Iconic Hyde Park restaurant Bern’s Steak House and other South Howard Avenue property owners have filed two class-action lawsuits seeking to halt a major Tampa stormwater project, which is expected to disrupt the busy SoHo business district for several years.
The lawsuits challenge different aspects of the project. One argues that the city’s plans for a large stormwater culvert beneath South Howard extend beyond its legal rights to use the street. The other contends that the city changed the scope and cost of the project without following required procedures for notifying property owners about the use of stormwater assessment revenue.
The project calls for box culverts to carry stormwater from nearby flood-prone neighborhoods into Hillsborough Bay. Tampa City Council voted 4-3 in September to approve construction. The city says the system is needed to address chronic flooding in Palma Ceia Pines and Parkland Estates. When complete, it will move stormwater through 6,500 feet of culverts, creating what the city calls an “underground stormwater river.”
Many SoHo business owners have opposed the project, concerned that construction and street closures could disrupt traffic and hurt their livelihoods.
"The position of all my clients all along has been that they believe that Parkland Estates and Palma Ceia Pines flooding needs to be solved, but that moving that floodwaters to South Howard and demolishing South Howard for four years — which will threaten their businesses and probably put a large number of them out of business and harm their employees — is not the way to go," attorney Edward P. de la Parte, who represents the plaintiffs, told WUSF.
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The lawsuits name the city, Mayor Jane Castor, Kimmins Contracting Corp. and AtkinsRealis USA as defendants. Kimmins and AtkinsRealis are involved in the project’s design, according to the filings.
When asked Monday about the lawsuits, city communications director Adam Smith said the administration does not comment on pending litigation.
One lawsuit challenges the city's use of a stormwater improvement assessment and related bond proceeds to fund the project. The plaintiffs argue that the project has grown substantially in scope and cost since it was described in earlier bond documents, and that the city failed to follow required procedures for notifying property owners about changes to the assessment's purpose or use.
The complaint says the project described in the city's 2023 bond documents was estimated to cost $76 million. But the first phase was priced at about $100 million, and De la Parte estimated cost of both phases is between $181 million to $230 million.
He alleged Kimmins was "deceptive in terms of what the costs would be and what their plans included" to avoid having to rebid and "convince city council to approve it at $100 million."
"The assessment is limited to stormwater improvement, and this project has somewhere between $4 million to $7 million for streetscape improvements, which are not stormwater improvements by definition," de la Parte added. "The money is also being taken from nine or 10 other projects that are not complete; that they're still ongoing, and that's not allowed under the charter or under the assessment."
The lawsuit, which seeks only declaratory and injunctive relief from a judge, also claims the city failed to properly notify property owners of changes to the project and assessment. Notices sent in August, it says, went only to newly added properties and did not explain the changes.
The other lawsuit argues that the city has a public easement to use South Howard as a street, but that plans for the stormwater project show construction extending onto private property owned by Bern’s and other property owners.
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According to the complaint, developers who laid out the street in recorded subdivision plats between 1902 and 1924 dedicated it for public use but did not transfer ownership of the underlying land to the city. The plaintiffs contend the city must acquire additional property rights before excavating beneath the street to install culverts.
The owners claim they have a "clear legal right to be free from the excavation and occupation of their land" unless the city acquires the right to do so.
This suit asks for a jury trial and seeks declaratory judgment, injunctive relief and damages.
"The resulting injury is irreparable, because the removal of Plaintiffs' soil, the loss of support to their buildings and the permanent placement of a concrete structure beneath their land cannot be undone," the filing reads.
Besides Bern’s, the plaintiffs include property owners JL Ciccio, JDJ Properties, Lanza Soho Properties, JLZ and HTLVI Tampa. Also, HTLVI Tampa TRS is a plaintiff in the property rights case.
De la Parte said his clients attempted to work with the city and council members for several years on investigating other options.
“People who are depending on the flood project may not realize how costly it will be or how difficult it will be to construct," he said. "Because of those challenges, we also believe the estimated time South Howard will be closed is severely underestimated. Assuming the city can get the necessary permits and build the project, we think it will take much longer.”
This is not the first time business owners have expressed their concerns about the project. Prior to its approval, a group known as the SoHo Business Alliance filed a lawsuit in June against the city — accusing officials of violating Florida's Sunshine Law by withholding documents to "prevent public scrutiny" ahead of the vote.
The group previously told WUSF it paid $27,000 to access financial reports, modeling studies and internal communications between Kimmins Contracting, the project lead, and city staff about how a gravity storm drain became the chosen design.
