ANNA MARIA – The Anna Maria Planning and Zoning Board recommends city commission approval of a request to vacate an existing utilities easement at 117 Peppertree Lane.
The board-supported request to vacate the easement is included on the City Commission’s Thursday, Feb. 8 meeting agenda.
The residential property is owned by 117 Peppertree LLC. According to the property owner’s attorney, Taylor Faulkner, the property was platted in 1925 and the current home was built in 1967. In 1971, a garage and concrete driveway were built atop an existing utility easement previously granted to the city. In 2003, the city commission approved a request to vacate the easement, but there’s no record of that request ever being finalized and recorded.
City Planner Ashely Austin said the existing 10-foot-wide easement would be exchanged for a new 7-foot-wide easement located closer to Gulf Drive. Austin said the city currently has no plans to use the new easement area, but it will be there if ever needed.
The board voted 4-0 in support of recommending city commission approval of the request.
Board configuration
Anna Maria resident Janis Ian was recently appointed to the planning board but prior to the board’s Jan. 31 meeting, she informed the city clerk’s office that she would not be joining the board due to other obligations.
Recently appointed planning board member Jeff Rodencal did not attend the Jan. 31 meeting but is expected to participate in the board’s next meeting on Wednesday, March 13.
The addition of Ian and Rodencal would have created a six-member board, which would have then resulted in longtime board member David Haddox becoming an alternate board member rather than a regular board member due to the anticipated sale of his Anna Maria home. With Ian’s withdrawal, Haddox will continue to serve as a regular board member until his house sells and he forgoes his city residency.
Form 6 email
During Wednesday’s meeting, board member Lisa Bagwell said she received an email from the Florida Commission on Ethics informing her that she would be required to file a Form 6 financial disclosure form later this year. None of the other planning board members received a similar email.
Participating by phone, City Attorney Becky Vose said city commission-appointed Planning and Zoning Board members are not subject to the Form 6 financial disclosure requirements that now apply to elected and appointed mayors and city commissioners. Vose surmised the email must have been mistakenly sent to Bagwell.
