ST. PETE BEACH — Mayor Adrian Petrila has proposed the city take over Gulf Boulevard from the Florida Department of Transportation, charge tolls for nonresidents entering the island and assess fees on commercial parking spaces as part of a $200 million plan to repair aging infrastructure.
At a Nov. 3 meeting, Petrila reminded commissioners that a year ago they “were made aware of the full extent of the condition of our infrastructure and the systems that keep everything running, from stormwater to tide check valves to the sewer system.”
“What became evident was that the city needs roughly $200 million to bring our infrastructure up to good functioning condition — not to do the above-and-beyond stuff that we would like to do, but just to bring it to the point where it’s functioning as it should be,” he said.
“For many of these things, the needs are immediate,” he added. “We were told that the pipe to Treasure Island would be good for eight to 10 years, and we find out it’s really two to three years, and we need $25 million to $30 million for that project alone.”
Rather than dwell on the past, Petrila said he wanted “to focus on the future and the challenges ahead. Two hundred million dollars — that is a substantial challenge.”
However, the mayor said he doesn’t think the challenge is impossible, “it’s just going to require some extremely innovative, out-of-the-box thinking. Big problems are going to require big ideas, especially if we are going to find solutions that do not increase the tax burden on our residents.”
Petrila told commissioners he has spent the past year “working on a $200 million infrastructure plan. This plan will allow us to start raising revenue that we need immediately, or in a very short amount of time. It will fund the entire $200 million infrastructure needed, and it will also set us up for the future.”
The plan will give “St. Pete Beach a self-sustaining, diversified revenue model,” he said.
He noted other cities have enacted tolls to access their islands. FDOT reports roughly 60,000 daily trips across St. Pete Beach’s three access points, he said.
“Now, we have less than 9,000 residents. I don’t think it’s our residents driving back and forth seven, eight times each,” Petrila said. “That means most of the wear and tear on the roads, most of the congestion, is not caused by people who live here, our residents.”
Under his proposal, residents, business owners and employees would have priority access, while visitors would pay a small fee.
“If we had a $1-per-car access fee, that’s $11 million in additional revenue to the city,” he said.
Petrila said FDOT indicated it would be willing to resurface Gulf Boulevard before transferring it to the city so tolls could be enacted.
The mayor said the city could also raise parking revenue by increasing enforcement and raising meter rates. He said he has been working with the University of Florida’s law school to formulate model revenue-producing ordinances.
“One idea is to explore a parking assessment for commercial properties,” he said. “We have 7,300 commercial parking spaces citywide, and even a modest amount would raise significant revenue, and that can be entirely dedicated to roads and infrastructure.”
The assessment could range from $10 to $100 per space, he said, adding that economic impact studies would be needed to determine the appropriate amount.
Commissioner Karen Marriott characterized the proposal as “a tax on businesses, basically, instead of a tax on residents.”
Petrila said he is open to other ideas.
The city can also pursue federal, state and private grants, he said. The city is working to revamp its impact fee structure and lobbying for more tourist development tax funds to be returned to the city.
“My goal with this plan is not just to fix the challenges that we have today but to position ourselves for the future,” he said.
Marriott cautioned the city to “be careful about modeling itself on places that are largely residential islands.”
“When you start talking about a toll onto the island and taking over Gulf Boulevard, the devil’s in the details, and there’s a lot of details there,” she said. “I would hate to see us do something that, under the guise of not raising taxes on residents, completely crushes our business community.”
She added that modest tolls could increase over time if revenue proves insufficient.
“I think we need to be very careful about maintaining the very unique mix we have of business and residential,” Marriott said.
Petrila suggested city staff and the city attorney present the commission with more details on the Gulf Boulevard takeover and commercial parking assessment, likely at a January meeting.