A Tampa town hall to explore safety concerns in Ybor City is scheduled for Monday, three months after four pedestrians were killed by a car driven by a man fleeing state police.
Participants will be able to share ideas with Mayor Jane Castor, City Council member Naya Young, Tampa police representatives and the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency.
The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at Centro Asturiano de Tampa, 1913 N. Nebraska Ave.
Topics will include “enhanced safety, accessibility, vibrancy for residents, businesses, and visitors,” according to a city press release.
However, discussion is expected to focus on the early hours of last Nov. 8. That’s when, according to investigators, Silas Sampson plowed his Toyota into a crowd of people outside Bradley’s at 7th, a Seventh Avenue nightclub, killing four and injuring several more.
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The collision occurred moments after Florida Highway Patrol troopers said they broke off a high-speed chase of Sampson on Interstate 275 as he exited into Ybor. Sampson faces multiple charges, including four counts of DUI manslaughter.
Among the issues since the incident is whether to block vehicular traffic on Friday and Saturday nights along Seventh, the crowded main drag through the historic district’s entertainment area. The idea resurfaces periodically.
For now, the city has ruled out that option, a view supported by Castor, a former Tampa police chief, who said allowing cars keeps people from loitering around businesses.
On “Florida Matters Live & Local,” Tampa City Council member Alan Clendenin said he backed the mayor’s stance and didn’t want to make a change because “one bad actor” happened to find his way onto Seventh Avenue.
"Had he turned a different direction, we would have had a different outcome,” Clendenin said. "I don't believe that necessarily would have made a difference, because if not Ybor, then where else again. You go around Raymond James Stadium before and after games, and you see really dense crowds of folks on Dale Mabry Highway with cars speeding at 45 or more mph.
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“We've had times in the past where the street has been closed, and it's created other issues,” he said. “As we've seen, we've had safety issues in Ybor City, not necessarily related to the incident."
A 2023 mass shooting amplified Ybor City’s reputation of being a high crime area. Reported violent and property crime, visible on a Hillsborough County mapping tool, back that up, although many merchants say it’s a bad rap.
Among them is Tom DeGeorge, who owns Crowbar, a nightspot on 17th Street, a block north of Seventh Avenue. Such talk is hurting businesses, he said.
DeGeorge, who has a background in security and lives in East Ybor, calls the area “fairly safe” and agreed that closing streets is the wrong conversation at this time.
“My concern is, if Ybor jumps to the front of the line on pedestrian safety, you've got all these other underprivileged neighborhoods in East Ybor, East Tampa area … where there's children that get off the school bus and they're literally walking into the middle of the street.”
"When you're talking about these protective measures in a festival setting, this stuff is all set up. Things are fenced off. We can't do that with this district every single Friday and Saturday where it's just shut off to the world; it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense."
