ST. PETE BEACH — The city manager has directed TradeWinds Island Resort to move the Country Thunder music festival off the beach.
In a letter dated March 31 to TradeWinds and Country Thunder Executive Director Kim Blevins, City Manager Frances Robustelli said the city has not received sufficient information to approve the special event permit and that the resort has not obtained required permits from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
Robustelli wants TradeWinds to revise its application and relocate the event to an alternative area on the landward side of the resort, east of the coastal construction control line, “that does not impact the sandy beach dune system and wildlife resources, including direct, indirect and secondary impacts to listed sea turtle and shorebird nesting seasons.”
The festival as currently planned would occupy the beach for 12 days with setup beginning May 2, performances May 8-10, and disassembly through May 13. Sea turtle nesting season officially begins May 1.
Robustelli asked TradeWinds to resubmit a complete, revised application for the new location, including updated parking and traffic plans, as soon as possible.
As of April 6, TradeWinds has not confirmed it will comply with the directive, Robustelli said.
The three-day country concert would bring up to 12,000 ticket holders a day to one of the Gulf Coast’s most significant nesting stretches for sea turtles and state-threatened black skimmers.
As of this week, no permits have been issued — not by the city, DEP or the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Alexandra Kuchta, communications director for DEP, said the agency is reviewing a permit application for the event and coordinating with FWC to evaluate potential impacts to wildlife, water quality and coastal resources.
“The event cannot proceed without all required local, state and federal authorizations,” Kuchta said.
Marc Portugal, the city’s communications manager, said the DEP permit is a prerequisite for the city’s special events process because the festival involves construction west of the coastal construction control line. If DEP denies the application, the city will deny it too.
The city’s decision will be administrative, not a commission vote. If the permit is denied, the applicant can formally appeal to the City Commission.
Lisa Thompson, a spokesperson for FWC, said the agency received an application for a permit related to the event on March 30 and is currently reviewing it. She said FWC staff are providing technical assistance to TradeWinds representatives to avoid and minimize impacts to listed wildlife.
In documents provided by wildlife advocate Lisa Reich, FWC staff recommended the concert be rescheduled outside of marine turtle nesting season or moved off the beach entirely. The recommendation was attributed to Eric Seckinger, an administrator in FWC’s Imperiled Species Management Section. Thompson did not address the recommendation in her initial response and said she would work with staff on the remaining questions.
Steward Ginger Goepper gestures toward a black skimmer colony on St. Pete Beach in the summer of 2022.
Photo by IDANGIE SEIN
Wildlife at stake
Beth Forys, a seabird researcher and professor at Eckerd College who has studied black skimmers for 32 years, said a colony of 400 to 660 of the birds has nested on St. Pete Beach since 2013. The colony represents roughly 6 to 10% of the remaining skimmer population in Florida and has been one of the most productive in the state.
It has nested as close as 10 feet from the southern boundary of TradeWinds, where the main stage is planned. In the most recent years, it has been about three-quarters of a mile away.
Colony formation and egg laying typically begin in the last week of April through May — directly overlapping with the festival and its proposed setup.
Forys said she is not aware of another event of this size ever being permitted near a black skimmer colony in the United States.
“It really is the size and scale of this event that is concerning,” she said. Disturbance during the breeding period could delay nesting or cause the colony to abandon its nests entirely. She said she remains concerned about the number of people on the beach after nightly concerts, the intensity of disturbance during event setup, and the potential impact of emergency vehicle access on nesting birds.
Forys also raised concerns about sand compaction. Heavy equipment and staging on the recently renourished beach could increase erosion, she said, citing research showing that compacted sand is less permeable, causing water to carry sand grains away more easily. The impact could extend beyond TradeWinds to adjacent properties.
She said some of the organizers’ mitigation measures are positive but that the scale of the event is the problem.
“If the music festival organizers could get creative and find a way to have a portion of the event at the TradeWinds, but have the massive, multiday event at a place that is set up for big crowds, that seems like there would be a much lower chance of having the colony abandon,” Forys said.
In a letter to the mayor and city commissioners, Forys asked the city to deny the special event permit and urged Country Thunder to consider an off-beach site. The St. Petersburg Audubon Society, of which Forys is president of the volunteer chapter, has also written to the city opposing the permit.
