Infrastructure Element

City residents and businesses purchase their drinking water from Pinellas County, the city collects wastewater and forwards it to the City of St. Petersburg for treatment under a long-term contract for service. Solid waste management is handled through a contract with BFI Waste Systems of North America. Residential solid waste is collected under the city contract and billed along with other water utilities. Commercial trash is handled under individual contracts between the businesses and BFI.

Beginning in 1996, the city began offering reclaimed water for landscape irrigation, and in doing so has been able to significantly lower potable water demand. As a barrier island community, storm water drainage continues as an infrastructure issue. Under a storm water management plan adopted several years ago, the city spends about $100,000 per year makng drainage improvements. The following goals, objectives and policies regarding infrastructure issues have been adopted:

Goal 1

The city shall ensure that needed sanitary sewer, solid waste and potable water services be provided by a safe and efficient system which maintains adequate facilities and provides for orderly growth and expansion.

Objective 1.1

The City of St. Pete Beach shall continue to implement procedures, in cooperation with its sewage, solid waste and potable water system providers to ensure that development permits are issued only when adequate facility capacity is available to serve the development.

Policy 1.1.1

The level of service standards shall be:

• Sanitary sewer at 149.4 gallons per day per capita

• Solid waste at 1.3 tons per person per year

• Potable Water at 120 gallons per day per person by 2005

Policy 1.1.2

The replacement or modification of infrastructure facilities shall be compatible with the city's level of service standards.

Policy 1.1.3

The city shall maintain formal agreements with Pinellas County to provide potable and reclaimed water, with the City of St. Petersburg to provide sewage treatment, and with a qualified private company to provide solid waste services consistent with the city's adopted levels of service.

Policy 1.1.4

The land development regulations and development review procedures shall be used to ensure that all adopted levels of service are maintained. All new development and redevelopment proposals shall be reviewed under the city's Concurrency Management System Ordinance to ensure the level of service standards established in this element shall be maintained.

Policy 1.1.5

In accordance with this Comprehensive Plan, proposed infrastructure improvements shall be evaluated and ranked in order of priority according to the following guidelines:

• Project is needed to eliminate a proven or obvious hazard to public health and safety;

• Project is needed to fulfill a legal commitment by the city;

• Project is needed to preserve, maintain, refurbish, achieve full use, or replace existing facilities;

• Project will provide or bring an existing facility up to an adopted level of service;

• Project will increase efficiency or use of existing facilities, prevents or reduces future improvement cost, or provides service to all residents equitably;

• Project furthers policies adopted in other elements of this plan;

• Budget impact of the project, both capital and operating, will be considered, and the Capital Improvements Advisory Committee will consider the financial feasibility of the project; and

• Project will be reviewed for consistency with plans of other agencies having responsibility for public facilities within the jurisdiction.

Objective 1.2

The city and Pinellas County shall continue to work together to reduce the city's potable water demand and wastewater generated.

Policy 1.2.1

The city shall require the installation of water conservation devices for new construction or replacements of existing plumbing fixtures.

Policy 1.2.2

The city shall restrict the unnecessary consumption of potable water, particularly as it relates to irrigation, lawn watering and car washing during periods of drought, supply reduction and other emergencies.

Policy 1.2.3

The city and the county shall continue to provide reclaimed water for use in irrigation and landscaping.

Objective 1.3

The city shall continue to encourage strategies to reduce its per capita generation of solid waste.

Policy 1.3.1

The city shall maintain a resource recovery plan that encourages residents to recycle glass, plastic, aluminum and newsprint waste products.

Objective 1.4

In accordance with this plan, the city shall enforce the hazardous waste management procedures and applicable ordinances of Pinellas County and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP).

Policy 1.4.1

The city, in conjunction with Pinellas County and the neighboring local governments, shall continue an educational program to inform the city's
residents of effective methods to safely store and dispose of household and commercial hazardous material and of procedures to follow in emergencies.

GOAL 2

An efficient Master Drainage system which protects human life, minimizes property damage, and improves storm water quality and on-site retention shall be provided.

Objective 2.1

In accordance with this plan, the St. Pete Beach's land development regulations shall include provisions for requiring compliance with the master drainage plan.

