St. Pete Beach Special Area Plan Adoption and Countywide Plan Map Amendment
In June 2008, the City of St. Pete Beach adopted amendments to their Future Land Use Plan Map which established the Community Redevelopment District (CRD) and associated Community Redevelopment Plan (also called a Special Area Plan). An additional step associated with that process is an amendment to the Countywide Plan Map so that both the City and the Countywide Plan Map will be consistent.
Overall, this amendment will affect approximately 248.3 acres involving two areas termed the Downtown Redevelopment District (see Maps 4A & 5A below) and the Gulf Boulevard Redevelopment District (see Map 4B & 5B below). Parcels within these areas are proposed to be reassigned to Community Redevelopment District (CRD) on the Countywide Plan Map.
Please contact the PPC at 727-464-8250 or e-mail your questions to: pfleming@pinellascounty.org. You can also obtain additional information by calling the Community Development Department of the City of St. Pete Beach at 727-363-9266 or e-mail your questions to: l.matzke@stpetebeach.org To view the Special Area Plan click here.
Notice of Amendment
Map 4A: Downtown Redevelopment District Current Future Land Use
Map 5A: Downtown Redevelopment District Proposed Future Land Use
Map 4B: Gulf Blvd. Redevelopment District Current Future Land Use
Map 5B: Gulf Blvd. Redevelopment District Proposed Future Land Use
The agenda packet for the latest PAC meeting is now available online. You can access it by clicking on the PAC Agenda page, then clicking on an individual item to bring up the associated materials in a new window. (Please note: You will need the free program Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the agenda items.)
View the Latest PAC Agenda
Download the Adobe Acrobat Reader
The 2008 State of Florida legislative session ended on May 2. While much of the focus this year was on the state budget, a number of bills relating to growth management, transportation, and the environment were offered. Ultimately, only a few of the bills tracked by the PPC successfully passed. A summary of important bills pertaining to planning issues can be found here.
The online Governor’s Action Report, updated three times daily, shows which bills have been signed into law. The latest version can be accessed by viewing the Florida Senate Bill Information Reports web page, scrolling down to “Governor's Action Report for 2008,” and clicking the “Go” button.
View the PPC’s Legislative Update – 2008 Session
Memo to the Planners Advisory Committee, posted on 7/03/2008
View the Florida Senate’s Bill Information Reports Page
During the last year, the Pinellas Planning Council (PPC), in collaboration with the Pinellas County Economic Development Department, has been gathering and analyzing information related to industrial development within the county. The purpose of this study has been to identify proposed measures that will assist in retaining and attracting high-wage primary businesses. Such measures include recommendations addressing both business assistance techniques and regulatory revisions to achieve the objectives of the countywide Pinellas by Design effort.
The final draft of the report, entitled the Target Employment and Industrial Land Study for the Pinellas Community, was presented to the PPC on March 19, 2008. It was unanimously approved and authorized for transmittal to the Countywide Planning Authority (CPA), who approved the report unanimously at their April 8 meeting.
If you have any questions or would like further information, please call Larry Pflueger or Linda Fisher at 727-464-8250, or email us.
View the Report
View the Report Appendices
View More Information about the
Target Employment and Industrial Land Study
for the Pinellas Community
One Bay, the collaborative effort that produced the Tampa Bay Reality Check event in May 2007, has launched a new regional visioning initiative. Led by the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, Tampa Bay Partnership, and other partners, One Bay is asking the community for additional input on how the Tampa Bay region should grow in the next forty years.
Using citizen input generated from Reality Check and a series of follow-up workshops, four scenarios were created to help the Tampa Bay community visualize potential growth patterns. The scenarios range from an extension of current lower-density growth patterns, to deliberately compact transit-oriented design. The anticipated impacts of each scenario on local resources, such as potable water, wetlands, agricultural land, and roadways, have also been projected.
Let your voice be heard, and help identify what we need to do today to protect, preserve, and enhance those features that make Tampa Bay a great place to live. Take the online survey at www.MyOneBay.com, or download a printed copy and fax your response to 727-570-5118.
Take the Survey Online
Download a Paper Copy of the Survey
Learn More about One Bay
The Spring 2008 edition of the PPC News is available online. If you are unfamiliar with PPC activities, the publication provides an excellent introduction. An archive of older newsletters and annual reports, dating back to July 1998, is also available.
View the Latest Newsletter
View the Newsletters & Annual Reports Archive Page
By request, the PPC web site now includes links to land development codes for all 25 local governments in the county, in one central location. To view the codes, click “Links” on our left-hand navigation menu, then “Local Government Web Sites & Land Development Codes.” Or simply click here.
Please note that the links are hosted by services such as Municipal Code Corporation or LexisNexis, or on municipal web sites. Local governments are responsible for ensuring that these links remain active and that the documents are up-to-date.
View Links to Local Government Land Development Codes
On October 2 and 16, 2007, the Board of County Commissioners, in its capacity as the Countywide Planning Authority (CPA), held public hearings on an ordinance that would amend the Countywide Rules to allow each local government to consider increased density for temporary lodging (hotels and motels). The hearings allowed the community to provide input on the proposed change. The ordinance is designed to “level the playing field” for new temporary lodging development, allowing it to be more competitive with other land uses from an investment perspective.
