After public fervor and a meeting with the city, a St. Pete Beach bar owner has agreed to remove two “no trespassing” signs at the water’s edge.
Why it matters: The move staves off — for now — a larger battle over beach access that an attorney for the city previously said could become “a test case for the entire state of Florida.”
State of play: The owner of the Undertow Beach Bar met with officials from the city and the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office last week to discuss the signage, St. Pete Beach spokesperson Marc Portugal told Axios.
- The Undertow had installed several signs in the sand behind the bar, but two of them, close enough to the Gulf that water lapped at their bases during high tide, were the most controversial among beachgoers.
What they’re saying: “Based upon the assurances of the city and Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office that trespassing laws will be enforced at the Undertow without the signs, my client has decided to remove the two most seaward signs,” the Undertow’s lawyer, Timothy Weber, told Axios…