City of Largo reviews Forward Pinellas TEALS update, considers target-employment overlays

Forward Pinellas officials briefed the City of Largo commission on an update to the Target Employment and Industrial Land Study (TEALS) and related countywide rules, and described options for local implementation that would let property owners opt into overlays to receive density and floor-area bonuses in exchange for guaranteeing target-employment uses.

Jared Austin, a member of the City of Largo community development team, introduced the presentation and said Forward Pinellas is “implementing this work both with you at the city of Largo as well as in tandem with the city of Pinellas Park.” Nosheen (Nasheen) Rahmand, principal planner at Forward Pinellas, and Nicole Galasso of Forward Pinellas reviewed the TEALS update and the countywide rules that create four subcategories for Target Employment Centers (TEC): TEC urban, TEC suburban office, TEC suburban industrial and TEC local.

The TEALS update and countywide rules are intended to give cities a framework to retain higher-paying, regionally competitive employers while allowing more flexible mixed uses where appropriate. "Target employment" was described by Rahmand as employers and industries in Pinellas County “which pay above average wages,” with Forward Pinellas using county economic-development data to define the above-average threshold.

Why it matters: Forward Pinellas staff said the county has lost a substantial amount of office inventory and wants to retain sites for Class A office and other target-employment uses rather than have them convert entirely to residential. Rahmand noted that since an earlier baseline period the county has…