Pinellas Park council approves land‑use overlay, advances target‑employment rules and adopts budget amendment

At the Aug. 28 city council meeting, the Pinellas Park City Council voted unanimously to approve a package of land‑use and budget measures that city staff and county planners said are intended to preserve industrial land, encourage targeted job‑generating uses and provide developers limited incentives to redevelop key corridors.

The measures included second‑reading approval of an amendment to the land development code governing vacations of rights‑of‑way and easements, first readings of a new overlay district and related comprehensive‑plan language to create Target Employment Centers (TECs), and a budget amendment that increases the city’s fiscal year spending primarily to cover hurricane recovery and previously approved capital projects.

City planners and consultants said the TEC overlay is optional for property owners and intends to concentrate incentives—such as modest increases in floor‑area ratio, limited height allowances and parking flexibility—on parcels that commit to a minimum of employment uses. Amanda, a consultant with the Renaissance team working with Ford Pinellas, said the overlay requires a site to dedicate at least 40% of first‑floor area to “target employment uses” before receiving density or intensity bonuses. “No certificate of occupancy would be issued for non target employment uses on a site until the required 40% is met,” Amanda said during the presentation.

The proposed overlay would offer developers limited increases in…