Pinellas County board approves variance for larger hospital-adjacent sign, 5-1

The Pinellas County Board of Adjustment and Appeals voted 5-1 on Jan. 7, 2026 to grant a variance allowing a replacement freestanding sign at a medical-office property adjacent to HCA Florida Northside Hospital. The board’s action authorizes a new illuminated, double-sided sign about 128 square feet in area and 16 feet tall to replace an existing 81-square-foot nonconforming sign.

Staff called the case, recorded on the agenda as VAR-25-17, and recommended conditional approval. Michael (Speaker 3), a staff member, told the board the property is a medical office campus built in 1977 and is separate from the hospital, but that easements and owner permission allow the sign to be located where proposed. He said the proposed sign would be illuminated, double-sided, 16 feet tall and roughly 128 square feet, and that all other code requirements such as height and setbacks were satisfied in…