TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Some St. Pete Beach property owners are questioning why permit fees aren’t waived, as they are in many other areas, and why some people have received fines of $1,000 for failing to get a permit for something as simple as replacing drywall.
Many blamed city inspectors for slowing down their ability to repair their homes.
Cher Raulerson’s home was flooded with four feet of water during Hurricane Helene. Then, Hurricane Milton topped off her nightmare with roof damage.
Raulerson and her neighbors called Better Call Behnken for help, saying some are being unfairly targeted for fines for simple repairs like replacing drywall without a permit.
“I’ve got friends reaching out and saying you were fined and you paid for the permit fee?” she said. “I’ve got people reaching out from Hillsborough County like you mentioned, Pasco county saying they’re not charging us anything and they’re not making up pull permits to put our walls back.”
She was issued a stop work order and fined $1,000. In total, she paid $1,716.88 for things like the permit fee, working without a permit, a surcharge and and $225 for plan review.
St. Pete Beach confirmed it has collected so far $142,753 in permit fees and $12,676 in fines.
“I can assure you that there isn’t a single employee or commissioner that is waking up in the morning with a plan to be unfair,” Spokesman Marc Portugal said.
Portugal told me the city is looking into how change would impact the city’s budget.
“Permitting fees is revenue center for any city,” Portugal said.
Portugal explained that because St. Pete Beach is in a special flood hazard area, it is required that permits are issued, and inspections take place even for simple repairs. He said the ability to get national flood insurance — and the cost — could be impacted if they don’t follow the rules.
“There’s actually an immense amount of compassion, an immense amount of empathy going on, even if it doesn’t feel like it right at the moment,” Portugal said.
The city manager said she’s now authorized code enforcement to issue warnings instead of fines and give homeowners a window to comply.
In addition, the manager said Raulerson’s $1,000 fine will be returned to her, since she immediately applied for the permit when told to.