ST. PETE BEACH, Fla. — Hundreds of people are waiting for permits from the city of St. Pete Beach after Hurricanes Helene and Milton destroyed their homes or properties.
Shaun Carcary operates 360 Beach near St. Pete Beach. Storm surge destroyed the meter panel on his building.
He said he applied for a permit with the city about a month ago and is still waiting.
"All I need is the city to open my permit, come by, and give me an inspection, which could be the next day," Carcary said. "They'll send a letter to Duke Energy 48 hours after that I got power, and I'll be back in business."
Carcary said he is losing about $20,000 a month in revenue as he waits for a permit.
"I’m calling them every second day, but I'm not getting a response," he said. "There’s no movement on it. We get repeat customers that come through from Thanksgiving onward into January and the problem is snowbirds are being turned away."
Carcary said he continues to have to cancel bookings since he's waiting on that permit.
"We got no bookings for the rest of December. We had to cancel," he said. "I'm hoping not to cancel January. We do month-at-a-time bookings most of the time."
Other business owners shared a similar story. In November, dozens of homeowners and business owners packed a city council meeting to air their frustrations.
ABC Action News reached out to the city of St. Pete Beach.
According to a city spokesperson, 243 storm-related permits have been issued, with another 202 approved, but pending the completion and delivery of substantial damage letters for those properties. 343 permit applications are actively under review.
The 1,286 permit applications submitted since Oct. 1 are all for storm-related damage to residential and commercial structures. The primary challenges remain the same:
- Waiting on SD determination letters (approximately 2,420 pending)
- Incomplete permit application packages
- Time to process/QC all components of applications
A city spokesperson told ABC Action News, "Next Monday (if not sooner) a revised SI/SD package will be posted to our website for the community to use. It is intended to be more user friendly (i.e., fillable fields with auto calculations) and help make review of the packet easier for the staff, as well. People who have already filled out their SI/SD paperwork do not need to redo it. There will also be SD letter APPEAL form posted to our website in the coming days, as well. People who choose to appeal will be able to complete the form and send it with all other pertinent information to sdappeal@stpetebeach.org."
The spokesperson also said in an email, "With the increase in availability of SD letters and the increased staffing, we anticipate that the process will continue to gain speed and momentum."
A state report says hundreds of frail elderly nursing home residents were stacked side by side, head to toe in a small church with no working air conditioning or refrigerator during Hurricane Helene.
