Tampa lawmakers join fight to save burial grounds from development
- Mark Parker
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
A Tampa architect who once promised to protect a historic cemetery has received the city’s blessing to build homes on what many consider sacred ground. Concerned residents are now rallying to stop construction.
Marti-Colon Cemetery is the final resting place for thousands of the city’s Cuban, Puerto Rican, Dominican, African American, and Afro-Caribbean pioneers. In 2019, architect Patrick Thorpe bought two acres of the site off Craigslist for $9,500.
Thorpe pledged to create a nonprofit to help care for the West Tampa cemetery at 3110 Columbus Dr. A for-sale sign on his parcel, since separated from the main burial grounds by a white fence, now advertises two unbuilt homes in a “prime location.”
For years, stakeholders have wondered if the property was home to unmarked graves. The city acknowledges that ground-penetrating radar (GPR) found 16 anomalies with grave-like patterns in 2024.
However, excavation work was never done to confirm whether the anomalies are human remains. Officials approved plans to divide and develop the parcel in February, despite denying a previous request in 2021.
For years, Aileen Henderson, founder of The Cemetery Society and a fifth-generation Tampa native, has led the growing charge to save the property from development. She said historical records, the number of unmarked graves, and unresolved questions regarding past relocations “all point to the need for extreme caution, professional archaeological review, and no ground disturbances until the burial concerns are properly addressed.”
"He knew it was a cemetery," Henderson said of Thorpe. "He said it would never be developed because he was going to protect it. And then he took it to the next level.”
In 1895, what was then the City of West Tampa purchased the land for Marti-Colon Cemetery. The site has been split and changed hands several times throughout the decades.
Hillsborough County property records have historically listed the use for Thorpe’s parcel as “cemetery.” That has recently changed to “vacant residential.”
Henderson provided several corroborating documents, including the GPR report. She and her group’s plight has also caught the attention of State Rep. Fentrice Driskell and Rep. Danny Alvarez.
Driskell, in a letter to the city dated March 13, said she “recognizes the complexity of land-use decisions.” She also noted that when credible concerns regarding historic cemeteries or potential human remains arise, “it is important that all appropriate precautions and review processes are followed to protect both cultural heritage and public trust.”
City Attorney Scott Steady, in a response letter dated March 25, emphasized that a private owner has the legal right to develop their property, provided it is consistent with current zoning. He said there is no clear evidence proving that anomalies found in the GPR study are related to graves or the adjacent cemetery.
However, given the study’s results and the parcel’s proximity to Marti-Colon, the city stipulated that Thorpe must immediately cease construction and notify a building official “if any human remains are discovered during any site work.”
“It’s totally up to the private landowner whether or not they want to allow the land to be investigated, whether or not they want to reveal the results of that investigation,” Driskell told Power Broker Magazine. “That puts people like Aileen (Henderson) in a really tough situation, because doesn’t she have the right to know where her loved ones are buried?”
A subsequent letter from Alvarez, dated June 1, states that Marti-Colon represents an “irreplaceable piece of Tampa’s cultural and civic heritage.” He noted that a historical marker erected in 2025 “acknowledges that the cemetery’s complex histories and undefined boundaries have given rise to concerns about burials located outside its currently defined borders.”
Alvarez said the permit condition to cease construction if human remains are uncovered “depends entirely on voluntary disclosure” by Thorpe, who has the “greatest financial incentive to continue construction.”
“The city should consider what oversight, if any, ensures that the condition is more than an acknowledgement on paper,” Alvarez added.
Officials again balked. In a response letter dated June 3, Assistant City Attorney Cate Wells said they cannot make substantial changes to building specifications once a permit is issued.
She cited Senate Bill 180, adopted in 2025, which prohibits local governments impacted by hurricanes from enacting more restrictive or burdensome building procedures until Oct. 1, 2027. “While the city is extremely sympathetic to the concerns expressed by families connected to the cemetery, the city’s ability to act is limited.”
City Councilmember Luis Viera, in response to the lawmakers’ letters and online pressure, has called for a briefing from Tampa’s attorney on June 18. “It’s important for people to know what the city can and can’t do legally, so as not to create false expectations,” he said in a social media post.
Henderson warns that the city is ignoring its "sordid history" regarding the treatment of historic burial grounds. Officials began relocating residents of Robles Park in 2019 after discovering the public housing community was built atop the former Zion Cemetery - the first built for African American residents.
Henderson said an independent study has listed 1,000 unmarked graves at Marti-Colon. “These are the folks that built Tampa,” she said. “It was a diverse set of people.”
Owning private property doesn’t exempt someone from laws, Henderson said. She highlighted five state statutes that, in part, prohibit knowingly disturbing burials, allow local governments to protect abandoned or neglected cemeteries, and mandate conservation of archaeological resources.
Henderson believes the statutes are meant to proactively protect graves, which contradicts the city’s after-the-fact permit stipulation. “I got involved because I felt nobody was really watching over what was happening to our walking museums, because that’s what they are,” she said.
Driskell has repeatedly introduced potential policy solutions. She said the most recent proposal would grant conservation easements to landowners, allowing them to sell their development rights to the state.
The legislation, if passed, would mitigate property owner concerns “about the diminishment of value when they discover a cemetery,” and allow community stakeholders to “get some finality and closure, and understand where their loved ones are buried.”
For now, Driskell believes those invested in Marti-Colon can find a compromise through further diplomacy. “I’m finding that you have to push - you have to ask, you have to fight for this and try to figure out if anything can be done,” she said.
“I’ve been fighting for cemetery legislation for over six years, and we’ve made really great progress,” Driskell added. “But there’s still more to be done.”
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