For vacation homes, second homes and commercial properties, the dam is breaking on flood insurance premiums kept artificially low with subsidies.

Premiums could rise up to 25 percent per year for five years beginning this year under a law that requires the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to phase out subsidized rates for flood insurance on some non-primary residences and businesses, according to a notice sent by FEMA to building officials on Anna Maria Island.

The Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 has been impacting non-primary residences on the Island since Jan. 1 as their flood insurance policies renew, Bradenton Beach Building Official Steve Gilbert said.

Rate increases also apply to new policies, lapsed policies and policies on properties sold after July 6, 2012. In August, the increases will begin to affect commercial properties.

A non-primary residence is a building lived in for less than 80 percent of the policy year under FEMA regulations.

Other structures, such as primary residences, could see rates increase up to 20 percent instead of the previous 10 percent limit under the law, which is intended to make the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) financially stable after several severe storms in recent years drained funds.

Property owners without mortgages have the option to cancel their policies, unless their homeowner or condominium associations have different requirements, but others are required to carry flood insurance under FEMA regulations.

The law requires the new rates to reflect the full flood risk of insured buildings in Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHA), which includes the Island. It eliminates subsidized rates for non-primary residences in SFHAs; rates for those properties that received subsidized rates based on their pre-Flood Insurance Rate Map (pre-FIRM) status will increase by 25 percent a year until they reflect the full-risk rate, according to FEMA. A pre-FIRM building is one that was built before the community’s first flood map became effective and has not been substantially damaged or improved.

On Aug. 1, the NFIP will begin eliminating subsidized premiums for business properties, severe repetitive loss properties consisting of one to four residences and properties that have incurred flood-related damages where claims payments equal or exceed the fair market value of the property, according to FEMA.

HOLMES BEACH – Attorney Stephen Thompson, representing resident Lance Spotts, has demanded that the city void the special exception for the Mainsail development or face legal action.

Spotts, who was involved in a lawsuit against the city over the original project approval in 2001, owns property adjacent to the project, which is located near the corner of Marina and Gulf drives.

The project has had three different owners, beginning with Nick Easterling in 2001. Reliance Realty Partners joined the project in 2005 and bought out Easterling in 2007. In June 2009 the banks foreclosed on the properties, and Mainsail purchased them.

Since last fall, city commissioners have discussed the possibility of revoking the special exception and site plan approval. They held a public hearing on Feb. 12 and continued it to March 26.

In his letter to the city, Thompson cited two provisions of the city’s code – one which states a special exception shall be void if the recipient does not file an application for a building permit within 180 days of the resolution and another regarding abandonment of use, again under the special exception use regulations.

At the public hearing, Petruff had pointed out that between 2001 and 2012, 20 permits were issued for the project including a marina and sales office, dock work, fencing, signs, a seawall and a foundation and boat lifts.

However, Thompson countered by writing, “To make the argument that there have been incremental permitting or approvals does not meet the test or the intent of this provision of the code, whereby projects that have not or are not moving forward and are abandoned need to have their permits revoked.

“My client and other similarly affected neighbors have waited too long for the city to take action. I have never seen a clearer example of a project that has been abandoned.”

He said if the city does not “determine this Tidemark project to be terminated and the plans expired, we will seek a judicial determination of this issue.”

It’s spring break on Anna Maria Island, but you’re more likely to see a college student studying on a beach blanket than entering bikini or beer drinking contests.

That’s because there aren’t any bikini or beer drinking contests, and the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) would like to keep it that way.

The Island is not marketed as a spring break destination, and while there are exceptions, most college students are here for relaxation, not revelry; many are here to visit family who live in the area and others are refugees from the weather, CVB Director Elliott Falcione said.

Instead of collegians, the CVB is targeting visitors from Pittsburgh in March, one of the busiest tourist months of the year, luring them with Pittsburgh Pirates spring training at the newly-renovated McKechnie Field, he said, adding that the county also is drawing visitors from the Midwest and New England.

Accommodations bookings are solid for March, he said, with an early Easter on Sunday, March 31 making the month busier than usual.

CVB consultant Walter Klages predicted that tourism would be up about 4 percent from this time last year, Falcione said, adding, “We’re more than that right now.” About 61,300 visitors came to Manatee County last March, according to Klages.

Average occupancy rates for March 2012 on Anna Maria Island and the Manatee County portion of Longboat Key were 90.6 percent. Average daily room rates were $173.20 a night.

Nightly room rates for this week ranged from $167 at the Anna Maria Island Inn in Bradenton Beach to $749 at Palm Tree Villas in Holmes Beach, according to the CVB website.

Manatee County tourism was up 9.3 percent last year over 2011, according to Klages.

