Joe’s Creek Industrial Park master plan outlined 

A master plan to update Joe’s Creek Industrial Park was presented to the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners July 17. 

The 160.7-acre park, adjacent to U.S. 19, is in the Lealman Community Redevelopment Area. 

The industrial park is considered a targeted employment center by Forward Pinellas, the county’s land use and transportation planning agency. This means that it is a selected space for employment opportunities and business growth. 

The master plan was inspired by Forward Pinellas’s Target Employment and Industrial Land Study, which highlighted strategies to support economic development in the county. 

Over 129 businesses have a presence in the park. Pinellas leaders hope more companies utilize the industrial area. 

The goal of the plan was to provide recommendations on land use changes and infrastructure needs “to ensure the viability and make sure that the area continues to thrive,” said Amy Davis, Assistant to County Administrator Barry Burton. 

Land use changes may require updating zoning. 

Jared Schneider, Community and Transportation Planning Leader at engineering and design consulting firm Kimley-Horn and Associates, outlined the plan in detail. 

Supporting existing businesses and encouraging reinvestment is key, he said. Examining the industrial park area’s current infrastructure, such as the stormwater management systems and utilities, was essential when developing suggestions, Schneider added. 

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The Kimley-Horn team performed surveys with community members, stakeholder and business interviews and other activities to get a better understanding of what area residents and business employees would like to see moving forward. 

A key part of the presentation was discussing the possible redevelopment of the industrial area. 

The team created a vision map which showed that more residential and retail space could be added. 

This map highlighted sections of the park area and showed where a primary mixed-use corridor development for residential use and a supporting mixed-use corridor development for neighborhood use including residences, retail, restaurants and light industrial workshops could be added. 

Employees have to travel three to four miles to get to a grocery store, and there are not many restaurants in the area, Schneider explained. 

Employment uses of the area should also be considered, he said. 

Many of the current buildings in the industrial park are more than 50 years old. There are opportunities to reinvest in them, he said. There are also unused lots that are available to be developed. 

The master plan proposes zoning overlay, or additional land regulations, and development code updates. Kimley-Horn estimates that this would take 12 to 14 months.  

Schneider and his team recommended that there should be incremental stormwater improvements as new development occurs. This is because stormwater regulations have been introduced since the park was originally developed. 

Area lift stations and water pipelines may need updates, Schneider said. Some of the pipes are 50 to 60 years old, he added. 

Additionally, the bulkheads that line Joe’s Creek should be further evaluated, Schneider said. These are privately owned. Joe’s Creek is a 9.8 mile creek that runs along St. Petersburg, Pinellas Park, Kenneth City and parts of unincorporated Pinellas including Lealman. 

The Kimley-Horn team was only able to examine readily accessible bulkheads (an estimated 22% of the bulkheads in the entire industrial park). 

“The point of this whole process was to be proactive,” Schneider explained. 

The commissioners did not make a decision as to whether to approve the plan or not. It will be presented again to the board Aug. 19 for consideration of adoption.