St. Pete Beach moves to extend permit-fee relief as hurricane recovery continues

St. Pete Beach commissioners on Tuesday heard a detailed update on Hurricane Milton recovery work and permit processing and signaled support for a short extension of permit-fee relief to speed rebuilding.

City Community Development Director Laura Canary told the commission the city has received a large volume of post-storm permit activity: 3,658 permit applications submitted, 2,765 permits issued, about 67 currently in review and 235 not in review. Inspectors are averaging roughly 82 inspections per day; permitting staff report closing 68 permits to date. Canary said 2,883 substantial-damage assessments have been completed and that the city mailed 2,329 substantive-damage (SD/NSD) letters — 1,512 of those were non-substantially damaged and 817 substantially damaged. She said 554 of the mailed determinations remain pending additional review or information.

Canary described how the city is matching several data sources — building permits, FEMA records and other lists — to identify properties that may need permitting. She said FEMA reported 1,781 claims for the city, and the city sent roughly 979 outreach letters on Friday…