ST. PETE BEACH, Fla. — The city of St. Pete Beach may soon hold town hall meetings and workshops, as well as send out surveys to residents, about proposed development.

Mayor Adrian Petrila this week proposed a 12-month moratorium on all commercial development, which could put the brakes on a recently approved half-billion dollar development project.

The mayor says more community involvement is needed to learn what residents – those who live and work in the city – want for the future of St. Pete Beach.

The pause could affect two of the city’s biggest development projects, Tradewinds Resort and Sirata Beach Resort.

Those plans include nearly 1,000 hotel rooms combined, along with restaurants and retail space.

Petrila was the only city commission member who voted against those expansion projects earlier this year.

And in a controversial move, all of the other city commission members who supported the projects resigned at the same time, due to a financial disclosure requirement from the state.

“I was a lone voice for a long time,” Petrila said. “I don't know why that is, because, again, my philosophy is the residents, the voters should dictate what the agenda of the commissione is and the commission's agenda should always reflect what the voters want," Petrila said.

“So I don't know why that's taken so long to get this implemented again. I've been asking for this for a year and a half. I’m happy to see that it’s finally happening.”

The city is facing several lawsuits revolving around these issues.

The commission will hear from land use attorneys and the firm working on the city’s comprehensive plan at a Sept. 9 meeting.

They’ll provide the framework for the proposed moratorium.

The mayor says the whole process could take 60 to 90 days for the city commission to reach a final vote.

Spectrum News reached out to the owners of Tradewinds Resort, and they declined to comment. The owners of Sirata Beach Resort did not respond to our request for an interview.