BRADENTON BEACH – Acting Building Official Robert Perry issued a stop work order at the Bradenton Beach Marina property after wooden poles were erected without a city permit.
The Feb. 9 stop work order signed by Perry states “work was commenced without permit, approval.” The stop work order lists the property address as 402 Church Ave.
According to Code Enforcement Officer Evan Harbus, the stop work order was lifted after the poles were subsequently removed from the ground.
Harbus stated that as of Feb. 19, there have been no permit requests submitted for a tiki structure at that property.
According to the Manatee County Property Appraiser’s Office, the marina property at 402 Church Street is owned by the Bazzy Marine Corporation. The 2026 Florida Profit Corporation annual report filed with the Florida Division of Corporations lists Shawn Kaleta as the company president and Louis Najmy and Patrick Bryant as vice-presidents. The Nautilus Bar also operates on the marina property.
PRIOR STOP WORK ORDER
This is not the first time a stop work order was issued at the marina for work that allegedly began prior to permitting.
In March 2024, a cease-and-desist order on the Nautilus Bar was issued by Building Official Darin Cushing, who’s no longer with the city.
Cushing said he saw an announcement of the bar’s opening on Facebook but he said the opening occurred prior to receiving city permits.
“We received an application for the building permit on April 9,” Cushing told The Sun in 2024. “After several reviews by the building department and the fire marshal’s office, the permit was issued on May 1.”
Cushing said an after-the-fact permit is issued when much of the work is already completed.
MARINA EXPANSION PLANS
A plan to replace the marina’s dry storage and boat repair activities with restaurants and retail operations were discussed during the Jan. 16, 2025, Community Redevelopment Agency meeting by then-City Attorney Ricinda Perry.
“There were plans discussed and presented to the building official prior to the hurricane, consisting of interior wall adjustments within the marina building itself, where dry storage is,” Perry said.
Ricinda Perry said boat repairs and the storage of damaged and derelict vessels sometimes result in oil, gasoline and chemical spills. The goal would be to replace those business activities with services that help create a more functional marina that serves day-trippers, overnight visitors, yachts and others to create “a more functioning commercial segment up there.”
During that 2025 discussion, Mayor John Chappie asked if the marina owner was looking to provide overnight stays on the site.
“There’s also been some talk about whether or not it would make sense financially for them to have a few rooms for overnighting, perhaps on the second floor above the Nautilus Bar, looking over the water,” Perry said. “There’s also been talk about what was described to me as a staging area for food trucks and bands and a kid’s playground. Right now, the only thing that’s been presented to Darin (Cushing) was just taking the internal side of that, partitioning it off and taking out the dry storage and putting in shops and restaurants. The plan, as I understood, is to eliminate all the dry storage inside, all of the boat repairs that are inside, and install retail and restaurants that you can access from the outside as you’re walking down both sides of that marina.”
Perry noted the uninsured marina docks sustained significant damage during Hurricane Helene and it would cost the marina owners millions of dollars to repair them.
An Instagram post shared in March 2024, before the hurricanes struck, included several images of a potential food truck court and outdoor dining area to be created on the marina property. To date, those plans have not materialized.