The 20th Annual Anna Maria Island Tour of Homes will offer a glimpse into Island living on Saturday, March 16, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Enjoy distinctive architecture, elegant interiors and stunning waterfront views at the five featured houses of Dave and Kerri Welch, 533 69th St., Holmes Beach; Walter and Jarlath Warren, site of the Tropical Treasure Boutique, 531 Key Royale Drive, Holmes Beach; Lee and Linda Butts, 625 Key Royale Drive, Holmes Beach; Bill and Susan Bokos, 682 Key Royale Drive, Holmes Beach and Graham and Hazel Hanson, 107 Elm Ave., Anna Maria.

The Tropical Treasures Boutique features arts and crafts, culinary delights and a handmade quilt entitled “At Home in Paradise,” to be raffled by the Eyeland Needlers on the day of the tour.

Quilt tickets are $1 each or 6 for $5 and are available at the Center, 407 Magnolia Ave., Anna Maria, until the day of the tour.

Use the free Island trolleys, or park at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, 6608 Marina Drive, Holmes Beach, to take shuttles from the church to four of the homes in Holmes Beach.

Proceeds from the event benefit youth programs at the Anna Maria Island Community Center.

Sponsors are: Event Sponsor: Beach to Bay Construction; Boutique Sponsor: Duncan Real Estate; Quilt Sponsor: Green Real Estate; Tour Photographer: Jack Elka Photography; Media Sponsors: Anna Maria Island Sun, Bradenton Herald, Islander.

For more information, call Sandee Pruett at 941-778-1908 ext. 0 or e-mail sandee@myamicc.com.

Tickets are $20 and are available at:

Anna Maria Island Sun, 202 Palm Ave.
Ginny’s & Jane E’s, 9807 Gulf Drive
The White Egret, 10006 Gulf Drive
Anna maria General Store and Deli, 307 Pine Ave.
Egret’s Nest, 10010 Gulf Drive Crowder Bros. Ace Hardware, 5409 Manatee Ave. W. AMI Chamber of Commerce, 5313 Gulf Drive
LaPensee Plumbing, 401 Manatee Ave The Egret’s Landing, 5602 Marina Drive
Island Fitness, 5317 Gulf Drive
Crowder Bros. Ace Hardware. 2401
Lakewood Ranch Blvd.
Holmes Beach Ace Hardware, 3352 East Bay Drive

HOLMES BEACH – A Bradenton Beach police officer, answering a call for backup by Holmes Beach, was injured when the suspect the police were trying to stop ran head-on into his patrol car.

Officer Eric Hill was taken to Blake Hospital with injuries that were initially described as very serious. By Monday, his condition was reported as fair.

The incident occurred on Saturday, March 2, at 3:45 p.m., according to a Holmes Beach Police Department news release. A Florida Highway Patrol unit informed Holmes Beach police that a stolen Toyota Camry with a LoJack tracking system was in the area. The vehicle had been stolen from a North Carolina car dealership. Officers from the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office and Bradenton Beach police joined the Holmes Beach officers and located the car at a shopping center at 5400 Marina Drive. The driver, however, was able to get around the police vehicles and started heading north on Holmes Boulevard.

Hill was headed south of that street, unaware that the suspect was headed his way. The suspect, in an attempt to pass the Bradenton Beach Ford Explorer, ran into it head-on. Hill and the suspect, Jennifer L. Varner, 24, and a passenger in the car Varner was driving were taken to Blake. The passenger was later released, but Varner remains on hold. Police have charged Varner with two counts of aggravated assault with a motor vehicle, one count of aggravated battery with a motor vehicle, one count of grand theft of a motor vehicle, one county of fleeing to elude with great bodily harm to a law enforcement officer, driving while license suspended and warrants out of North Carolina.

HOLMES BEACH – Due to a significant change to the city’s amended dock ordinance, City Attorney Patricia Petruff advised commissioners to hold another first reading on March 12.

The change came about after Commissioner Judy Titsworth objected to the ordinance, which allows one dock per lot, at the second reading on Feb. 26, and commissioners asked Planner Bill Brisson to revise it.

“At least one member of the city commission and the city attorney feel that a recent interpretation of the DEP (Florida Department of Environmental Protection) regarding how it applies the limitation on the number of docks and the required setbacks when multiple single-family dwellings, in the form of condominium ownership, are located one on lot is incorrect and in conflict with city regulations,” Brisson explained.

He said the DEP feels that the condominium form of ownership results in the creation of individual lots and each dwelling unit is entitled to a dock.

“However, we agree with the city attorney that while the city allows multiple dwellings on a single lot, when the land is not subdivided into individual land lots, it remains one lot, and the number of docks and their setbacks should be based on the shoreline of the lot, not some arbitrary division of the shoreline among the multiple dwelling units,” he concluded.

He also stressed that the ordinance only applies to single-family lots and that multi-family lots are governed by DEP.

Commissioner David Zaccagnino asked how shoreline is defined, and Brisson said it is each face or side of the lot.

Chair Jean Peelen asked if the ordinance should be re-advertised because of the changes. Petruff said it is a judgment call, but she felt the changes were substantive.

