Nurse: limit Al Lang development; prohibit Rays' stadium

St. Petersburg City Council member Karl Nurse said he plans to introduce a referendum question on Thursday initiated by opponents of the stadium. The referendum, which could appear opposite the Rays' proposal on November city ballots, would limit the development potential at Al Lang Field and possibly stop the Rays' plans — even if voters approved them.

The question would ask voters to cap the development potential of the Al Lang Field site to its current level. The intention, according to Nurse, is to prevent anything bigger (including the Rays' proposed 34,000-seat stadium) from being built there.

UPDATE: Anti-stadium group POWW has a bulletin on its web site this morning asking its supporters to back the Nurse/POWW referendum alternative.

Nurse, a council member appointed in April to fill a vacancy, said he got the idea from former City Council member Virginia Littrell. Littrell is a leading member of the antistadium group Preserve Our Wallets and Waterfront.

"She's been pitching this idea around town for a few weeks," said Nurse, who said it's logical to infer that he opposes the Rays' plans. "People every day tell me what they want me to do."

If both questions were somehow approved by voters — the stadium and the development cap — Nurse, who has talked to city attorneys about the idea, said the question that receives the most support would prevail.

"The voters will decide if they want the stadium, not me," Nurse said in a followup e-mail. "I thought the alternative proposal to protect the Al Lang site also made sense to send to the voters."

Comments

[Tim]

Booo Karl Nurse. Horrible idea.

[Dave in St Pete]

YEAAAA Karel Nurse! Fantastic idea. This way once the stadium scam is dead and buried it can never come back to life.

[NO WATERFRONT STADIUM]

Karl Nurse or Herb Polson for MAYOR!!!!!!!

NO WATERFRONT STADIUM!!!!!!!!!!!

[Bored with This]

Don't worry Karl - we voted Virginia Littrell out of office because she had terrible ideas, if you want to pass her ideas off as your own now - we'll do the same to you.

Vote for or against redevelopment of the trop site.

Vote for or against building a stadium.

Then let's be done with it.

[Faith Andrews Bedford]

Aaron, You wrote: It could be as simple as if the Rays' proposal doesn't pass (assuming it gets on the ballot) then Al Lang's development potential is capped.

A good idea to have that language all in one question. The hundreds of citizens who took part in the 20/20 visioning for past years truly expected the Council to vote the Al Lang site into parkland forever and to cap its development intensity. But city staff told them to hold off last summer. Keep your options open, they said. We now know why. The Mayor and staff had been in secret negotiations for months and knew full well that the Rays had had their eyes on developing that land for their own tax-free uses.

It's time the City lived up to its promises to its citizens and protect the one last vestige of Mr. Straub’s waterfront vision. If the citizens do not want to pay for a Rays stadium on their waterfront then they should get what they were pledged – a waterfront for all the people for generations to come.

[Don't put words in Straubs mouth]

How exactly was the Mr Staub's vision include the Al Lang site if thats true did it also include Albert Whitted and the Yacht Club. Whitted is preserved for a few of your neighbors and fenced to the public. "a waterfront for all the people for generations to come"

The St. Louis Browns were the first spring training team in 1914. In 1918 Staub park was deeded to St. Pete. Thats four years before. Pioneer park was purchased by the bayfront tower more recently to preserve their view and given to St. Pete to take care of maintenance cost.

Al Lang was not part of the waterfront he lobbied for and there's no record that he opposed the original stadium. I'm sorry but your putting words into a dead mans mouth.

If spring training was still at Al Lang would you still want to kick them out to have your park for ...all generations to come.

[Conspiracy theory Faith]

Secret negotiation, right...Have you heard of sunshine laws. Good luck trying to prove that one. Thats anti-government conspiracy propaganda. Way to sell out your local government without a shred of proof.

I think that POWW is secretively negotiating with the Uhurus to boycott the stadium together so they can build a walled utopia on the trop site once the Rays leave town.

See no proof but somehow sounds plausible.

[Where the Faith]

Faith must not be available for comment

[Ex-POWW Member]

This was such a shady proposal! I used to support POWW but now I think that they are the sketchy ones in this whole deal. Using a council-member to do their bidding? Gross. And to think that this referendum would essentially cap any type of development at Al Lang at its current level, regardless of the proposal, stadium or otherwise? Yeah, no thank you Mr. Nurse. I'd rather be able to take these one at a time, not some eleventh hour hasty kibosh on ALL future development.

POWW, do you pick signs back up?