Dear Mayor Kriseman and City Council,

My name is Natalie DeVicente and I am a third generation native of St. Petersburg, an Old Northeast resident, and local owner/broker of a boutique real estate firm. I am writing to you on behalf of myself and my peers as real estate agents who represent both home buyers and sellers in neighborhoods currently designated historic, as well as ones that could be voted into historic districts.

We believe, personally and professionally, that the current ordinance should be changed to reflect only votes cast by property owners as being counted towards a Yes or No in a vote for historic designation. In no other democratic vote any elected position, statute, or ordinance does the absence of a vote count as a "NO" in the voting process. Therefore, the ordinance should be changed to count only those votes cast, with a 50%+1 of responding voters to start the process of historic designation for neighborhoods.

Our clients are the active buyers and sellers who are restoring older homes, paying top dollar for properties almost 100 years old, and driving the real estate market in the Old Northeast, Kenwood, Allendale, and other nearby neighborhoods that could be up for future historical designation. These neighborhoods in which we serve and live should have the right to a fair vote for historic designation, and we ask that you change the current ordinance to give property owners the right to determine whether they want this designation.

Thank you for your consideration and kind regards,

Natalie Bauman DeVicente

Together with fellow Realtors and friends, signed here: