, a hospital, doctor’s offices."

Luca said flooding has forced medical appointments to be canceled or rescheduled, while also affecting a high-rise building where senior citizens live and disrupting bus routes.

"The impact of the flooding that is trying to be fixed here is on a scale much larger than people realize," Luca said.

Luca said the flooding problem is the result of years of deferred infrastructure improvements.

"This problem didn’t occur overnight. It is the result of decades of neglecting the need to improve our infrastructure," Luca said.

Other residents described the flooding as increasingly severe.

"People have kicked the can down the road so many times in the past 20, 30 years," Suzanne Fernandez said. "The flooding now is catastrophic."

Another resident said more than 333 homes were flooded during Hurricane Milton and argued the project is long overdue.

"People should be safe in our homes… and we’re not," Parkland Estates neighbor David Adams said. "This is a core city function to keep people safe in their homes."

Adams also noted flooding has continued even outside major hurricanes.

"This month alone, our neighborhood has flooded three times already," Adams said.

SoHo Business Alliance opposition

The other side:

The SoHo Business Alliance has strongly opposed the project, citing concerns about the scale and duration of construction and its potential impact on businesses.

The group says the project could effectively put restaurants and shops along the corridor underwater financially during years of construction.

The alliance is expected to present its own experts’ analysis challenging the city’s projections and arguing that the $93 million project is not the right solution.

City Councilman Bill Carlson, whose district includes SoHo, has described the proposal as a "$100 million boondoggle."

Residents who support the project have pushed back strongly against that characterization, saying it minimizes the experience of people who have repeatedly lost homes and belongings to flooding.

"To call this a $100 million boondoggle is outrageously insensitive," Luca shot back. "I welcome Mr. Carlson to come join the hundreds of people who lost their businesses and lost their homes and help us as we tear out our carpet, and we throw away our furniture and the valuable things that we can never get back."

Stormwater infrastructure investment

Why you should care:

The city council’s decision could shape how Tampa addresses one of South Tampa’s most persistent flooding problems for decades to come.

The proposed project represents a major investment in stormwater infrastructure, but it would also bring years of construction and disruption along one of the area’s busiest commercial corridors.

The debate ahead of the vote centers on two competing questions: how much flooding the project will actually prevent and whether those benefits justify the cost and disruption of construction.

City council is expected to consider the project Thursday.