"What I’ve come to learn over the five, six years of being here is that we all agree we need housing, we just don’t want it in our neighborhoods."

St. Petersburg City Council on Thursday took the step of giving the option for nearly 3,000 properties in the city’s core to be renovated or torn down and built to accommodate up to four residences.

The sweeping zoning change is intended to increase density in a water-locked city in a growth spurt. After two and a half hours of impassioned remarks, most from residents who were adamantly against the changes, the council approved the zoning change in a 7-1 vote.

The city council also approved 5-foot minimum setbacks for affected properties. The change goes into effect immediately.

Read more at the Tampa Bay Times