Reich, founder of the Coastal Wildlife Advocacy Group and a 13-year veteran of sea turtle patrol work in Pinellas County, said her patrol logs show nests appearing on St. Pete Beach — including in front of TradeWinds — in the first weeks of May. She provided photographs and log entries documenting nests at the site.
TradeWinds response
In a statement issued before the city manager’s letter, TradeWinds said it has worked with the city, FWC, DEP and environmental experts to ensure the festival meets environmental standards. The resort said a certified avian specialist from Environmental Consultants of Florida is monitoring the site before, during and through event teardown, and that a survey conducted March 30 found no nests on the property.
Wildlife advocates called that finding misleading. Sea turtle nesting season does not begin until May 1. Forys said black skimmers don’t nest until late April anywhere in the United States.
“We never get sea turtle nests in March,” Reich said. “This statement is totally irrelevant and intended to mislead people.”
TradeWinds said temporary walkways would be removed nightly and fencing placed to allow unobstructed turtle passage. The resort also said a portion of ticket sales would go to Sea Turtle Trackers, a nonprofit whose founder, Bruno Falkenstein, spoke in support of the festival at a March 24 City Commission meeting.
Reich said the arrangement amounts to $2 per ticket sold and called it a conflict of interest. Sea Turtle Trackers did not respond to questions about the financial arrangement or whether it was in place before the meeting.
Reich also conducted a lighting survey of TradeWinds on March 30 and said the results showed noncompliant lighting visible from the beach and furniture that has never been removed during nesting season as required by the city’s Marine Turtle Protection Ordinance. She provided photographs documenting the findings, as well as a photograph of a 2023 sea turtle nest in front of TradeWinds that she said was reported to city code enforcement for noncompliant lighting. The city said no code enforcement violation was found when Reich filed a complaint in 2024.
In 2023, volunteers trained by the Sea Turtle Conservancy surveyed every beachfront property on St. Pete Beach. Reich said not one was compliant with the ordinance.
TradeWinds, owned by South Florida-based 1754 Properties, has pointed to a $5 million investment in turtle-friendly lighting, window tinting and beach chair replacement. The resort holds a Florida Green Lodging certification.
Commission weighs in
The festival’s incidental take permit became a flashpoint at the March 24 commission meeting, when Commissioner Lisa Robinson pressed Blevins on the application. The permit, sought from FWC, would shield organizers from liability if state-threatened shorebirds are harmed during the event.
“So you could kill birds?” Robinson asked.
“I don’t want to kill birds,” Blevins said.
“But you could with a ‘take permit’?”
“I guess so,” Blevins said.
At that meeting, the festival had no state environmental permit, no approved site plan and no submitted traffic, parking or waste management plan. Blevins said organizers had sold nonrefundable tickets, booked headliners Kane Brown, Zach Top and Shaboozey, and had no backup venue.
Blevins told commissioners Country Thunder was not informed about nesting season when TradeWinds helped select the May dates.
“We don’t want to impede on any wildlife,” Blevins said. “But at this point, with our talent booked, it’s difficult for us to get out of those dates without a very large penalty.”
Robinson warned organizers to expect resistance.
“Hundreds of hours have been put into protecting St. Pete Beach’s wildlife,” she said. “Don’t be surprised if you get large backlash from the community, because we have it in our Comp Plan to take care of our wildlife.”
Commissioner Karen Marriott called the situation “absolutely unfortunate” but noted TradeWinds has hosted large events before, including a Bike and Music Fest and a Bucs Bash. Both were held outside nesting season.
What happens next?
As of April 6, TradeWinds has not confirmed it will comply with the city manager’s directive, Robustelli said. TradeWinds did not respond to questions before publication.
Blevins told commissioners at the March 24 meeting that tickets had already been sold and were nonrefundable. Country Thunder has been publicly advertising the festival and selling tickets since December.
A community group organized a protest under the slogan “Let them nest, move the fest,” and a petition calling on organizers and authorities to prevent harm to nesting wildlife is circulating.
Not all residents oppose the event. Monte Hoge told the commission the community hasn’t recovered from the 2024 hurricanes and could use the economic boost. TradeWinds said the festival would support local businesses and that it is partnering with Hurricane Helpers of Florida on onsite hurricane relief fundraising.
Country Thunder said at the March 24 meeting it has tentatively reserved a date for next year, outside the nesting window.
“What we want to do is get through this year,” Blevins said, “and then figure out when we can come back.”