Community Redevelopment Information

The city of St. Pete Beach began a long-range planning effort in 2002 to assess the current trends and conditions of the city and develop a systematic approach to manage future land use changes in a manner acceptable to the community. This page provides information about and links to the total community redevelopment effort undertaken over the past three years. It will be updated as changes occur. This is current as of 9/1/05. Most of the linked-to documents are in PDF format. If you need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader, you can click here.

Visioning Process

St. Pete Beach began its Community Redevelopment process in 2002 when it contracted with Dr. James A. Moore and HDR, Inc., to facilitate a Visioning Process. Dr. Moore met with property and business owners, real estate brokers and agents, developers, and the residents of St. Pete Beach neighborhoods, including and intense two-day public workshop held in the city gymnasium. Follow up meetings were held with the Future of the City Planning Committee (now known as the Planning Board), representatives of the city's Neighborhood Associations and the City Commission to review the results of the visioning workshops and discuss the future goals and objectives for the city. A final report of the Visioning Process was presented to the City Commission. (Final Report)

Master Plan

Early in 2003, the City Commission engaged the services of the firm of Glatting Jackson Kercher Anglin Lopez and Rinehart of Orlando to do a Master Plan for the City's Resort/Commercial Districts. A team of consultants was assembled with expertise in urban planning, economics, engineering, architecture, waterfront development and the hospitality industry. The study focused on the areas around Corey and 75th Avenues and Gulf Boulevard to 37th Avenue. A substantial Public participation process was incorporated into this effort with numerous public meetings held throughout the City. A final Master Plan report was accepted by the City Commission in August of 2003. (Final Report)

IMPLEMENTATION

The implementation of the adopted Master Plan involves a number of elements. The following is a brief description of the various stages and their current status.

St. Pete Beach Comprehensive Plan

In 1989, the city adopted it first Comprehensive Plan under the Florida Growth Management Act of 1985. The Plan was updated in 1998 in accordance with the requirements of Florida Statute. The Comprehensive Plan is approved by the State of Florida and Pinellas County and principally defines the density and intensity of development allowed in the city through the establishment of the goals, objectives and policies. You can read the current plan here.

The existing Comprehensive Plan has been amended to facilitate the implementation of the adopted Master Plan. A Community Redevelopment District (CRD) land use classification was established for the redevelopment area to provide necessary regulatory flexibility. A separate Community Redevelopment Plan with eleven distinct character districts was developed to support the CRD designation. You can read the adopted Comprehensive Plan amendments - Future Land Use Plan Element here; Future Land Use Map Element here; and Housing Element here. (PDF) The Community Redevelopment Plan is here (PDF) as adopted by the City Commission on July 12, 2005.

The Community Redevelopment Plan and changes to the Comprehensive Plan were approved by the Pinellas Planning Council, Pinellas County Commission and the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council. The Objections, Recommendations and Comments Report from the Forida Department of Community Affairs (DCA) has been addressed by the City Commission, and now DCA has published its Notice of Intent to find the plan in compliance.

St. Pete Beach Land Development Code

Now that the changes to the Comprehensive Plan are complete, the City must adopt changes to the Land Development Code (LDC) to be consistent with the Comprehensive Plan. The City is creating nine new zoning districts with specific standards to guide future redevelopment. An index to those new regulations is located here. These are the Final Draft as of 9/1/05.

CRA - Community Redevelopment Area

As part of the overall Community Redevelopment Plan, the City is proposing the creation a Community Redevelopment Area (CRA) within a portion of the redevelopment area. This process, pursuant to Florida Statutes, enables the City to exercise redevelopment powers (as defined by Florida law) to achieve its’ redevelopment goals. For a brief explanation of a CRA and how it differs from the Community Redevelopment District click here.

The first step in this process is a “Finding of Necessity” report whereby the City must undertake an in depth analysis to determine if the proposed area qualifies for designation as a CRA. The City has contracted for this assessment with Real Estate Research Consultants of Orlando, a firm that specializes in this area. You can read the adopted “Finding of Necessity” report here, Appendix A showing the parcels included is here, and Appendix B showing the supporting photographs is here.The report has been forwarded to Pinellas County for consideration. A map of the Downtown CRA is located here, and a map of the Gulf Boulevard CRA is located here.