St. Petersburg Calls for State Crane Standards

By: Colleen Wright
Source: Tampa Bay Times (TNS)

ST. PETERSBURG — City Council members will hold a vote to formally ask the Florida Legislature to not only repeal a state law that bars local governments from regulating construction cranes, but also come up with uniform state crane safety standards.

At a committee meeting Thursday, St. Petersburg council members and city officials went over what could be done to prevent a crane from collapsing again. During Hurricane Milton’s fiercest winds, a crane on top of the city’s tallest building tumbled 450 feet and destroyed an office building home to a law firm, a defense contractor, a juice shop and the Tampa Bay Times.

A Times investigation spotlighted how efforts to regulate cranes have been stifled by powerful construction industry lobbyists. City Council member Gina Driscoll, whose district includes downtown, began working with city attorneys 48 hours after the crane collapse to find out what was within the city’s power.

She recalled how at a St. Petersburg Downtown Neighborhood Association meeting in January, crane safety was the dominant topic.

“I had to look them in the eye and say right now there is nothing we can do to protect you,” Driscoll said. “And that is a really tough thing for a City Council member to have to do.”

St. Petersburg Building Official Don Tyre suggested that the state should have the Florida Building Commission create standards for regulating cranes, an approach similar to the milestone inspection program that came out of the Surfside condominium collapse. For example, the state could require that contractors select tower cranes designed for the same windspeed that the proposed building would be built to withstand. Tyre will help draft a resolution that will be brought to the City Council for approval.

But officials acknowledged they could improve the city’s disaster operations procedures and better notify residents and property owners in harms’ way. The city only notified residents and owners of buildings around tower cranes that couldn’t be dismantled the day before Milton’s arrival by posting fliers. Those areas were not under evacuation and the city’s notification came too late to make other plans.

“You have folks who are caught off guard. They thought they were planning things right. Suddenly they’re scared ... And they’re being told to go to a stairwell all of a sudden, and it’s too late to go anywhere and make other plans. So I’m looking for ways that we can be better about that,” Driscoll said.

Tyre said the city is looking at developing a policy that would ask contractors information about what cranes they plan on using before construction starts, so the city knows how much wind the crane can withstand and can better prepare and notify surrounding residents and property owners ahead of a hurricane. That information would have to be voluntarily given, not required, because of the current prohibition against local regulation.

“Most developers want to do the right thing. We can ask them to provide that information,” Tyre said. “I think most will be upfront and provide it.”

The city would then use that information to identify fall zones around cranes and provide public safety announcements much sooner. Driscoll suggested that a notification go out about cranes in the area at the beginning of hurricane season, rather than when a major hurricane is on its way.

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