ANNA MARIA – City commission approval of a special use permit to operate a package liquor store at 501 Pine Ave. has been delayed for at least two weeks.
Ryan Quigley and Jake Parsons hope to open a package liquor store in space to be leased from Barbara and Jason Sato.
“There’s some additional information needed from the applicant so we’ll likely discuss that at the next meeting,” Commission Chair Charlie Salem said when removing the special use permit request from the agenda for the March 13 Anna Maria City Commission meeting. The commission meets next on Thursday, March 27.
According to the written request that Quigley and Parsons submitted on March 4, “Both applicants were raised on Anna Maria Island and still live on AMI today. Both applicants are sensitive to the issues that the city is faced with and neither applicant has any intention to change the charm of Pine Avenue.”
The written request addresses a city law enacted in 2022 that prohibits liquor sales at an establishment located within a half-mile of another establishment already permitted to sell liquor.
“As required by ordinance, this location is not within a half-mile of any establishment that sells liquor that was permitted after June 1, 2022. Furthermore, there are currently no package liquor stores in the city of Anna Maria,” the written statement says.
The written statement notes that Quigley and Parsons have an agreement in place to purchase an existing beer, wine and liquor sales license pending city commission approval of the special use permit. That state-issued license would not allow for the onsite consumption of alcohol.
Located at 10002 Gulf Drive, Bortell’s Lounge owner Steve Rose has long held a 4COP liquor license that allows his establishment to sell sealed bottles of beer, wine and liquor for takeout, and his grandfathered status to do so predates current city code.
