The van we have pictured here has been parked in front of Sangrias for over a two months. Many of the buildings tenants claim that vehicles are being parked here to damage their business by leaving unattractive vehicles in needed spaces for extended periods of time to prevent real customers from using the spaces.
Lieutenant Scott with the Tampa Police Department contacted the van's owner. He was informed that the van could remain at the same location on a city street for longer than 72 hours. If so, it can be ticketed and eventually towed. The owner reported incidents of vandalism. The van was moved on Wednesday, March 14th. Unfortunately it looks like it has gained an additional truck to further harass the business owners of Sangrias, SOHO Sushi, and more. We understand he might add even more vehicles to further block these local businesses.

The recent forum on the SOHO parking problems clearly showed no real answers are in the immediate offering. Demand continues to exceed availability on as many as 4 nights a week. At some point, the City could eliminate the parking on half of Westland and parts of Azeele and Horatio resulting in 100 or more spaces being lost.

The animosity at the 300 block of South Howard between the current tenants and the efforts of Whiskey SOHO owner Tommy Ortiz is escalating. Many claims and accusations are flying. Some are valid and some are not.

The candidates in other seats in the March 27th election will have a vote on these crucial issues affecting SOHO as well. In several discussions with Mayor Iorio, the option of a city parking garage being built is SOHO has NO chance of being considered due to the high costs of land and construction. Many SOHO businesses and residents feel negected as their financial contribution to the city and county keeps rising. The new inflow of tax money from the many new townhouses and upgrades in the South Howard area has to be significant.