Marina proposal is reckless; Community calls for withdrawal

March 19, 2026

COMMUNITY LEADERS, INDUSTRY EXPERTS, AND BOATERS CALL ON GREENLEAF CAPITAL TO IMMEDIATELY WITHDRAW ITS RECKLESS MARINA PROPOSAL

A Dangerous Plan Void of Common Sense Puts Lives, Homes, and Our Community at Risk

A coalition of residents, industry experts, and boat owners is sounding the alarm today over Greenleaf Capital/HCI’s proposal to construct two 72-foot open boat rack towers in an active hurricane zone in Tierra Verde, a structure that would sit among hundreds of homes. There is widespread criticism for what opponents call an irresponsible, reckless, and fundamentally flawed plan. This plan is recorded with the St. Petersburg DRC as file # 26-32000001. A hearing is set for May 6.

Not to scale. The proposed buildings at left would be nearly twice the height of the existing building on the right.

• Greenleaf Capital/HCI is pushing to create the third-largest boat storage facility in Florida and the nation on a piece of land that was never intended, engineered, or designed for anything close to this scale. This is not a marina upgrade. This is an industrial complex being forced into a residential community.

• The developer wants 40,000 square feet of open, exposed boats in one of Florida's proven hurricane corridors. Not a theoretical risk. A guaranteed one.

• Inside the unprotected structures: between 40,000 and 150,000 gallons of fuel. Greenleaf's own pitch targets boats up to 42 feet, some of which can carry up to 800 gallons. Do the math. When a Category 3, 4, or 5 makes landfall — and it will — that is not a storage facility. That is negligence begging for a preventable disaster.

• These structures would stand 50% taller than the industry-accepted safe norm for enclosed alternatives — alternatives that exist, that work, and that Greenleaf itself already operates on this very site. They know what safe looks like. They are choosing something else.

• Greenleaf Capital/HCI is proposing all of this on an island where half the land carries environmental protection status, with hundreds of private homes in the direct blast radius.

This is not a permitting question. This is a public safety emergency dressed up in a zoning application. Let that sink in.

THE PROPOSAL IS NOT JUST BAD — IT IS RECKLESS

Greenleaf Capital/HCI is asking this community to accept open-air boat storage towers standing 72 feet tall. The industry-recognized norm for safe boat storage is a lower building that is fully enclosed. Enclosed structures exist because engineers, insurance actuaries, and boat owners all agree on one thing: in a hurricane, anything open is a liability.

Enclosed boat storage protects the boats, contains the fuel, and keeps the structure from becoming a launching platform when 150-mile-per-hour winds arrive.

“Their proposal disregards all basic safety norms and replaces it with willful negligence,” a local industry expert said.

Open rack towers do not shield a single vessel from direct hurricane-force winds. In fact, 72 feet tall and hundreds of feet long, these towers accelerate the wind against the boats. Every boat on every rack becomes a potential projectile. Every fuel tank becomes an environmental and fire disaster. And every family living nearby becomes a victim of Greenleaf Capital / HCI’s profit calculation.

What Hurricanes do to Boat Storage Facilities

GREENLEAF SAYS ITS OPEN STORAGE TOWERS ARE CAT 5 SAFE. HOWEVER…

• The structure is irrelevant without the contents. A Category 5-rated steel frame holding massive gallons of fuel and scores of falling boats is not a safety achievement. The frame standing in place while boats fly like toys will never be safe, regardless of how much spin you apply.

• Greenleaf Capital / HCI has confirmed the actual danger. Their own claim doesn’t mention the safety of the boats and fuel. That is not a defense; that is a confession. The boats ARE the hazard. The fuel IS the hazard. The homes ARE in the direct path. The internal structure does nothing to contain the damage. Fiberglass boats directly hit with a Cat 3 to Cat 5 hurricane don’t stand a chance.

• Enclosed storage protects both. A closed building rated for Cat 5 hurricanes protects the structure AND the boats AND the fuel AND the hundreds of residences nearby the marina. That is the entire point of enclosure. Greenleaf Capital / HCI’s spin doesn’t pass a common sense test. Their tale about strapping down hundreds of boats as a hurricane approaches is comical.

This is not a matter of competing studies or dueling engineers. This is a proposal that fails the most basic test any reasonable person would apply: Does it make sense to put this type of open storage on the water in a hurricane zone next to hundreds of residences on an island with environmentally protected areas?

WHAT GREENLEAF CAPITAL/HCI IS CHOOSING NOT TO BUILD

They refuse to build safe boat storage — lower, enclosed, wind-rated, and built to protect the boats, fuel, environment, and the surrounding homes. They want to build nothing more than steel racks that hold boats, with cladding on some sides for appearances only. These protect nothing. Greenleaf Capital/HCI is avoiding the responsible alternative. Safe structures exist throughout Florida. Operators build them every year. They cost more upfront, which is almost certainly why Greenleaf Capital/HCI has chosen not to propose one.

What makes their proposal inexcusable? Greenleaf Capital/HCI already has a safe building on site and could easily expand it, but they are avoiding the responsible path in favor of the cheap path.

Greenleaf Capital/HCI is not a responsible community partner; it is a predatory developer.

WE CALL UPON GREENLEAF CAPITAL/HCI TO IMMEDIATELY WITHDRAW THIS PLAN

This proposal must be pulled from consideration now. There is no amended version of this proposal worth reviewing. There is no mitigation study that changes the physics of 150+ mile-per-hour winds hitting 72-foot tall boat rack towers full of boats and gasoline. The only path forward is to withdraw this application and expand the existing enclosed boat storage building — the responsible solution that was available from day one, and supported by the community.

A MESSAGE TO LOCAL OFFICIALS

We are calling on every city, county, and state official to demand the withdrawal of this reckless plan. It is not in the best interest of any governing body for this to move forward. Any consideration of this would represent a complete failure of public trust that no future apology can undo.

We are also calling on local fire marshals and emergency management officials to weigh in publicly on the unacceptable risk this structure creates.

A MESSAGE TO GREENLEAF CAPITAL/HCI

This community has survived real hurricanes. We have seen the wreckage and lived through the aftermath multiple times. We know exactly what happens when thousands of gallons of fuel meet a spark in 150-mile-per-hour winds. We are not going to sit quietly while you gamble this island's safety for a few extra dollars.