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Consumer advocate runs for City Council seatBy BRYAN GILMER © St. Petersburg Times, published January 31, 2001 ST. PETERSBURG -- Virginia Littrell, a St. Petersburg native who leads a group that lobbies the Legislature on behalf of consumers, has filed to run for the St. Petersburg City Council. Littrell will seek the seat that will be vacated when City Council member Katheleen Ford runs for mayor. Littrell became the fourth candidate for that seat, joining Pat Fulton, Douglas Neil Every and Chris Eaton. Stephen Finch, who previously announced his candidacy, did not qualify by 5 p.m. Tuesday. "I have thought about this all my life," said Littrell, 50, noting that her maternal grandfather was a council member. "The time was right." Littrell is executive director of the Florida Consumer Action Network, and chairwoman of both the city Historic Preservation Commission and the Planning Commission, two boards that advise the council on plans for developing or redeveloping real estate in the city. The fifth-generation, divorced St. Petersburg resident said she would bring her strong interest in those issues to the council. She wants to encourage redevelopment of property, but only in ways that preserve the historic character of the city. She would favor a redevelopment code that lets people renovate older buildings without having to meet all the standards of new construction. She also favors customizing zoning districts to particular neighborhoods. Large areas of the city were given the same zoning in the 1950s and 1960s, precluding any kind of building in some cases. "We have all these "substandard lots' that weren't substandard when they were platted," Littrell said. "You have to get a variance to do something that was standard in your community when it was developed." Littrell said she would oppose further high-rise buildings near the city waterfront. She is working with a group of business and neighborhood leaders on 22nd Street S to get a Main Street designation for that area, which would give the neighborhood a paid manager to help improve the declining business district. If elected, Littrell said, she would ask her council colleagues to support that effort. "You can't make one big fix," she said. "It's little, incremental steps, and I want the city to be there through little incremental steps."
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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