MANATEE COUNTY – Commissioners are floating the idea of charging for ramp access at the yet-to-be constructed Cortez Marina.
Manatee County purchased the Seafood Shack property in December for $13 million with the intent of creating a public boat access facility that will include boat ramps.
Plans for the marina were discussed at a Feb. 13 town hall meeting conducted by District 3 Commissioner Tal Siddique.
Capt. Scott Moore asked about possible fees for use of the boat ramps
“How do you not charge and apply a discount for residents and commercial fishermen?” Moore asked.
“That is the conversation we’re having around the marina property,” Siddique said. “One, we don’t have a plan, and two, I’m very careful when discussing fees. The marina property gives us an opportunity to have an Annie’s-like amenity (Annie’s Bait and Tackle, which is severely hurricane damaged). We’re not ready to propose it, but that’s where the thought is.”
Siddique said he asked staff to prepare a business model to ensure that any funds collected at boat ramps will stay at the boat ramps.
Moore noted that many other counties charge for boat ramp usage.
“Tampa, people pay to use the boat ramps,” Moore said. “We’ve been very fortunate here.”
Traffic and public input
“We had no notification, we had no idea the county was going to buy the Seafood Shack. There was no planning, there was no discussion,” said one Cortez resident, who did not give her name. “To get to Seafood Shack, that’s the access to our homes back there. There will be trucks going back and forth to pick up their boats. I’m here to ask if there is a plan and who is planning this? How do I find out what’s going on?”
“As far as a plan goes, it was bought with the intent to have boat ramps and a marina,” Siddique said. “My plan is this; add sufficient parking so we can relieve traffic on the new bridge, have a ferry service to Bridge Street, we already have the boats to do it, and the ferry to take you from downtown Bradenton to Anna Maria. We’ll take the two that we have and run them north-south just on the Island. For Seafood Shack, my challenge is this, to get cars off the road.”
Attendees asked Siddique what the specific plans for the parcel are.
“Is that normal to buy something for millions of dollars with no plan?” one attendee asked.
“We’re working on it,” Siddique said. “If Manatee County were to buy the property and not tell you what the plan is and not have any public input… I’m working now on having public workshops.”
He said he visualizes a trolley service to help alleviate traffic.
“My vision is we get a trolley just for Cortez that takes you from Seaflower (on 75th and Cortez Road), loops through Cortez and stops at the marina, people get off there and they can take the ferry. I want to make sure we’re giving people options.”
Siddique said a priority for the property now is to try to clear some 15 boats that are sunk at the former Seafood Shack marina.
He said he would like to expand the historic designation that the village has to the boat ramp area across Cortez Road.
“I want to be sure we preserve a significant part of that for charter boat captains and for fishermen,” he said.
Siddique said the final plans for the boat ramp will be a product of public input.
“There will be workshops in the near future,” Siddique told The Sun on Feb. 14. “I’d like to see those happen as soon as possible.”
The town hall meeting video can be viewed on YouTube at “Tal Siddique Town Hall @ Island Branch Library.”
Related coverage: Seafood Shack parcel sale closes
