Pinellas County board approves 4,800 sq. ft. emergency operations center at Keller site despite flooding concerns

Pinellas County won conditional approval July 1 to build a 4,800-square-foot Emergency Operations Center (EOC) on county-owned land at 3655 Keller Circle in East Lake Tarpon.

The Board of Adjustment and Appeals approved the type-two use request after staff said the single-story building would be used temporarily to shelter and support county employees during storm events, would not be open to the public and would use existing parking and stormwater infrastructure. "It will be used on a temporary emergency basis to support the emergency operations," staff said during the meeting.

The project site covers just under 100 acres and currently houses Pinellas County Utilities’ Keller Operations Center. County and consultant representatives told the board the new facility would not add permanent staff and that access would be controlled by a gate on Old Keystone Road.

A nearby resident, Tony Ringo, spoke on behalf of his daughter and asked the board to reject the proposal, citing concerns about wetlands, potential flooding and lack of detailed driveway and plan information for neighbors. "I ask that you vote no on this because this is — we don't need this across the street. It's wetlands to begin with," Ringo said.

The applicant’s engineer, Anthony Trent of Stantec, and county staff answered that the project would not impact wetlands, that the final footing elevation is "six inches over the existing admin building that's on site," and that the stormwater retention pond already on the site would accommodate the additional runoff. "This pond is large enough to maintain and manage the stormwater runoff from this new building," the design team said.

Board members pressed for clarification on occupancy and access; the applicant indicated the facility was designed to house up to about 20 people during emergency operations, though the speaker said they would "confirm the exact occupancy." Staff emphasized the EOC would serve existing personnel at the Keller campus and would not generate new traffic or regular public visitation.

A board member moved to approve the request “based on the conditional approval and the facts and findings of staff recommendation.” The motion was seconded and carried unanimously.

Next steps: the applicant must obtain required permits and demonstrate compliance with any site-plan and permitting conditions before construction may proceed.