The Resilient St. Pete Resident Task Force will complete its final round of neighborhood visits on Saturday, giving residents in three flood-prone areas a chance to voice concerns and suggest solutions directly to engineers and city officials.

Shannery Barnes, president of the Old Pasadena Neighborhood Association, described the unusual flooding experienced during Hurricane Helene. “A handful of homes on the street flooded,” Barnes told Bay News 9. “That’s never happened before.”

The task force plans to visit Childs Park and the Kingston Street area in the morning. According to city records, about 5% of homes in Childs Park were affected by flooding, while Kingston Street saw 20%.

In the afternoon, the team will visit Old Pasadena, where flooding was less severe, affecting 8% of homes. Barnes noted that flooding in the neighborhood is rare and typically tied to major storms. “The homes that did flood are right on the water,” she explained. “We’re not chronically flooded—it’s the big storms that push water over the seawall.”

Public Works Administrator Claude Tankersley emphasized that each neighborhood has unique issues when it comes to flooding. Over the past several weeks, the task force has visited a wide range of communities, from Shore Acres to Bonita Bayou.

In Old Pasadena, one of the main concerns is overdevelopment. “Our neighborhood is seeing rapid, irresponsible development that reduces green space and permeable surfaces,” Barnes said. Several grassy lots were recently rezoned to allow for townhomes and single-family houses. “That raises a big question: Where does the rainwater go when everything’s covered in concrete?”

Resident Mary Beth Singh echoed those concerns, saying developers plan to build up to 20 homes on a site currently used as soccer fields. “We were fortunate in the last storm,” Singh said. “But we had open ground that absorbed the water. That’s going to disappear.”

Residents also hope to address storm drain maintenance issues. Barnes pointed out persistent flooding at Sunset Dr. S. and First Ave. S., near Sunset Park. “They believe the storm drains there aren’t doing their job,” she said.

Another area of concern is a retention pond that tends to overflow during heavy rains. While Old Pasadena has generally avoided chronic flooding, Barnes said residents fear that could change. “They’re worried that with more intense storms, the storm drains won’t be able to keep up.”

In June, the task force—part of the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council—will host neighborhood-specific workshops to share its findings. A public citywide workshop is scheduled for August 9 at the Coliseum.

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(Image credit: Mary Beth Singh)

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