HOLMES BEACH – With beachgoers filing a lawsuit Friday against the property owners on 78th Street who closed a beach access point, the Real Island Podcast team took to the airwaves Sunday in hopes of helping both sides find an amicable solution.
Podcast hosts Abigail Nunn, Dick Gordon and Brian Blaine hosted a special live broadcast from the beach at 78th Street, just in front of the now-closed access path, to give people on both sides of the issue a platform to have their concerns addressed.
Though no solutions to the dispute are on the horizon, area residents and representatives of the property owners did get to air their grievances in a neutral environment.
Matthew Carmon, whose family owns 103 and 105 78th St., said his mother, Linda, purchased her home because of its proximity to a beach access point. With his mother on full-time oxygen therapy, Carmon said the closure of the path has greatly reduced her ability to enjoy the beach and that walking to another street to get to the sand isn’t an option for her.
Linda Carmon is one of three named plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the property owners at 100 and 101 78th St. which alleges that neighbors and the public have a right to use the path. The other plaintiffs are 107 78th Street Investments LLC and Minh N. Vu.
The issue arose in late April when a long-used path to the beach at the end of the street was closed to public use without notice. Residents who had been using the path for beach access were met by no trespassing signs and an off-duty Holmes Beach police officer at the street side entrance to the path. When they protested the sudden change, city leaders looked into the issue and discovered that the beach access path is located on privately owned property, leaving Mayor Judy Titsworth and city commissioners unable to reopen the path to the public.
While there was once an easement on the property for a walkway, as of 2014, the easement had disappeared from the deed for the property at 101 78th St., owned by Travis Resmondo and Bryce Raub. After consulting City Attorney Erica Augello, Titsworth said that the easement that was on previous deeds for the property did not specify who the easement benefited, making it possible for the owners to close it to the public.
In the lawsuit filed May 20 in Manatee County Circuit Court, the plaintiffs allege that the closure of the beach access path is in violation of two existing 10-foot walkway easements on the properties at 98 and 99 78th St. The two lots are unbuildable with dunes and other native vegetation. The property at 98 78th St. is owned by the Oceana Condo Association while the 99 78th St. lot is owned by Resmondo. Attorney Fred Moore, representing the plaintiffs, notes that the beach access path starts on Resmondo’s property before traversing the condo association’s property and ending on the beach.
Plaintiffs allege that the closure of the beach path has adversely affected their enjoyment of their properties as well as devalued their properties. All three plaintiffs note that their properties are used for vacation rentals and that rentals of their properties have also been adversely affected.
In addition to starting a petition on Change.org to restore the beach path to public use, which had garnered more than 700 signatures as of press time for The Sun, neighbors have set up a GoFundMe page for donations for legal fees. For more information on the neighborhood movement, visit www.savethebeachaccess.com. To view a recording of the podcast, visit www.facebook.com/realislandpodcast.
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