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VOL 23 No. 52
August 23, 2023
Commissioners shrink wetland buffers BY LESLIE LAKE SUN CORRESPONDENT | llake@amisun.com
CINDY LANE | SUN
The wetlands at Robinson Preserve connect the Manatee River with Palma Sola Bay. Mangroves flourish there, protecting shorelines from erosion, providing a refuge for juvenile fish and helping purify water. A recent decision by the Manatee County Commission reduces wetlands protections.
CRA votes to discontinue tram funding
A final budget vote is scheduled on Thursday, Sept. 14. BY LESLIE LAKE SUN CORRESPONDENT | llake@amisun.com
BRADENTON BEACH – The Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) board voted unanimously to discontinue funding the Old Town Tram at an Aug. 15 budget meeting. The potential defunding of the tram comes on the heels of another free Anna Maria Island ride service, the Monkey Bus, which has temporarily shut down services while attempting to resolve insurance issues. The Old Town Tram, a free park-andride shuttle service in the CRA district (from the Cortez Bridge to Fifth Street South), is supported by the CRA at a cost of $52,000 annually. “We have $52,000 set aside for this
as a recurring cost in our budget,” City Attorney Ricinda Perry said during the budget discussion meeting. “Is this something that you’re looking at continuing? We have extended and extended and extended the trial period to see if this is a success.” Launched as a pilot program in November 2020, the Old Town Trams were put in place to help address the lack of parking on and around Bridge Street. The program, using two electric golf carts, is provided by the Sarasotabased Easy Parking Group, owned by Joshua LaRose. Perry noted that the tram agreement between the CRA and Easy Parking Group is on a month-to-month basis and could be closed this budget year. “We have had a loose understanding of what is successful. We know that
SEE TRAM, PAGE 25
City and county officials are still at odds over a proposed parking garage at Manatee Beach. BY KRISTIN SWAIN SUN STAFF WRITER | kswain@amisun.com
MANATEE COUNTY – In the aftermath of a Manatee County Commission work session discussing the building of a parking garage at Manatee Beach, city and county officials continue to make their thoughts known on the hotly debated project. During the Aug. 14 work session, county Commissioner Jason Bearden said that the beach parking garage should be “the top priority for the county.” This would rank the proposed three-story parking structure at the county-owned beach in Holmes
Beach, with an estimated 900 parking spaces at a cost of $30-50 million, higher than parking garages at the downtown Bradenton county administration building, among others. Manatee County commissioners stated the garage would provide beach access for everyone in the county, which has almost half a million residents. Anna Maria Island is a 7-mile-long barrier island that is 1 mile wide at the widest point. According to Holmes Beach police, who patrol the Manatee Beach parking lot, the lot has more than 400 parking spaces with hundreds more located within a quarter mile of the public beach access, the only one in the city with restroom, shower and concession facilities.
SEE GARAGE, PAGE 16
REEL TIME casts a long, hard look at
wetland buffers and politics. 19
- enjoy an autumn comfort food. 21
Anna Maria Island, Florida
SEE WETLANDS, PAGE 23
Beach parking garage fight continues
BRAISED BEEF
Page 25
BRADENTON – After a lengthy and contentious land use meeting in which environmentalists, scientists and citizens spoke against a comprehensive plan amendment that would diminish county wetland regulations, Manatee County commissioners voted 6-1 to adopt the state’s less restrictive wetland regulations. The changes to county wetland regulations would reduce the 30-foot wetland buffer for development and remove the 50-foot buffer for environmentally sensitive coastal wetlands to the state’s 25-foot minimum. The changes will require amendments to the county’s comprehensive plan and land development code. Dan DeLisi, of DeLisi Inc., a land planner and former chief of staff for the South Florida Water Management District, spoke at the Aug. 17 meeting. “I was asked to look at where there are overlapping regulations where the state is already providing regulations and is redundant,” he said. “There is a proposed amendment in your comprehensive plan.”
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