ST. PETE BEACH — City commissioners have rewritten the city’s 18-year-old green building rules, adding certification options for developers after the state ended a program used by hotels and easing requirements for single-family homes in the Community Redevelopment District.
The commission unanimously approved the Land Development Code amendment on second reading without discussion.
“St. Pete Beach first adopted green building requirements for new construction and major renovations in 2008,” Senior Planner Brandon Berry told commissioners. Since then, he said, the number of certification programs that meet the city’s goals, including energy efficiency, water conservation and Florida native landscaping, has grown.
At the same time, one of the few options available to hotels disappeared. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection phased out its Florida Green Lodging Program in 2025. It was among the certifications chosen for two major resort projects, the Miramar Resort, which is under construction, and Tradewinds.
“Staff is bringing forward this ordinance to modernize its code and provide additional options,” Berry said.
Under the code, development, redevelopment and major renovation projects in the district must meet at least two green building and development standards. The amendment allows a project that earns a Gold or Platinum rating from Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, known as LEED, or the Florida Green Building Coalition to count that rating as meeting both. Berry said the change is meant to encourage higher achievement in energy and environmental performance.
The amendment also “drastically reduces requirements” for single-family homes built on their own rather than as part of a cluster development, subdivision or larger project, Berry said.
The Planning Board wanted those requirements eliminated, he said, but that would require amending the city’s Comprehensive Plan, which staff plans to take up as part of a larger effort. Until then, staff proposed easier-to-meet alternatives for those homes, such as Energy Star certification.
The Local Planning Agency unanimously recommended the changes at its July meeting.
The ordinance also creates a pilot Green Practices Program offering incentives, including fast-tracked permitting, for projects certified through recognized green building programs.
The city’s green building policy aims to conserve water and energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, cut urban heat with less pavement and more shade trees, reduce parking demand through shared parking, ride-share and shuttle programs, and cut waste through efficient design and recycling. It also commits the city to seek designation as a Coastal Green City through the Florida Green Local Government program, following the lead of Pinellas County, which the city describes as Florida’s first green county.
At the first reading, Commissioner Al Causey asked whether the requirement was “something we’ve been doing in the past, or is it a new thing that is starting to show up because there’s so much new construction?”
Berry said it was a combination of hurricane-related redevelopment and elective development. The rules have been on the books for nearly two decades, he said, but little construction has been subject to them because most residential development took place outside the district.
The Miramar and other current and future commercial projects are subject to the standards, which apply equally throughout the district, he said.
“We do believe the standards we introduced are a significantly lower burden than what we’ve heard from those few property owners who are pursuing the certifications that are currently available in the code,” Berry said.
City Manager Fran Robustelli asked whether the change would be less restrictive for single-family homeowners.
“It isn’t a complete elimination, but it eliminates one of the requirements, and I believe it lessens the cost,” Berry said.
Mayor Scott Tate said the amendment appears to lower the burden on single-family builders while leaving the city room to be more restrictive with commercial conditional use requests.
Berry agreed, saying the change could benefit commercial and nonresidential projects that can be approved administratively, but “anything that comes in for a conditional use permit could be considered separately.”