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Board recommends Pass-a-Grille overlay ordinance to commission, defers companion Eighth Avenue amendment
Summary
The board voted to recommend Ordinance 2025-O-07 (Pass-a-Grille Historic Overlay amendments) to the City Commission and asked staff to refine the draft design guidebook and tighten language on building-height exceptions in the CRD Eighth Avenue District.
The St. Pete Beach Historic Preservation Board on March 6 voted to recommend Ordinance 2025-O-07, the Pass-a-Grille Historic Overlay amendments, to the City Commission while holding Ordinance 2025-O-08 (CRD Eighth Avenue District amendments) for further work.
Staff said the Pass-a-Grille amendments reflect consensus from a January workshop and added a requirement that new developments whose access is from a public alley must provide driveway access from that alley. The board agreed staff should be able to grant design waivers for alleys under 15 feet; alleys 15 feet or wider would require a variance to be decided by the Board of Adjustment after a Historic Preservation Board recommendation.
A major outstanding element is the overlay’s design guidebook. Planning staff said the guidebook will be completed and returned to the board before second reading at the City Commission; the consultant’s draft may be shared with the board and staff in advance to accelerate the timeline. Board members requested the guidebook be finished as quickly as possible — staff estimated two to three months — and suggested a special meeting if needed to review draft materials.
Board members raised a substantive policy concern about a building-height provision in the CRD Eighth Avenue draft (Division 40, sections cited in staff remarks). Members said the existing language can be interpreted to allow structures to reach a greater overall top elevation when measured above the required flood elevation, which could reintroduce heights the board previously sought to limit. Staff said the provision was intended as a narrowly tailored allowance for certain lodging buildings where the ground floor must be elevated; the board requested tighter, clearer language and asked staff to return with edits.
The board voted (roll call recorded) to recommend Ordinance 2025-O-07 to the City Commission; ordinance 2025-O-08 will return to the board for further refinement of the height and flood-elevation language.
Board direction: staff will circulate the consultant’s draft guidebook materials to the board via staff, invite timely feedback, and bring a refined guidebook back to the board before the ordinance’s second reading. The board emphasized speed because post-hurricane demolitions and rebuilds in Pass-a-Grille create an urgent scheduling environment for design review and permitting.
