TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Tampa City Council unanimously voted down a comprehensive plan amendment that if passed, would have allowed a developer to build homes on land that is next to Woodlawn Cemetery.
The vote was 6-0. The applicant was requesting to amend the site’s Future Land Use category from the P/SP to the R-10 designation.
The site is currently designated Public/Semi-Public (P/SP) which supports public uses, such as hospitals, water/wastewater plants, public and private schools, Colleges, and Universities.
During Thursday’s city council meeting, a few people spoke against the application, while dozens more spoke for it.
A developer would be able to build 15 homes on a parcel on North Boulevard.
Aileen Henderson represents the group “Save Woodlawn Cemetery”. She says city records show people are buried on that parcel.
“Who thought building on cemetery property was a good idea,” Henderson said. “Since 1888 that property has been a cemetery.”
Teresa Caddick owns the parcel in question. It sits next to Showmen’s Rest Cemetery. She says a ground-penetrating radar study didn’t find anyone buried on the site in question.
“There’s nobody in our group that would consider building on human remains,” Caddick said. “This is why we’ve done careful testing.”
Caddick says selling the property would provide needed funds to care for the cemetery.
