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ST. PETERSBURG - The closing on the purchase of a 122-acre parcel known as the sod farm in north St. Petersburg has been delayed until the end of September.
Ron Barton, St. Petersburg's economic development director, said city officials agreed to the four-month extension to allow commercial real estate developer Grady Pridgen more time to finalize engineering plans and get permits required to use fill on the property.
The city plans to dredge Lake Maggiore on Ninth Street South, and needs a spoil site.
Pridgen decided he could provide disposal sites on the former sod farm and get additional developable land by filling in ponds there.
"These aren't pristine wetlands or anything environmentally sensitive," Barton said. "The extension is in both our interests. The city benefits if he creates more developable...