Pinellas County’s tourism industry has lost many hotel and motel rooms over the past few years to residential condominium development. This ordinance will help encourage development of new hotels, which are vital to the continued health of our tourism industry.
The changes adopted by the CPA, will allow each community in Pinellas County to have the option to either increase density for hotels, subject to certain guidelines, or keep the status quo for that specific community. This ordinance grants each community the opportunity to decide if increased temporary lodging density is appropriate and consistent with its future vision and goals.
View the Temporary Lodging Ordinance
On July 1, 2007, new legislation created by House Bill 7203 took effect. Among other provisions, it created a pilot program establishing a streamlined process for the amendment of comprehensive plans for certain communities, including Pinellas County and its municipalities, as set forth in Section 163.32465, Florida Statutes. A memo containing a PPC staff analysis of the bill was mailed to each local government.
The state Department of Community Affairs (DCA), as part of its technical assistance program, presented an audioconference on August 29th at 10 a.m., intended to answer questions about how the alternative process will be administered. If you were not able to listen to the discussion on the original broadcast date, an on-demand recording of the event is available on the DCA web site.
It should be noted that the new streamlined process specifically does not apply to “Plan amendments that...update a comprehensive plan based on an evaluation and appraisal report.” Therefore, EAR-based amendments will continue to be processed under the law that was in existence prior to July 1.
The bill and the PPC analysis may be downloaded below. For more information, please contact Larry Pflueger at 727-464-8250 or email us.
View House Bill 7203
View the PPC Analysis of House Bill 7203
Listen to the Audioconference
The PPC is currently working with several local governments in Pinellas County to provide assistance in preparing their Evaluation and Appraisal Report (EAR)-based amendments, part of the state-mandated comprehensive planning process. The Gail Easley Company, a well-known and respected planning consultant team who recently prepared A Guide to Preparing an Evaluation and Appraisal Report for the Florida Department of Community Affairs, is providing technical guidance. For all local governments, the EAR-Based Amendments Resource Page provides a central location for downloadable documents, helpful web links, and other related information. If you have any questions or would like further information, you can also contact Larry Pflueger at 727-464-8250 or email us.
View the EAR-Based Amendments Resource Page
Are you a St. Petersburg property owner who has been contacted about amendments to the Countywide Future Land Use Plan Map? These amendments have been made to recognize changes to the City of St. Petersburg Comprehensive Plan (i.e., their local Future Land Use Map) that have been approved as part of the City’s Vision 2020 Plan implementation.
For more information concerning these Countywide Plan Map amendments and corresponding Special Area Plan, as well as the City’s Vision 2020 Plan, please go to the following website: www.stpete.org/LDRUpdate.htm. You can also obtain information by calling the City of St. Petersburg at 727-892-5560 or e-mail your questions to plan@stpete.org.
In addition, you can call the PPC at 727-464-8250 or e-mail your questions to mcrawford@pinellascounty.org. (Please note: Under Florida law, email addresses are public records. If you do not want your email address released in response to a public records request, please contact us by phone instead of email.)
Visit the City of St. Petersburg’s Informational Web Site
The PPC document entitled Review of Local Government Future Land Use Plans and Land Development Regulations For Consistency with the Countywide Rules is available for viewing or downloading. (You will need the free program Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the report.)
The report was evaluated on January 17, 2007 by the Council, which recommended approval to the CPA by adopting Resolution No. 07-2. On April 3, 2007 the CPA approved the report and directed the PPC to proceed with its efforts.
View the Consistency Report
Download the Adobe Acrobat Reader
Pinellas by Design is a countywide effort to address the issues of buildout and redevelopment in Pinellas County. It began in 2000, led by the PPC, the Pinellas County Economic Development Department, and the Board of County Commissioners. The project has tapped the expertise of consultants in the fields of economics, real estate, and urban design, and has included broad participation from all twenty-five local governments, developers, the business community, homeowner and neighborhood associations, and interested citizens. The effort culminated in Pinellas by Design: An Economic Development and Redevelopment Plan for the Pinellas Community, approved in November 2005.
The effort has been recognized with statewide and regional awards from the Florida Redevelopment Association, the Florida and Sun Coast Chapters of the American Planning Association, and the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council.
The plan may be viewed or downloaded by clicking the link below, or the picture of the report to the right. The printed edition is also available for purchase ($55 for color, $10 for black and white). For more information, please contact Carolyn Shoemaker at 727-464-8250, or email us.
View the Economic Development and Redevelopment Plan
Visit the Pinellas by Design Web Site
The PPC web site now has an easier-to-remember domain name: www.pinellasplanningcouncil.org. The old address will also continue to work for the foreseeable future.
Staff emails can be sent via either the old or new domain, or via the main Pinellas County government domain, @pinellascounty.org.
Link to www.pinellasplanningcouncil.org
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