Pinellas Park council approves zoning changes for rural events, streamlines code enforcement and passes $6.9 million budget amendment

The Pinellas Park City Council on June 27 approved multiple ordinances on second and final reading, including a zoning change to allow rural event venues, a shift in the city’s code-enforcement process to a licensed special magistrate, updates to subdivision and sidewalk rules, and a quarterly budget amendment that increases the city’s budget by about $6.9 million.

City senior planner Bob Bernhardt told the council Ordinance 42-55 adds a new “rural event venue” use to the land development code and permits mobile food trucks at approved rural events. Staff said the ordinance implements changes discussed at first reading, including shortening the allowable event cutoff from 11 p.m. to 10 p.m., and noted the city has a limited number of parcels zoned as farm and meeting the minimum size (about 15 parcels identified in the staff analysis). "This provides a means for both the city and private property owners to host events on appropriately zoned properties," Bernhardt said. The council closed the public hearing and adopted the ordinance unanimously.

On Ordinance 42-59, Lieutenant Smotrich of the Pinellas Park Police Department presented a review of local practice and county comparisons and recommended that all violations be heard initially by a special magistrate and that the magistrate be a licensed attorney. Smotrich said the review of April 2022 through April 2024 showed the city’s previous use of two bodies (a special magistrate and code enforcement board) can cause delay and that most neighboring jurisdictions rely on an attorney special magistrate. The ordinance sets an effective date of Aug. 1 and staff noted pending matters before the code enforcement board would transfer to the magistrate on that date. "We recommend modifying our current process to where all violations are heard by special magistrate and that we obtain a special magistrate that is a licensed attorney," Lieutenant Smotrich said. The council approved the change unanimously.

Development review manager Megan Montesino presented two related amendments (Ordinance 42-60 and 42-61) intended to remove or update outdated references to the city engineer, align staff titles with current organization charts, and bring sidewalk specifications into conformity with surrounding jurisdictions. Montesino said the sidewalk standard will specify 6-inch reinforced-concrete construction to match neighboring standards and that some subdivision provisions had not been updated since the 1980s. Both ordinances passed on second and final reading without public opposition.

Finance staff described Ordinance 42-62, the quarterly budget amendment. The amendment transfers $752,000 from the general fund into the Youth Park/Sports Complex fund to cover pre-construction costs, appropriates $275,000 for dispatch services with the Pinellas County Sheriff, increases refuse and recycling estimates by approximately $1,000,006 to reflect cost increases, and transfers $3,500,000 from the Public Improvement Fund to the capital projects fund to be used primarily for the new police and fire campus. Finance staff said the amendment increases the city’s budget by about $6.9 million overall. A council member moved passage and the ordinance was adopted unanimously.

The council also approved consent-agenda items C1–C8, including ministerial land-record actions, reappointments to the Planning and Zoning Commission, and procurement approvals: authorization to purchase paving and sidewalk installation services under Hillsborough County contract (not to exceed $1,807,122.36) and authorization to purchase a Caterpillar stationary generator for Fire Station 34 for $112,876, among other routine contracts and bid awards. All consent items carried unanimously.

All votes on the ordinances and consent agenda were recorded as unanimous. The council’s next regular public hearing was announced for July 11, 2024, at 6 p.m.