OLDSMAR, Fla. — As the sun climbed over a shoreline of mangroves, Ben Bramlett worked his lure through the murky water.
“It’s been a pretty good day,” he said between casts from the fishing pier at R.E. Olds Park. “Can’t beat it.”
Bramlett has fished Oldsmar’s corner of Old Tampa Bay practically his whole life.
“This dock isn’t always the best, but like some of the beaches around here are pretty good,” he said.
Just a few blocks away, there’s another fishing spot: Oldsmar City Hall.
There, Mayor Dan Saracki is trying to reel in something big. He’s fishing for a transformative vision for downtown Oldsmar.
“I can see the vision right now,” he said. “I’ll be real honest. I would love to see a Dunedin Brewery here for our citizens. That is just a fun thing to do for everyone. Plus, a coffee shop. An ice cream shop.”
Saracki and the city are trying to redevelop Oldsmar’s downtown, which lacks some of the amenities found in neighboring cities of its size, and they hope a seven-acre site adjacent to city hall will be the catalyst.
Now through October 14, the city is asking developers for “letters of interest,” or in other words, developers’ tentative ideas and proposals for the site.
“The floodgates are open,” Saracki said. “Any developer — anybody who’s interested in this property — city-owned — come on out. We want to hear from you.”
Saracki and the city will probably also hear from people concerned about what developing downtown might mean.
People like Bramlett say even though growth is inevitable, it could cause more traffic and environmental issues and change Oldsmar’s unique small-town identity.
“It’s pretty. It’s a nice place to walk in the morning and stuff. Definitely good for like retirees and stuff — people who want to move down here and have a nice little place to stay,” Bramlett said. “It’s kind of quiet, and I think it should stay that way.”
Saracki is aware of the concerns.
Despite opposition from Saracki and others, in April, the city passed an ordinance that would allow a potential developer to build additional apartment units on the site if the project also includes a combination of shops, restaurants, a parking garage, and public spaces.
“When I went door to door to meet the citizens of the City of Oldsmar — not one — not one of them said they wanted 317 apartments built in our downtown area,” Saracki said at the time. “All I can say is this vote will change our city forever."
Months later, Saracki said a number of neighbors are still worried about overdevelopment and what developers might propose for the sprawling site.
“But we must open up and have ideas because we must be able to really figure out what we want to do here,” Saracki said.
“The solution is not a lot of apartments but maybe some with a mix-use of condos or maybe townhomes,” he added.
Once the city receives letters of interest from potential developers, Saracki said city leaders would present the best ideas for public comment and input before moving forward. The public's voice, he said, will be a critical part of the process.
“The community will absolutely have an opportunity to voice their opinions on what we’re going to build here,” he said.
Read more about the city's request for letters of interest at this link.
