City staff on Tuesday outlined the city’s post-hurricane recovery work and steps taken to speed rebuilding and permitting.

Community Development Director Laura Canary summarized relief programs and internal changes aimed at processing a surge of storm-repair work. She said Pinellas Recovers and other funding streams have expanded programming despite federal and CDBG funding restrictions, and noted the city had received notice that FEMA claims for repairs in St. Pete Beach totaled approximately $200,000,000. Canary also described a sequence of local adjustments since the September storms: waiver of certain permit fees in December, initiation of a volunteer recovery program, temporary permit-staff hires in April, and procurement of damage-assessment software (Forerunner/4Runner) with county-led and in-house training.

Why it matters: The city’s recovery steps affect hundreds of property owners and contractors seeking permits, and decisions about staffing, software and eligibility influence how quickly repairs are inspected and work can begin.

Commissioners pressed staff for more precise metrics. When a presentation slide showed an average nine days to issue demolition permits, a commissioner asked whether that number included the city’s initial 30-day review window and how outliers were treated. Canary said the average is produced from an Excel export comparing application and issuance dates, with obvious outliers removed, and she committed to provide clearer documentation of the methodology. She acknowledged the manual nature of the calculation and that it may not reflect the experience of residents who still report waits of 45 days or longer.

Staff announced several operational steps to reduce delays and inconsistency: posting an updated demolition/elevation checklist on the city website, distributing the checklist proactively to contractors and permit applicants, increasing temporary permit-staffing through April 2026, and pursuing optimization of the city’s permitting software while evaluating longer-term replacements.

On homeowner assistance, Canary said four St. Pete Beach applicants had advanced in the Elevate Florida elevation program but she personally knew only one homeowner who had reached the inspection-and-contractor stage. She encouraged residents to contact program administrators directly about wait lists or additional funding opportunities.

What’s next: Staff will supply a clearer explanation of the permit-time averaging method and continue training and operational changes intended to improve intake and consistency across permit technicians. The city will also follow up on software optimization and notify the commission of any major procurement decisions.