LARGO — A developer’s bid to clean up a contaminated property on Eighth Avenue Southeast and build 168 apartments under the Live Local Act stirred up hard feelings among city commissioners March 17.
Despite their concerns, commissioners said the environmental benefits of designating the property a Brownfield area outweighed the potential for added traffic and congestion, and they voted 4-2 in favor of the move. Commissioners Michael Smith and Mike DiBrizzi voted against; Vice Mayor Chris Johnson, who ran the meeting in Mayor Woody Brown’s absence, joined Commissioners Curtis Holmes, John Lauser and Donna Holck in voting yes.
When Florida legislators passed the Live Local Act in 2023, it was designed to spur affordable housing development statewide by giving developers tax breaks and other incentives to build in commercial, industrial and mixed-use areas. It also stripped local commissions and councils of the power to block such projects…