ST. PETE BEACH — St. Pete Beach commissioners are expected to consider changes to the city’s marine coastal wildlife protection ordinance this month that would ease restrictions on special events while maintaining protections for sea turtles during nesting season.
The Planning Board unanimously recommended the revisions recently.
Senior Planner Brandon Berry said the changes address only special event and transient lighting restrictions. Planning staff consulted with experts from the National Wildlife Federation and Sea Turtle Conservancy to develop standards that would ease special event restrictions while treating temporary light sources the same as permanent lighting during turtle nesting season when local conditions warrant.
Under the revised standard, applicants for any special event using temporary lighting at night during turtle nesting season must submit an event lighting plan. The city manager may also request documentation that lighting is mounted low, shielded and uses long wavelengths when local conditions require it, Berry said.
“This provides potential for the city to waive certain requirements based on actual conditions, like when no nest has been reported in view of the event, and the event is proposed in a timeframe where hatching activity is unlikely to occur,” he said.
The proposal would allow special events during turtle nesting season when temporary lighting meets specific criteria: long wavelength, low-mounted and shielded. The city could review and inspect lighting setups for technically complex events.
Berry said the December draft would have restricted special events during both seabird and turtle nesting seasons. The new version covers only marine turtles.
At the last Planning Board meeting, a member suggested using barriers instead of lighting controls. Berry said staff discussed that option with Sea Turtle Conservancy and National Wildlife Federation experts, who determined barriers were ineffective because turtle hatchlings follow the horizon rather than a single light source. Barriers also don’t prevent disorientation of adult turtles coming ashore, he said.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection is unlikely to permit barriers during nesting season except for certified individuals, and maintenance would be challenging, Berry said.
“The State of Florida model lighting ordinance recommends direct regulation of light rather than secondary means of addressing its effects,” he said.
Board members asked whether vegetation or dunes could block turtle-compliant lighting. Berry said existing lighting can be screened through barriers or vegetation, but new lighting must be fully compliant.
The ordinance specifies that handheld and portable transient lighting cannot be directed toward or used to disturb turtles or seabird nests, Berry said.
Stacey Gallagher of the Sea Turtle Conservancy said transient lighting from sources like flashlights has become a growing concern. Having an ordinance prohibiting disturbance of sea turtles with transient lighting is better than no regulation, she said.
Board member David Hubbard asked about enforcement. Berry said code enforcement staff are trained for complex events like music festivals, and consultants could be hired as part of the special event process. Large events are typically submitted far enough in advance to allow preparation.
Sea turtle nesting season in Florida runs from March 1 through Oct. 31, with peak activity in June.
Board member Cindy Perry raised concerns about protecting migratory Black Skimmer birds, a state-threatened species that nests on beaches from May through September.
She cited 2022 Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission permitting guidelines for imperiled beach-nesting birds, noting that Florida already prohibits harm and harassment of the species.
Fireworks frighten and stress the birds, causing adults to flee their nests, Perry said. Baby chicks, which cannot fly, “run around in pure panic mode” and many die, she said.
“I don’t think people setting off fireworks think, ‘Gee I wonder how many threatened species I can kill tonight,'” Perry said. “It’s just a lack of awareness and understanding. We need to find an opportunity to try to educate.”
Black Skimmers nest in large colonies on sandy beaches, sandbars and dredged islands. They create shallow scrapes in the sand to lay three to five eggs, which both parents incubate for approximately 21 to 25 days.
The City Commission could consider the ordinance changes at its February meeting.