HOLMES BEACH – Holmes Beach Mayor Judy Titsworth declined Manatee County Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge’s request to meet and discuss the city’s past elimination of street-side parking spaces.
Titsworth rejected Van Ostenbridge’s request to meet in part because Van Ostenbridge’s invitation did not extend to Holmes Beach Police Chief Bill Tokajer.
As the District 3 county commissioner, Van Ostenbridge represents all three Anna Maria Island cities. Van Ostenbridge was sworn into office on Nov. 17. During the county commission work meeting held later that day, Van Ostenbridge threatened to withhold future beach renourishment funding from the city of Holmes Beach because of the city’s parking reductions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Mayor Titsworth and the Holmes Beach City Commission have jeopardized future beach renourishment projects in their city. I will not support county participation in beach renourishment projects in Holmes Beach until on-street parking levels are returned to pre-COVID-19 levels. I am drawing a line in the sand,” Van Ostenbridge said, during his first county meeting.
Meeting sought
Vida Gordon is the executive administrative assistant to the county commission. On Tuesday, March 23, Gordon sent Titsworth an email on behalf of Van Ostenbridge which said, “Commissioner Van Ostenbridge would like to meet with you and staff regarding: Public parking on city streets in the city of Holmes Beach. Manatee County participation in future beach renourishment projects.”
Within 30 minutes, Titsworth sent Gordon her response.
“Please ask the commissioner to take the time to witness the high traffic in our city on our many sunny weekends prior to scheduling this meeting. I see no reason to have a meeting until he takes the time to see it for himself. Saturdays would be a great time, as our rather large resort housing industry turns over each Saturday and traffic is at a standstill. If we are going to have real discussions with real solutions, I find it important that he witness this first-hand,” Titsworth stated in her email.
“I would also ask that he drive through the residential neighborhoods to take note of the beach access parking we currently provide so that he can more easily understand the issues. This may allow him a better perspective to see the limits the city is facing in accommodating all our county residents and tourists who want to arrive by car,” Titsworth wrote.
“As for the Manatee County participation in beach nourishment, I am well advised as to the interlocal agreement we have with the county and the city’s continued participation to provide beach access public parking. If he would like to discuss any proposed changes to this agreement at this meeting, please advise prior, as I would ask that Charlie Hunsicker be present to inform us of any changes in requirements at the state level. The chief and I are available on April 12. Please ask him to come to city hall,” Titsworth wrote.
A short time later, Gordon sent Titsworth Van Ostenbridge’s response.
“I have seen first-hand the traffic challenges on AMI at peak hours. I look forward to hearing from the mayor in our meeting. I am hoping for a constructive meeting that will enable the mayor and myself to lay out our respective positions. The end goal I have in mind is to create a more welcoming environment on AMI and increase accessibility to our public beaches. My hope is that this meeting will be a productive first step,” Van Ostenbridge wrote.
“Mr. Hunsicker has been invited to the meeting as well as county attorney (Bill) Clague. If she would like to remove either of those invitees from the meeting, I will oblige her request. That said, my invitation does not extend to the Holmes Beach Police Chief,” Van Ostenbridge wrote.
Upon receipt of that message, Titsworth informed Gordan that she would not be meeting with Van Ostenbridge.
“If the meeting does not extend to the police chief who has first-hand knowledge on why parking was eliminated on certain streets, then I see no reason to have the meeting. Per the commissioner’s email, he feels he has all the experience he needs on the traffic, congestion and parking constraints. Unfortunately, he does not have the credentials to determine where parking works and where it does not. If I am to accept a meeting with the commissioner to discuss parking in the neighborhoods, I will expect the chief to attend. As for the county attorney, I see no reason why his services would be needed at this time,” Titsworth wrote.
“With all due respect, any comments made by the commissioner up to this point have been threatening in nature. I understand his position, as he does mine. There is no reason to take up any additional time in laying out our positions. Any proposed additional parking in Holmes Beach will require a traffic study by FDOT, including a viable plan for bringing additional cars on and off the Island. Any additional parking will need to include restroom facilities,” Titsworth wrote.
“If a meeting cannot be agreed to, I would suggest the commissioner attend a city meeting so he can express his concerns regarding the ‘unwelcoming environment’ and the accessibility to the beaches. I am certain the board would welcome hearing his suggestions, being that he is our new district representative,” Titsworth wrote.
Titsworth then received an email from Gordon that stated Van Ostenbridge would be happy to meet with the mayor in the county commissioners’ conference room or in his office in downtown Bradenton.
In response, Titsworth wrote, “If he is unwilling to come visit the city he represents, I will have to decline to attend the meeting. I can already see where it is heading. Commissioner Kruse was happy to meet me and the chief at our city. My door is always open.”
Chief’s comments
When contacted Friday, Tokajer said, “For Commissioner Van Ostenbridge to invite the mayor to a meeting that dictates which staff is allowed to attend is another example of his abuse of the perceived power of his position. I do not see our mayor and commission being bullied by empty threats about future beach renourishment.”
“As a city, we’ve more than upheld our requirements set forth in the interlocal agreement with Manatee County on parking. Do you really think the county is going to stop receiving federal funds for beach renourishment for the largest tourist destination in Manatee County? Are they going to stop advertising Anna Maria Island as a tourist destination? If the county is not going to do beach renourishment, they can give the city back the millions of dollars in the tourist tax revenues they collect from the Holmes Beach community,” Tokajer said.
“The city’s residential areas should not be made into a parking lot. The county needs to come up with some other ideas as to where people can park – and the places they come up with need to have facilities such as bathrooms, changing stations and lifeguards. We need to do something to balance the amount of people coming into our residential areas,” Tokajer said.
“Right now, there are 1,264 parking spaces that are open to the public, and 500 of those are dedicated to meeting beach renourishment parking requirements. We have an additional 645 spaces for residential parking by permit. The city’s parking plan is truly working in the manner in which we thought it would,” he added.
Tokajer doesn’t anticipate the city restoring its parking capacity to pre-pandemic levels.
“The commission has already voted numerous times on this parking plan and they unanimously support the plan we have now. No matter what this commissioner does, I don’t see them going back to that,” he said.
Citing data collected by license plate readers positioned along the city’s main thoroughfares, Tokajer said, “From March 1 through noon today, March 26, we had 621,569 vehicles that came on and off Island in Holmes Beach during that 26-day period. That’s an average of 24,675 vehicles per day. Even if we opened up the 2,400 parking spaces we had before COVID, that’s still leaves another 22,000 cars a day that have nowhere to park.
“Commissioner Kruse was willing to come here to Holmes Beach and sit down with the mayor and I to discuss things and learn why we did what we did. If Commissioner Van Ostenbridge wants to dictate who the mayor’s going to bring to a meeting, then I guess we’re not going to have it,” Tokajer said.
