State awards Pinellas County $75,000 Resilience Planning Grant

Pinellas County is one of the 33 communities in Florida that has been selected for grant funding under the State of Florida’s Florida Resilient Coastlines Program for the Financial Year 2020/2021. This Grant is provided annually by the State of Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

Pinellas County will utilize the $75,000 grant for a proposed project that would identify policies in the Coastal Management Element of its Comprehensive Plan that help achieve compliance with Florida’s “Peril of Flood” state statute. Additionally, the project will also update the vulnerability analysis section within the County's Post-Disaster Redevelopment Plan. The project will identify local community’s vulnerabilities that need to be addressed well in advance of a major disaster, in order to ensure a speedy and well-thought out, post-disaster recovery.

RPG Grant Program

The purpose of the RPG grant program provided by the State, is to promote community resilience-planning including, compliance with the “Peril of Flood” Statute within a community’s Comprehensive Plan; analyzing a variety of risks and vulnerabilities; and developing plans and policies that help address risks associated with disasters and changing coastal conditions.

Read more about Resilience Planning Grant and the Florida Resilient Coastlines Program here:

The Senate Bill 1094, titled “Peril of Flood” was passed in 2015 and became effective on July 1, 2015. This specifies new requirements for the coastal management elements of a local government’s comprehensive plan in relation to, coastal flooding and related impacts of sea level rise. The RPG grant awarded, will be utilized to bring Pinellas County’s Comprehensive Plan in compliance with these requirements. The grant funding will be used to identify development and redevelopment principles, and strategies; site development techniques; and best practices that address the “Peril of Flood” requirements.

Pinellas County’s Post-Disaster Redevelopment Plan was first developed in 1994 and last updated in 2012. The Plan specifically focuses on addressing redevelopment and long-term recovery needs following a major disaster. A part of the RPG grant funding will be utilized to update the Plan’s vulnerability assessment and make it more current, considering our growth patterns, demographic shifts, socio-economic profile and other factors. It will build on the risk assessment completed as a part of the recently updated 2020 Local Mitigation Strategy (LMS) and will complement the County's ongoing resiliency-focused initiatives.

The project will involve public workshops and outreach through social media, website, and the Local Mitigation Strategy (LMS) Storymap, in addition to coordination with various departments, Pinellas County’s municipalities, and other stakeholders that are identified through the planning process.

The time-frame for the grant is from August 31, 2020 to June 30, 2021.

Questions?

We appreciate your interest in the project. Your input is invaluable in attaining the project goals. Please share your thoughts on the proposed project. In case you have any questions, or would like to be a part of the project, please contact us using the information below:

Smita Ambadi, AICP, LEED ND

[email protected]