ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A coalition of community groups in St. Petersburg is pressuring the city to enact rent control measures.
They met again Thursday night after a majority of concerned citizens during an October meeting demanded the city declare an emergency over the matter.
During the meeting, an overwhelming majority of renters in attendance voted to go to the last city council meeting on Dec. 16. Many will sign up to speak.
The St. Pete Tenants Union group states it is demanding a referendum on the table that would allow voters to decide a measure on rent control.
"We're looking for a response from our government," Karla Correa, the group's organizer, said. "People are in trouble."
But the mayor's office said its hands are tied under state law.
The law prohibits ordinances and rules imposing price controls. The mayor's office also said the threshold to declare an emergency is too high given the number of affordable housing units available.
According to the mayor's office, if a rent control order withstood state or legal challenges, it would require renewal by voters yearly.
Still, groups from the last meeting argue what they're seeing constitutes an emergency, citing rent increases, the pandemic and eviction filing risks.
The pressure is growing from different groups after the Stanton Hotel and Expansion gave its tenants legal but short notices to leave in October.
Some tenants and other groups protested at the site at the end of the month once more. Tenants like Amber Watson stayed behind. She was busy packing.
"They should have done more. They should have treated us as people... instead of people in a unit," Watson said Sunday, her last day she could stay, she said.
Watson was able to receive financial support from a nonprofit and an extension but said she is still waiting for an application for a new place to be approved.
She said she hopes stories like hers will bring awareness to how quickly people can be at risk for homelessness without affordable housing.
A spokesperson for developers involved with the Stanton Apartments and Hotel expansion have cited safety as one reason for the expansion and state financial support, with help from a local nonprofit, was given.
The conversation comes amid surging rent prices in the Tampa Bay area and parts of the country. In St. Petersburg, data shows it costs $2,000 on average for a one-bedroom apartment.