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 to addresses with claims or no matching permit in the city system. Property owners who received a letter were asked to reply to permits@stpetebeach.org with questions or documentation.

The city has waived permit fees for storm repairs through April 22. Canary told the commission the city has waived roughly $3.2 million in fees to date; year-to-date building-permit revenue is about $375,000, compared with an original budget target of $1.325 million for the year. She warned the commission that continuing a large waiver would draw down building-fund reserves and that staffing and processing needs are still uncertain until more property owners respond.

Canary explained the city’s approach to after-the-fact (unpermitted) work: if an owner self-reports before the fee-waiver deadline and applies for required permits, the city will waive permit fees; if work is discovered through enforcement and a stop-work order is issued, the owner will face the regular permit fee and the possibility of a penalty that the city described as up to three times the permit fee. Canary described the voluntary reporting option as an amnesty path: “If you come and self report, we’ll waive the fees before the [April 22] deadline. If you do not self report, then you will be subject to the 3 x permit fee.”

Canary also addressed technical resources and data access: property elevation (LIDAR) data currently is not public on the county GIS site. The city said owners lacking elevational certificates can request LIDAR information from the city at lidar@stpetebeach.org. City staff said new permitting software, 4Runner, will eventually provide a public interface for elevation and assessment data once it is implemented.

On available recovery programs, Canary summarized federal, state and county resources: Elevate Florida (state program) had roughly 6,200 statewide applicants and about 2,300 in Pinellas County; St. Pete Beach had filed 231 Elevate applications as of the city’s update. Pinellas County’s income-eligible hurricane home repair program offers up to $30,000 in grant funding; federal CDBG-DR recovery funding totals about $813 million for the county planning area, and a county public outreach process is underway with a draft action plan targeted for a May 6 Board of County Commissioners presentation.

Commissioners debated how long to continue fee relief. Several commissioners and the mayor said they want to keep a building-fund reserve floor (discussed at roughly $2 million) while still giving residents time to apply. The mayor summarized the discussion and said he would present a resolution on April 22 to extend relief on a reduced basis: “If I get consensus, I can bring it back in a resolution that from April 23 to June 1 there will be a 50% fee waiver.” Multiple commissioners nodded in agreement and asked staff to return a draft resolution for formal action at the April 22 meeting.

Commissioners and staff also discussed outreach next steps, including a possible second data pull focused on properties determined to be substantially damaged but with no active permit and additional public contact. Commissioners emphasized they want staff to prioritize getting owners into the permitting process quickly, and to use available state and county recovery programs where eligible.

The city asked owners with questions to email permits@StPeteBeach.org or call the building-permit line provided in updates.