Pinellas Park council advances comprehensive-plan update in unanimous first reading

The Pinellas Park City Council unanimously approved on first reading Ordinance 2026-14, a citywide update to its comprehensive plan, during its May 12 meeting.

Danielle Stewart, the city's long range planning manager, told the council the item (case COMPDASH2026DASH00001) restores and clarifies the comprehensive plan that council adopted in 2024 after Florida Commerce reported no record of that adoption. "The legal and valid comprehensive plan today is what was adopted back in 2019, which is out of compliance with Florida statutes currently," Stewart said, describing the change as a corrective action prompted by a scrivener's error and subsequent statutory updates.

The ordinance incorporates edits made in 2024 — including new property-rights and economic-development elements required by state law — and implements a Targeted Employment Center (TEC) overlay recommended by county planning. Stewart said the updates also include housekeeping changes: simplified language, corrected nomenclature, a reorganized goals-and-policies structure and updated timelines for capital improvements through 2025–2030.

Stewart told the council that Florida Commerce is reviewing the transmittal and the city expects a comment report by June 8; council members will have an opportunity to review any state or county requests before a contemplated second public hearing on June 23. Vice Mayor Butler said the TEC portion is "really important for us trying to sort of reclaim some of those industrial lands and opportunities…that are otherwise up for grabs for housing development."

The council opened the public hearing and then, after the staff presentation, moved to pass the ordinance on first reading. The motion carried unanimously.

The next step is formal review and comment from state and county agencies; if changes are requested, staff will return the item to council for consideration at the scheduled second public hearing.