Tampa City Council unanimously rejected a request to change the land-use designation for a parcel along North Boulevard beside Woodlawn and Showmen’s Rest cemeteries. The request, made by an apparent buyer who said they wanted to build a home, faced community opposition and questions raised by an archaeological report about the possibility of unmarked burials.
Key takeaways
- Council members voted unanimously against the requested land-use change on Thursday.
- The parcel is designated as cemetery land and sits next to Woodlawn and Showmen’s Rest cemeteries.
- Archaeological testing found no graves in the areas examined, but the report could not rule out unmarked burials.
The decision leaves the parcel’s cemetery land-use designation unchanged. Community members had raised concerns about preserving the site’s integrity.
Why the request was denied
The applicant sought a land-use change to allow a home to be built on the parcel. Council members denied the request after hearing community concerns and considering the archaeological findings described in the report.
Although no graves were identified in the test areas, the report cautioned that the parcel’s history meant the possibility of unmarked burials could not be excluded. The available information does not specify what further plans, if any, may be considered for the land.
What the archaeological report found
Testing covered areas of the property and did not locate graves in those test locations. That finding did not establish that the entire parcel was free of burials: the report said unmarked graves remained a possibility.
The uncertainty was central to concerns about changing the parcel’s use, given its location beside two cemeteries. The council’s unanimous vote rejected the requested change; no additional development approval was reported.