Planning board recommends sign-code changes to allow emergency banners, adjust monument sizes and clarify measurement rules

The St. Pete Beach Planning Board on April 21, 2025 voted 5-0 to find Ordinance 2025-10 consistent with the comprehensive plan and to recommend the sign-code amendments to the City Commission with the modifications discussed at the meeting.

Planning staff said the package is intended in part to make it easier for businesses to re‑open after storms while preserving limits on permanent signage. Brandon, planning staff, said staff “tried to address the input of the planning board” and described several concrete changes: a purpose statement addressing wildlife protection, a definition of “lawful message,” expanded temporary permissions for banners, clarified monument‑sign measurements, a prohibition on overly wide sign faces, and an exemption from abandonment rules during active storm‑repair work.

The draft adds two additional temporary-banner permissions beyond the existing rule that allows banners for…