HOLMES BEACH – Leaders from state, county and city governments are coming together to find solutions to ongoing public parking and beach access issues on Anna Maria Island.
Holmes Beach Mayor Judy Titsworth hosted a May 4 meeting with participants including Bradenton Beach Mayor John Chappie, Anna Maria Mayor Dan Murphy, Manatee County Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge, Florida State Sen. Jim Boyd and Florida State Rep. Will Robinson. While the meeting was closed to the public and press, Titsworth shared what was discussed and the ways that participants are working together to address beach access issues, particularly in Holmes Beach.
Titsworth agreed that city leaders and staff would publish a new parking map to identify areas in the city where beach parking is available, including at the county-owned public beach and along residential city streets. She also said that city staff would physically mark all beach access parking spots to make them easily identifiable.
City leaders also said they will reach out to area churches to see if they’re interested in opening their parking lots for use by beachgoers and, if so, assist them through the process to get any approvals needed from city commissioners. A suggestion was made during the meeting that Manatee County leaders provide portable restrooms and trash receptacles at any parking lots offered for beach parking to assist in keeping them clean and providing needed amenities for beachgoers.
At the suggestion of Boyd, Titsworth said city leaders will look at the Holmes Boulevard corridor to see if there is any opportunity to safely add more parking without creating a hazard for the pedestrians and bicyclists who often use the road.
Van Ostenbridge committed to looking further into the possibility of building a parking garage at the public beach and submitted a proposal to city commissioners for the project. Since a parking garage is not an approved use in the recreational zone, the project would need two public hearings along with consideration by the Holmes Beach Planning Commission to add the use to the zoning district. If an increase in height limitations in the city is required for the parking garage proposal, it would have to be approved through a charter amendment by Holmes Beach voters before permits for construction could be issued by the city building department.
Another project that Van Ostenbridge agreed to work on is reviewing all public beach access points in the community and determining if they can be acquired through eminent domain for the benefit of the county. He said he’s identified four beach access points with existing easements and wants to avoid conflicts like the one ongoing at 78th Street in Holmes Beach. Private property owners recently closed a long-used beach access path at the end of the street without notice to area residents, stating that the path is located on their private property and an easement that previously existed on the property is not enforceable.
City Attorney Erica Augello said that the easement on the 78th Street property for the path does not specify who the easement benefits and therefore cannot be enforced for public use.
Chappie asked Boyd during the meeting to look into broadening the use of tourist tax funds to see if they can be used to fund infrastructure and safety needs in the Anna Maria Island cities. Right now, those funds can only be used for projects benefitting tourism, such as the creation of a park.
Titsworth asked that state leaders consider giving a percentage of the bed tax funds back to the cities directly rather than restricting the use of the funds through the tourist tax program.
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