VOLUME 32, NO. 26
Make 2024 your best Earth Day!
APRIL 17, 2024 FRee
the Best news on Anna maria island Since 1992 Astheworldterns 6
Q&A 041724 3 county poised to raise tourist tax. 4
Meetings 5 Opinions 6
10-30 YEARS AGO
looking back. 7
palma Sola Bay testing continues. 8 HB oKs sewer contract. 9 Am works to allow dogs at pier park. 9
Save the date. 10-11
Happenings What’s up on Ami? 10-11
islander.org
2 cities dig into mangrove regulations By ryan paice islander reporter
Earth Day is on the horizon and the cities of Anna Maria and Holmes Beach are exploring possibilities for better protecting an essential part of the island’s ecosystem: mangroves. One possibility, voiced by both Anna Maria Mayor Dan Murphy and Holmes Beach City Commissioner Terry Schaefer over the week of April 8, could involve intercity or islandwide collaboration on enforcing mangrove regulations. Mangroves provide environmental benefits, such as a unique ecosystem for marine life, protection from land erosion and improving nearshore water quality. The 1996 Florida Department of Environmental Protection Mangrove Trimming
and Preservation Act establishes regulations to protect coastal vegetation. The law sets standards for trimming mangroves and some alterations require DEP permitting and a licensed landscape contractor. A discussion about those regulations and their enforcement was sparked last December, when Bradenton-based Mason Martin construction company removed more than 100 feet of shoreline mangrove fringe at 111 Gull Drive, Anna Maria. The work was exempted by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection because it was not a natural shoreline, but had not yet been permitted by the city and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The situation inspired the cities to explore potential changes to further pro-
mangroves are essential to coastal habitats. islander file photo
tect mangroves, to reclaim the authority to enforce mangrove regulations from the DEP. City officials, such as Schaefer, have argued the municipalities could better
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The will of the people
Solar sensation. 12
Schooled on earth day. 13
Gathering. 14
protesters against a county parking garage and a state study to consolidate or dissolve the island cities line the sand April 13 at manatee public Beach for a Hands Across the Sand demonstration. rally organizers said more than 300 people attended. more, page 5. islander photo: robert Anderson
Obituaries 14 GoodDeeds 15 Streetlife 16
NYT puzzle. 16 Am mulls grandfathering cBd sales. 17
Island recycling cycles toward 3rd decade By robert Anderson islander reporter
Anna Maria Island communities are protecting paradise one bottle at a time. More than two decades ago, the city of county takes over causeAnna Maria took steps to address resident way maintenance. 18 concerns over sustainability, implementing the first curbside recycling project on Anna center kicks off soccer. 20 Maria Island. This year marks the 27th anniversary of fishing heats up. 21 the recycling program, which helped foster similar programs in Holmes Beach and BraNESTING NOTES 22 denton Beach. Over the years, higher numbers of shortterm rentals prompted the need for a wideearth day pride. 23 scale recycling solution on the island. Bradenton Beach launched its program cLASSIFIEDS. 24-25 20 years ago this spring. The city-adminIsl Biz: 26 istered program ended in 2011, when they contracted those services from Waste Pro, a the islander archive, national waste removal and recycling cordating to november 1992, poration. is at the university of Holmes Beach started a recycling proflorida digital newspaper collection: ufdc.ufl.edu. gram in 2010 and moved under contract
RoadWatch 17
Waste pro employees sort recycling as it heads for processing at the Waste pro center in Sarasota. islander courtesy photo
in 2015 with Waste Management and then Waste Pro. Anna Maria started the first island program in 1997 and is under contract with Waste Management. “Out here on the island, our people are
more active about recycling and removing generational plastics from the beach,” Holmes Beach code compliance supervisor JT Thomas told The Islander April 11. He said success of the recycling pro-
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