Last night SPB City Hall was packed for the Commission meeting. Below is a summary of the discussion and results of the 4+ hr meeting.
Three Main Positive Takeaways
1. Residents who have decided to repair a damaged home are able to move forward immediately.
Residents who know that they want to repair their damaged home should start by having their contractor fill out the FEMA packet available on the city's web site here:
This FEMA packet must demonstrate that the complete repair budget to restore the home to pre-storm condition is less than 50% of the structure's value. Note that the current value of your home is available from the Pinellas County Property Appraiser's Web site at the "FEMA Letter" link:
Further note that if your current structure value through the property appraiser is lower than required by the 50% rule to repair your home, you can submit a private FEMA appraisal from an independent certified appraiser to justify the higher value necessary to repair.
Next, apply for the necessary permits through the city's permitting office:
https://portal.iworq.net/STPETEBEACH/new-permit/603/825
Finally, while there is a required process underway by the city to assess homes in flooded areas and determine which ones are "Presumed Substantially Damaged", there is no need to wait for this process to be completed if you know that you want to move forward.
2. Staff gave a presentation on the economic impact of permit fees, which are entirely dedicated to funding the operation of the building department. Based upon this presentation, the Commission directed city staff to create a plan to temporarily eliminate permit fees for storm-related damage for a limited period of time based upon a budget that leaves the building department with sufficient reserves to ensure operation.
Once this plan is implemented, storm-related permit fees (retroactive to Helene) will be refunded to residents who have paid, or free to residents who apply, for a limited period of time until this budget is exhausted. The hope is that the city can afford to eliminate storm-related permit fees until at least mid-January, or perhaps longer. Therefore, the sooner you apply for your building permit, the better.
3. Staff gave a presentation on options to modify St. Pete Beach's "Lookback Period" for the 50% rule. We are currently under a five-year Lookback Period for repairing non-FEMA compliant homes. This 5-year lookback was imposed on July 1, 2021 by the prior commission in hopes of encouraging resiliency. In the face of our current predicament, however, it is severe detriment to our already-limited property rights living in a Special Flood Hazard Area.
As it stands now, those of us with a non-FEMA compliant homes are only allowed to improve our property every five years up to 50% of the appraised value of the structure. Staff outlined the following impacts to residents based upon proposed modifications, all of which were considered and deemed acceptable by the state's FEMA consultant:
Based upon the presentation, the Commission directed staff to prepare Emergency Ordinances for two of the above options for a vote at the next meeting:
Zero Lookback, without Current Exceptions: This option would affect 178 households with current open permits, in that their current permits for otherwise "exempted" work (primarily routine maintenance and hardening like AC, windows, doors, roofs) would need to be included towards the 50% value when considering work required to return the home to pre-storm conditions. However, staff pointed out that the average value of these permits is quite small at $24k, so in most cases would not meaningfully affect the home relative to the 50% rule.
One-Year Lookback, with Current Exceptions: This option would affect fewer households (109) although the households affected have higher permit values for the work-in-progress since they are doing renovation work outside of the allowed exceptions.
Staff noted that the state's FEMA consultant did not allow "Zero Lookback, with Current Exceptions" as an acceptable option. Furthermore, staff confirmed that neither of the above choices would have an immediate impact on our flood rating for insurance discount purposes (although those rating criteria are always subject to future change).
Finally, please note that there is another Community Workshop tomorrow night (Wednesday at 5:30pm) in Commission Chambers at City Hall.
This workshop will feature a presentation by Candid Appraisals, a Naples-based appraisal firm that has experience navigating the 50% rule. It is also a time for city staff to respond to resident questions and concerns. If you have a question you would like answered, please submit your question in advance on this online form:
https://www.stpetebeach.org/FormCenter/City-Clerk-4/Request-to-Speak-to-City-Council-or-City-63
These are challenging times for all of us. Thank you for everything you are doing to support our community, city staff, and neighbors.