November President's Letter

Dear Friends,

First of all, thank you to all the Veterans within Venetian Isles and to those families with members who are currently serving in the military for your service to our country.  The freedoms that we enjoy today are a direct result of your commitment and sacrifice.

October was a great month within Venetian Isles due to the following:

• first and foremost, we made it through hurricane season without a named storm hitting Florida or the Tampa Bay area;
  
  
• second, our community was successful in passing five Deed Restriction Revisions that had been advanced largely by property owners within VI.  Many thanks to the 82% of the property owners who submitted a ballot; and,
  
  
• finally, after canceling Oktoberfest in 2024 because of the hurricanes, we were blessed with perfect weather and a lot of neighborhood enthusiasm that made the 2025 Oktoberfest one of the best ever.  Thank you to all the volunteers whose efforts made this event possible.
  

For those of you who were not able to attend the General Meeting in person or via Zoom on October 14, it was our pleasure to have our new City Councilman, Mike Harting, come out to meet VI residents for the first time. Mike provided attendees with all sorts of information about things that are going on in the City of St. Petersburg (the “City”) and, in particular, efforts that the City is making to mitigate the impact of hurricanes and rising sea levels. He described St. Petersburg as a $1 billion corporation and there is no secret that there are a lot of demands placed upon the City. Mike did a great job of describing what those demands were and how the city attempts to prioritize those that will have the greatest impact upon City residents and those within his District 3.

The Annual Meeting is tentatively scheduled for January 22, 2026.  I would encourage you to make every effort to attend this meeting to discuss a number of significant issues, including targeted Deed Restriction Revisions for 2026 and discussion of the VIHA Budget. Like every other organization, our expenses for 2026 have increased in a number of areas, which we will detail at that meeting. The Deed Restriction Revision Committee has already targeted a number of Deed Restrictions that should be amended, and we certainly want to have input from residents on those proposed changes as well as others that could be considered.

While we made it through the 2025 hurricane season without any significant storms hitting the City or VI, our community is still suffering from the impact of Hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024.  In an “informal drive-by survey” that I conducted of the neighborhood in mid-October, of the 530+ homes in VI there were:

• 29 homes that were for sale (prior to the hurricanes the average number of homes sold annually was 39);
  
• 13 homes that were torn down and the properties are now vacant lots;
  
• 36 homes that appeared to be vacant; and,
  
• 36 homes that were under construction.
  

A couple of observations about these statistics:

• it is clear that construction activity within VI will remain at an elevated level for the foreseeable future;
  
  
• the significant number of homes under construction and the condition of many of the vacant lots have caused considerable traffic, noise and “nuisance” issues for VI residents;
  
  
• the Architectural Review Committee (“ARC”) has made a commitment and has been very successful in responding to resident proposals for new construction and renovation of the existing homes subsequent to the hurricanes; and,
  
  
• like other neighborhoods that you may have read about in the Tampa Bay Times, there is the very real possibility that investment firms could be looking at the purchase of some of those available properties and changing the character of our community.
  
  

In March 2025, the VIHA Board voted to suspend the enforcement of certain Deed Restrictions through September 30, 2025. We recognize that there are still a number of homes that have been impacted by the 2024 hurricanes, but there have been a number of residents who have stated something to the effect of “it has been a year since the hurricanes and now it’s time to start getting VI back to the attractive community that it was previously.”

The Deed Restriction Committee sent out over 300 Deed Restriction violation letters in October resulting from the first Deed Restriction review that occurred since the hurricanes.  We realize that many residents are still struggling with decisions about what to do with their properties that were damaged during the hurricanes and many are in the process of repairing that damage. All that we ask is that you be attentive to the condition of your properties and take whatever steps are available to help us return VI to the highly attractive community that it once was.

As I stated earlier, there are many homes located within VI on a relatively small amount of land not only on our streets but in close proximity across the canals. All Board members have received a host of complaints from residents about noise, property conditions, parking, construction issues, etc. Let us try and remember that we are neighbors and need to peacefully coexist to “all try and get along” despite the challenges of the upcoming months.

Also, because of the number of homes that are vacant or under construction, the Christmas Eve display of luminaries will be limited to Grand Canal, as it was last year after the hurricanes.

Finally, nominations for the 2026 VIHA Board are open with a nomination form posted to www.ourvi.org. We need residents to fill a couple of Board positions and, more importantly, we are always looking to fill positions on the committees that keep VI the highly desirable community that it has been and will be in the future.  Getting involved is a great way to learn more about VI and get to know your neighbors.

Thanks for your continued support of VIHA and please feel free to email me with your comments and concerns.​

Sincerely,
Rich Scanlon
VIHAPresident
[email protected]