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Planning board backs code changes to formalize temporary emergency housing reviews
Summary
Staff presented an amendment to the Comprehensive Development Code to define temporary emergency housing uses and a permitting process after disasters; the Planning Board voted 6-0 to recommend the amendment, which would include time frames, siting restrictions, and standards for community sites and require temporary event permits for certain placements.
The Largo Planning Board unanimously recommended that the City Commission adopt a Comprehensive Development Code amendment to formalize standards and procedures for temporary emergency housing uses following natural disasters.
Staff described the amendment as an effort to fill a gap in the CDC where no local standards existed outside a declared housing emergency. The proposal would opt out of an earlier Pinellas County approach and instead provide local processes and standards for multiple forms of temporary housing, including single temporary units (travel trailers, RVs, manufactured or modular units) and larger community sites with multiple units.
Key provisions presented by staff include allowable time frames tied to state statute ("Temporary units placed pursuant to state statutes would be allowed to remain on a property for up to 36 months"), a temporary event permit pathway for one-to-three units (initially up to 12 months unless extended), and community-site rules (initial authorization up to 60 days with the possibility of extension). Staff said the amendment would prohibit temporary housing on preservation or recreation open-space designations, environmentally sensitive lands, or properties in high-hazard flood zones for safety reasons.
Board members expressed concern the ordinance could be overly restrictive for vulnerable residents immediately after a disaster. One board member said the process felt like "making people jump through hoops when they're at their most vulnerable" and indicated a possible vote against; staff clarified that site-plan sketches do not require a professional engineer for smaller placements and that the 60-day community-site limit is intended as an internal reassessment point and not an absolute hard cap. Staff also said they plan to offer the option of pre-approved conceptual plans with agencies such as the Red Cross to speed activation during an emergency.
The board voted 6-0 to recommend approval; staff said the item will go to the City Commission for first reading on June 2, 2026 and a second reading is anticipated July 7, 2026.
