HOLMES BEACH – The Holmes Beach Planning Commission met on Dec. 4 for the first time since August, with all five members and both alternate members present.
The planning commission consists of Chairperson Gale Tedhams, Vice-Chair Jim McIntire, Lisa Pierce, Steven Oelfke and Richard Brown, with Joseph Ireland serving as the first alternate and James Harrison serving as the second alternate. Tedhams welcomed the members back and expressed her hope that everyone successfully weathered hurricanes Helene and Milton.
Development Services Director Chad Minor and City Clerk Stacey Johnston also participated in the meeting. Minor and the commission members continued their previous discussion on amending the dock provisions contained in the city’s municipal code.
DOCK PROVISIONS
Minor proposes adding definitions for the terms “boathouse,” “dock,” “finger dock,” “watercraft,” “mooring area” and “mean high water line,” which he said are mentioned but not defined in the current municipal code.
Minor does not propose changing the existing setback requirements for docks or the distance a dock can extend into the water.
“Everyone seems to be following the mooring rules pretty well,” he said.
Minor referenced the individually-platted mooring areas located on individually-platted submerged lots in various canals throughout the city. The meeting packet included aerial photographs of the 85th Street Canal, the T-end canal between Baronet and Concord lanes on Key Royale, the Marina Court Canal, the 83rd Street Canal, the 77th Street Canal and the 68th Street and 69th Street canals.
Minor said ownership of these individually-platted mooring areas does not necessarily coincide with the nearest residential structure and the existing city code doesn’t address these areas, most of which already contain docks.
He said the individually-platted mooring areas are generally about 10 feet wide and about 25 feet long.
“Under our current code, which doesn’t address these, it would be impossible for a 10-foot-wide slip to accommodate a 10-foot setback,” he noted.
Minor said a building permit would be required to install a new dock or lift in one of the individually-platted mooring areas and he proposed that no part of the installation, including the watercraft, extend more than 25 feet into the waterway, as measured from the seawall, or extend beyond the lot lines of the adjacent parcels or boat slips.
Minor said the city clerk wanted to make some comments about tweaking the existing code as it pertains to the city-owned boat slips administered by city staff. Johnston said the existing code requires too many steps for evicting a lessee from a city-owned dock space. She also feels the 60-day application period for those on the waiting list results in a city-owned slip sitting vacant for too long.
According to the city website, Holmes Beach residents can rent city-owned boat slips in the following locations: Marina Drive T-ends located between 72nd and 77th streets and the Sunrise Boat Basin located at 28th Street and Avenue B. The annual fee is $600 at the Marina Drive T-ends and the fee at the Sunrise Boat Basin is $425.
“Right now, we do not have any open spots for both locations,” the city website notes.
Minor said he would incorporate the changes discussed that evening into the proposed provisions to be reviewed again at the planning commission’s Jan. 15 meeting. Minor also hopes to present the planning commission members with some proposed seawall provisions.
MEETING TIMES
Included in the meeting packet was a memo from Johnston regarding City Commissioner Carol Soustek’s request to start the monthly planning commission meetings at 2 p.m. rather than 5 p.m.
Johnston’s memo noted most city meetings now take place during the day, when city staff is available during normal business hours.
Tedhams noted some planning commission members still hold regular day jobs. Pierce said her work schedule would prevent her from attending 2 p.m. meetings. Oelfke said he leaves work early to attend the 5 p.m. meetings but he could adjust his work schedule to accommodate a 3:30 p.m. start time. The commission agreed to start their Jan. 15 meeting at 3:30 p.m.
