BRADENTON BEACH – After city officials put a halt to what they said was the unpermitted operation of a new bar at the Bradenton Beach Marina in March, building official Darin Cushing said the proper approval process is now underway.
On March 25, the Marina Facebook page announced the opening of the bar, serving beer and wine.
Cushing said he saw the post and on March 26 issued a cease and desist order, which was posted in the bar area.
“The basis of the cease and desist order was that there was a bar built out in that section of the marina,” Cushing said. “And we said no, don’t work on it, don’t stock it.”
The Bradenton Beach Marina, 402 Church St. is owned by developer Shawn Kaleta.
“I have a fully open door, anytime somebody has an idea for a project and says we’d like to get it going, ask us, ‘What do we need to do? What do we need for permitting? What do we need for drawings?’ Come talk to me ahead of time. Do it that way, then you apply and get approval and then you do the work,” Cushing said.
Since the March 26 order, he said plans and an application to build the bar have been received by his office.
“I met down there with the design professional and one of the fire marshals was there and we discussed what they needed,” Cushing said on April 18. “Yesterday I did my first initial review of the plans and the fire department did their initial review. And we both kicked it back and sent some comments back to the design professional.”
Cushing said he signed off on the marina’s application for a full liquor license.
“They do have a beer and wine license for the marina as a whole and they’re kind of saying that’s all we’re doing right now,” Cushing said. “I did sign the application for the liquor license yesterday or the day before. That’s in the hands of the state. We have to sign it, the health department has to sign it and one other entity before it goes up to the state.”
