Tampa City Council voted on Oct. 30 to approve on first reading a comprehensive-plan map amendment affecting parcels in the East Ybor and Gary neighborhood that would change several parcels currently designated light industrial and general mixed use (GMU 24) to urban mixed use 60 (UMU 60) and community commercial 35 (CC 35).

Quinn Steel, planning commission staff, said the privately initiated small-scale amendment covers about 7.42 acres for the item heard that night and falls within the Central Tampa planning district and Ybor City urban village. Steel said the change would introduce residential uses on parcels that now prohibit them, and he presented agency comments that included an objection from the City of Tampa (specific to the UMU 60 portion), planning staff'level concerns about industrial land preservation and consistency with the coastal high hazard area (CHHA), and a Hillsborough County School Board comment noting projected school capacity impacts.

Interim city planning director Evan Johnson and other city staff emphasized that when combined with two related amendments the three requests amount to about 49.73 acres of changed designation, which staff said represents a significant policy decision and a potential conversion of industrial land in proximity to port and freight infrastructure. Proponents, including applicant representative Tyler Hudson and Daryl Shaw of Casa Ybor, described a multi-parcel, mixed-use redevelopment vision that could include employment-generating uses, improved access to the port and potential health-care-related investment; Shaw said Tampa General Hospital has a contract for a portion of land in the southeast quadrant of Ybor to site a future hospital facility.

Council members questioned compatibility with nearby industrial and commercial operations, freight rail and the CHHA and pressed staff and applicants on the scale and cumulative effect of all three amendments. After discussion, a council motion to amend the future land use map for a list of parcels was moved and seconded; the motion carried unanimously on first reading. Second-reading adoption is scheduled for Nov. 20, 2025, at 10 a.m. at Old City Hall.