ST. PETE. Fla. — The City of St. Pete wants input from the community before moving forward with creating a plan that would strengthen 15-miles of city-owned seawall.
The city is putting together a Seawall Master Plan that would lay the groundwork for future seawall improvements. They hope to create a consistent seawall condition rating system using federal standards as well as make a plan for replacement and repair projects.
The goal, the city says, is to make the area more resistant to flooding and erosion. This comes after years of storm damage and documented flooding issues that plague parts of St. Pete.
Before putting a plan together, the city is asking residents to fill out a survey online. Those looking to give additional feedback or get more information are invited to a virtual public meeting on February 17 at 6 p.m.
As part of the feedback portion of the master plan creation, the city is asking residents if they would support city policy updates that raise the minimum required elevation for private seawalls and if they would support the city taking ownership of private seawalls to provide more consistent maintenance. They also want to know if residents would support a citywide assessment for the City to inspect, maintain, and repair or replace private seawalls.
The City of St. Pete currently has 95 miles of privately-owned seawalls. It’s not clear how they would be affected by the upcoming Seawall Master Plan.
Lifelong resident Amy Dinovo says while the quality of one person’s seawall directly affects their neighbor, she’s hoping that should changes come for privately-owned seawalls that the city is held to the same standard.
“I want the city to be held to the same standards that the homeowners are. I don’t want to have somebody getting a fine and then going out and finding city waterfront not in the same condition,” she said. “I think that’s an important thing for people to know, that whatever standards we’re holding the public to we’re holding the city to as well.”
Dinovo says she hopes should this affect private property, that there’s a well thought out funding plan.
“Seawalls aren’t cheap, it’s an expensive endeavor. There’s some great companies out there who make strong seawalls and everything else but its certainly an opportunity for not great companies to come into the marketplace if there’s a lot of need,” she said. “So there has to be process to have some funding, have some relief, and have some incentive.”
The first virtual public meeting on this topic was held on Tuesday, Feb. 10.