Policy 2.1.1

The St. Pete Beach master drainage plan shall require new developments to meet the design requirements (level of service) of the 25-year frequency, 24-hour storm event. Post development runoff shall not exceed pre-development drainage peak discharge rates.

Policy 2.1.2

The master drainage plan shall maintain standards which, at a minimum, address the following:

• An inventory and evaluation of those areas which currently have
  flooding problems;

• A hydrological survey of St. Pete Beach, showing the natural
  and man-made systems;

• The analysis of storm water outfalls for filtering suitability;

• A water quality analysis of storm water runoff and its impact on receiving water bodies and groundwater; and

• Corrective measures to improve the drainage system to mitigate known problem areas, with such costs of improvements being proportionally shared by the agencies with drainage infrastructure located within the city boundaries.

Policy 2.1.3

The master drainage plan shall address the following requirements:

• The correcting of existing drainage facility deficiencies;

• The coordination of extensions of or increases in capacity of any existing drainage facility;

• The maximizing of the use of existing drainage facilities; and

• Implementation activities for establishing priorities for replacement, correcting existing drainage facility deficiencies and providing for future drainage facility needs.

Policy 2.1.4

The city shall ensure that the master drainage plan contain provisions which maintain the standards established by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for Outstanding Florida Waters and Aquatic Preserve designations of Boca Ciega Bay.

Policy 2.1.5

The city shall ensure that the master drainage plan contains provisions which maintain the standards/programs established by any other agency having jurisdiction.

Policy 2.1.6

In support of the master drainage plan, the land development regulations shall contain provisions which, at a minimum, protect natural drainage features found within the city as follows:

• The flood-carrying and flood storage capacity of the 100-year flood plain shall be maintained;

• The prevention of erosion, retardation of runoff and protection of natural functions and values of the flood plain be considered while promoting public usage; and

• The city shall require development or development proposals to be consistent with the performance standards regulating development within the designated flood plain.

Policy 2.1.7

Under the master drainage plan, the city shall advise its citizens of the dangers associated with non-point source pollution addressing, at a minimum, the following:

• Proper pesticide and fertilizer application practices;

• Uses of turf blocks for patios, sidewalks, driveways, etc., to prevent increasing impervious surface area;

• The importance to maintaining motor vehicles to prevent the accumulations of oils, grease, transmission fluid, etc., on driveways; and

• The importance of regularly collecting and properly composting yard debris to prevent the accumulation of other debris which can adversely
  affect surface water quality.

Policy 2.1.8

In accordance with the master drainage plan, the city shall continue to fund drainage improvements through its Capital Improvements Program.

Objective 2.2

Establishment of a level of service for drainage.

Policy 2.2.1

In accordance with the Drainage Ordinance, the level of service for drainage shall be the 10-year frequency, 60 minute storm event.

Policy 2.2.2

The St. Pete Beach's land development regulations shall contain provisions which ensure that, all development activity shall adhere to the interim drainage level of service of the 10-year frequency, 60 minute storm event. All new development and redevelopment proposals shall be reviewed under the city's Concurrency Management System Ordinance to ensure the level of service standards established in this element shall be maintained.

Policy 2.2.3

The following management techniques shall be used:

• No more than 60 percent of residential lots and 70 percent of commercial lots shall be covered with paving or other types of impervious surfaces, including structure;

• Regular maintenance of retention swales adjacent to city roadways;

• Use of front, rear and side lot line swales in new development;

• Use of erosion and runoff control devices during construction;

• Where necessary, the city shall consider construction of drainage retention areas in the public right-a-way; and

• Where existing waterways are not sea-walled, native marine vegetation shall be used for shoreline stabilization where technically feasible.

Policy 2.2.4

Those provisions continued in Policy 2.1.5, which protect natural drainage features, shall be implemented as part of the drainage requirements.

Policy 2.2.5

In accordance with the water quality standards established by Sections 62-302 and 62-4, Florida Administrative Code, the city shall regulate storm water discharge.

Goal 3

Land development regulations shall be used to implement this Infrastructure Element.

Objective 3.1

Land development regulations, consistent with the Comprehensive Plan, shall be maintained and implemented.

Policy 3.1.1

Land Development regulations shall be adopted which address the requirements of the Infrastructure Element Goals, Objectives, and Policies.