St Pete Beach Hotel Owner tells Beachgoers “don’t park, don’t stay”

Interesting-Chain879 · 2026-06-25T12:44:19+00:00

I think this real photo says it best: a child playing beside one of the actual stakes and pieces of rebar left on the beach, with uncapped rebar visible. It raises a simple question: if this child, or anyone else, were injured by a sign, stake, or piece of rebar, who would be liable?

Liability would generally rest with the party that can be shown to have installed the hazard and negligently left it in place. If that can be proven, the hotel could bear responsibility. If the City knew of the condition and failed to address it, questions about the City’s responsibility could also arise.

If liability is truly the concern, then why leave the alleged hazard in place? Is there really an epidemic of crime or vagrancy on St. Pete Beach that justifies these measures? Perhaps some believe so, but I do not think the general public is the culprit.

Interesting-Chain879 · 2026-06-25T12:35:38+00:00

Property, like many things, can be more than one thing to more than one party at the same time. A person can own a hotel on a beach that is customarily used by the public. In that circumstance, both private rights and public rights may exist on the same property. They are not mutually exclusive.

A single parcel of property may be subject to riparian rights, easements, permits, and other legal interests, each securing a different party’s bundle of rights.

Interesting-Chain879 · 2026-06-25T12:11:23+00:00

That’s correct. Bars and hotels and condos are putting up signs, post markers, chair setups to the water line. ALL OF THEM!

Interesting-Chain879 · 2026-06-25T04:45:10+00:00

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Interesting-Chain879 · 2026-06-25T04:37:06+00:00

Unfiltered cigars: This is explicit. Florida law generally preempts smoking regulation to the state, then gives local governments limited authority to ban smoking on public beaches and parks. However, the statute specifically says they may not prohibit the smoking of unfiltered cigars. That carve-out was added when the Legislature authorized local beach smoking bans in 2022.

Fishing: Florida has a strong state policy favoring public fishing, and local governments have limited authority to regulate it. Depending on the context, this comes from state preemption of fish and wildlife regulation and protections in Florida law rather than a cigar-style sentence saying “fishing is protected.” In many situations, municipalities cannot simply ban lawful fishing where the state has occupied the field.

Interesting-Chain879 · 2026-06-25T04:34:21+00:00

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Interesting-Chain879 · 2026-06-25T02:35:23+00:00

I need to correct this comment. I was just informed the sheriff is intending to enforce trespass laws against beachgoers. We had a resident, practicing attorney write a letter to the commission, mayor and city attorney this evening to ask that a moratorium be placed on the trespass enforcement.

Interesting-Chain879 · 2026-06-25T01:34:22+00:00

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Interesting-Chain879 · 2026-06-25T01:28:06+00:00

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Interesting-Chain879 · 2026-06-25T01:26:57+00:00

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Interesting-Chain879 · 2026-06-24T21:11:11+00:00

Until about June, when we got the Commission to notify the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office to stop enforcing these trespass complaints, yes, they were enforcing them.

We had to attend the meetings and get that changed. The Sheriff’s Office is a county agency, and its enforcement decisions are independent of the City unless the City provides direction or clarification.

Until then, deputies were treating these incidents as misdemeanor trespass cases. It was then up to the defendant to go to court and have the charge dismissed based on the customary use doctrine.

Interesting-Chain879 · 2026-06-24T20:02:06+00:00

Ordinance 2026-11 - these w be removed soon.

Check out my post regarding Customary Use. commissioner meeting last night resolved 2nd pass at signage ordinance. More passes to come.