“Ask Mr. Brisson to rewrite the title to make it clear and have a first reading on March 12,” Petruff advised. “Then if you like it, advertise it for a second reading on March 26 or April 9, whichever works out.”

Titsworth suggested that the ordinance be removed from the list of objectives to be accomplished to end the moratorium, and the others agreed.

ANNA MARIA – In an attempt to preserve the small village flavor of the city, the city commission is considering historic preservation.

At its Thursday meeting last week, City Planner Alan Garrett presented a preliminary outline of a proposed ordinance.

“This will not be a preservation district,” Garrett said. “This will address individual properties.”

Garrett said only the property owner could request historic designation. The historic preservation board would have the power to designate it, and an owner could appeal to the city if the board rules no.

Commissioner Gene Aubry, an architect, said this is a very good first step.

“I think we should introduce it and let people do their thing,” Aubry said. “Galveston did this, and it saved the city after Hurricane Katrina hit.”

Garrett thanked Sissy Quinn, head of the Anna Maria Island Preservation Trust, who chaired the committee that put the project together.

The commissioners talked about incentives for homeowners to seek historic preservation status. Commissioner Chuck Webb said he doesn’t see that this would give a property owner an advantage. He suggested talking with other taxing agencies to see if they would also give breaks.

“I’m all for it, but I don’t think it would do anything.,” he said.

Aubry said one of the advantages in New Orleans is homeowners could use building materials from the era the house was built instead of required new materials when restoring a home.

“If your historic house needs a window replaced, you could buy one that came off another old home instead of new triple-layered hurricane resistant glass,” he said.

The commission will continue to work on this proposed ordinance.

Nuisance ordinance

The commission heard a first reading of an updated nuisance ordinance.

We’re bringing it into today’s world,” said Building Official Bob Welch. “The old ordinance was for trash and debris and there are more problems to address now.”

Webb asked if the ordinance could address a violation so that each day is a violation with an additional fine. City Attorney Jim Dye said it’s in the ordinance.

Commission John Quam asked if it could address pets because vacationers bring their dogs and when they walk them they don’t clean up after them, and the droppings end up in the water table or a canal.

When asked about liability, Welch said this ordinance is like the noise ordinance in that the city would have a number of avenues to pursue, whether making the property owner, property manager or the renter liable for violations.

During public comment, Terry Schaefer said the city might include a list of best practices that was drawn up by responsible members of the real estate community. Aubry said that’s a really great idea, and one thing the city should do is require the list to be attached to the lease and the renter should read it and sign it.

During the mayor’s report, SueLynn said two members of the Manatee County Tourist Development Council informed her that the city is now a genuine city of clean beaches. She said they have a whole list of criteria that a city has to meet, and they have to renew every year, but the TDC will pay for it.

ANNA MARIA – Roser Memorial Chapel is in its 100th year of service to the people of the Island. The chapel was the dream of John Roser, father of Charles Roser, one of Anna Maria Island’s early land development partners.

While staying at the Roser family cottage on Pine Avenue, now the home of Sato Realty, the elder Mr. Roser dreamed of building a chapel to commemorate the life of his late wife, Caroline. Roser’s dream was for a chapel open to all people of the Island, residents and visitors alike.

With funds provided by Charles Roser and with Capt. Mitch Davis as builder, the John and Caroline Roser Memorial Chapel was donated to the people of Anna Maria Island, with the stipulation that it should always be the community’s church, not that of any particular religious denomination.

As the years passed, Anna Maria Island development suffered along with the depressed economy of the entire country. With no permanent congregation, no endowment fund to pay for upkeep and maintenance, and with the bursting of a real estate bubble that had promised a surge of new residential growth, the chapel fell on hard times.

By the early 1930s, people had stopped coming in for daily prayer. Even sporadic seasonal worship services had ceased, and the abandoned chapel became a ruin populated by spiders, lizards, birds, rats and bats.

Roser Chapel’s resurrection and restoration came from the dedication and enthusiasm of a faithful mother and daughter, Lulu and Marion Colman, who inspired their Island friends and neighbors to help them renovate the ruined building. Once renovated, the little chapel again became a place for personal prayer, worship, and Sunday school.

For some years after its renovation, there was no organized church congregation housed in the chapel. But over time, the dedicated volunteers, who had restored the ruined building, were joined by Island residents and visitors in forming a chartered congregation.

After World War II, a growing Island population and a growing congregation made it necessary to provide additional space for worship seating, classrooms and fellowship gatherings. In the late 1940s, chapel space was expanded by adding transepts with added seating.

In the 1950s a fellowship hall, classrooms and offices joined the expanded chapel building. By the early 1970s, weekly worship attendance had completely outgrown much larger 400-seat sanctuary now houses the congregation’s weekly worship.

The historic Roser Memorial Chapel remains open to all for private prayer and meditation every Sunday through Friday, and is a treasured spiritual refuge and resource for Island residents and visitors. It is used for special worship services, weddings, funerals, vacation Bible school.