LARGO — The city suffered more damage from Hurricane Milton than from Helene two weeks earlier, but together the two damaged hundreds of structures, caused more than two dozen road closures and destroyed 99 street signs.

At Largo High School, which served as a shelter for nearly 3,000 people during Hurricane Milton, police and first responders helped deliver a baby boy.

Because of the widespread destruction and hardship, the City Commission unanimously approved a half-dozen resolutions to help residents on Oct. 15.

“Due to the nature of Hurricane Helene, we wanted to extend the time that property owners would have to obtain (emergency repair) permits and complete this work,” Community Development Director Cheryl Reed said of the first of the six resolutions – three for each storm. “So the length is a little bit longer than you’ve seen in previous hurricane resolutions of this type.”

Reed said he is “proposing 120 days for the first resolution that deals with certain types of building permits,” noting language that aligns with the county’s plans to limit the legislation to “owners who have homestead property and or have applied for the designation the household”.

She said if 120 days were deemed insufficient, city staff would be “happy to submit an extension to that deadline because there are homeowners who are going to be doing extensive work on their home.”

The other resolutions proposed temporarily waiving fence repair and tree removal permit fees for 60 days.

“It’s extremely important that homeowners be able to immediately remove those trees that are causing downed power lines and impacting our grid,” Reed said.

Commissioner Jamie Robinson expressed opposition to limiting the legislation to household properties only.

“I just don’t understand the reasoning behind it,” Robinson said. “If it’s an emergency and somebody lives in that property, it’s a rental house, wouldn’t they be eligible to have those fees reduced?”

City Manager John Curp said, “The idea was that commercial property owners don’t need cost relief.”

Robinson responded: “That may be true, but I think it sets a bad precedent. It looks bad, visually. I think the goal here is to fix homes, whether it’s a commercial property or a rental property.”

Commissioner Donna Holck agreed.

“(Tenants) are at the mercy of the people who own those properties to make the repairs,” Holck said.

Mayor Woody Brown said the proposed exclusion would affect not only residential duplexes and rentals, but also uninsured small business owners.

“They have liability insurance, maybe, but they might not insure their building because it’s a small, old house,” Brown said. “The cost of insurance has quadrupled in the last four years. So anything helps them.”

After Reed explained that staff was proposing “a total tax exemption,” motions to approve the hurricane tax waiver resolutions passed, 7-0.

In related news, the board unanimously approved a resolution declaring a state of local emergency in Largo, making the city eligible for hurricane funding and services, and a resolution calling for a moratorium that to collect $75 in fees during Small Business Month in November.

“This will give Largo businesses an opportunity to host various events such as sidewalk sales, on-site promotional events at no cost to them in anticipation of the upcoming holiday shopping season,” said Economic Development Coordinator Charles Stanton.

Stanton noted that businesses must still apply for a temporary event permit in advance of the events.

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