ST. PETE BEACH, Fla. — The state of Florida has been sending workers to beach communities hit hard by the back-to-back hurricanes to help city staff process the huge demand for permits, according to State Rep. Linda Chaney.

What You Need To Know

  • The state has sent a dozen workers to St. Pete Beach, with six more on the way

  • State Rep. Linda Chaney has drafted a bill she said will help alleviate the permit problem in the future 

  • St. Pete Beach has a goal to issue 75 permits per day, but has not yet hit that goal 

  • Frustrated residents spoke out about the slow permitting process at the City Commission meeting on Nov. 19

“There’s currently nearly 700 of those requests that have been turned into the state,” she said. “About 83% have been fulfilled and the rest are in process.”

Chaney said St. Pete Beach was one of the first cities to reach out for help in a big way. Earlier this month, the state agreed to send 18 workers to help the city, but so far only a dozen have been able to assist due to challenges with appropriate licensure, according to Community Development Interim Director Denise Sanderson.

“Running into a lot of challenges identifying those with appropriate licensure,” she said. “Additional staff requested and not yet filled are two code enforcement officers, one permit technician and four building inspectors.” 

Sanderson made those public comments at last week’s City Commission meeting, where she said the city was falling well below its stated daily goal for issuing permits.

“I will share with you that our goal is 75 per day,” she said. “We were able to issue 19 permits. I wish for the commission and public to know that we have every intention of meeting that goal.”

Frustrated residents blasted the City Commission for the slow-moving process and said they wanted to see more help on the way.

“I worked my entire my life for my beach home and now I can’t even fix it to go home with my dad,” said Joe Medeiros. “Just let us fix it. Just let us go home.”

“I’ll tell you what having only 11 people to do permits for a city this size, that is just unbelievable,” said Cindy Berg. “It’s unacceptable.” 

“You only have a certain amount of employees and the state should be sending more,” said Deborah Schoenecker. “I hope they do because it’s a severe situation that we have.”

Chaney said she’s drafting a bill that will address procedures, along with education of elected officials and their staff when it comes to recovery funding in the affected areas.

“So, we’re learning a lot through back-to-back hurricanes, and I’ve already filed a bill that addresses some of the issues that we’re experiencing,” she said. “That hopefully will make it a lot better if, God forbid, we ever go through this again.”

Chaney also encouraged other beach municipalities who have been struggling to meet the permit demand to reach out to the state for help.

“My phone was going crazy with all the residents with their frustration and their needs,” she said. “I was in touch with Florida Department Emergency Management, Kevin Guthrie, and he actually embedded employees into our communities here on the beach because of the great need.”

St. Pete Beach spokesperson Marc Portugal said the city expects six more state employees to begin working in the permitting office next week, along with additional outside contractors. The city also hired a new building inspector who’s scheduled to begin working on Dec. 9.