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Commission denies another parking lot

Written by Leslie Lake on . Posted in Bradenton Beach, Community News.

BRADENTON BEACH – City commissioners denied a temporary use application for a paid parking lot next to the Gulf Drive Café at an April 4 commission meeting.

The application for 900 Gulf Drive N. was submitted by applicant Joshua LaRose on behalf of property owner Wendy Kokolis.

Julian Botero represented the applicant at the commission meeting.

“We’re looking for paid beach parking, 27 spots on the south end of Gulf Drive Café at the white fenced-in lot,” Botero said. “This is a C-2 (commercial) zone, similar to everything else going on on the Island.”

Botero noted that the parking area would give visitors direct access to the beach.

“We got an application for a paid parking lot,” City Building Official Darin Cushing said. “This is again a case of where it got started before it was requested. We told them to halt construction, we had to have a permit.”

Mayor John Chappie cited a number of his concerns about the application.

The property is seaward of the Coastal Construction Control Line, he said.

“Several state agencies need to chime in on this after-the-fact application. This is something we’re cracking down on,” Chappie said. “These are the problems you run into when you do something without asking and it creates problems with the city.”

The applicant requested that hours of operation for the parking lot be approved for 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. and that it could be used as additional parking for the Gulf Drive Café.

“None of this jives. It makes me wonder what’s going on here,” Chappie said.

Chappie expressed concerns about the health, safety and welfare of the public in a high-density, high-traffic area.

“This is two blocks from the Cortez Road intersection, one of the busiest on the Island and the busiest in Bradenton Beach,” he said. “It’s high density with condos to the south. I’m concerned about that and the traffic.”

Chappie said there are no crosswalks in the immediate area, which has high pedestrian activity.

“I don’t see how the negative impact can be mitigated,” Chappie said, also taking issue with the proposed hours of operation and the potential for lights on the beach to disorient sea turtles during nesting season, which begins May 1.

Cushing said that the application for the parking lot would require approval from multiple agencies prior to the city considering approval.

“You’re under an FDEP (Florida Department of Environmental Protection) permit for an addition to the restaurant, this would require this as well,” he said. “There’s no way we can say yes. There’s the FDEP sea turtle division. SWFWMD (the Southwest Florida Water Management District) would also have to get involved. There are state agencies that have required permits before we can even take a look at this.”

PUBLIC OPPOSITION

During public comment, several people spoke in opposition to the application to which Botero replied, “We feel precedent has been set, such as the parking lot at the Beach House, which is the same dis tance from the Cortez Bridge intersection. We could change the time of operations,” he said. “City lights were attracting turtles. All the other lots that have been approved have been in residential areas. Ours is not.”

“When you’re dealing with a temporary use permit every application stands alone,” Chappie said, adding that not all applications for temporary parking have been approved, and those that were have come with stipulations to protect the health, safety and welfare of the community.

City Attorney Ricinda Perry said Bradenton Beach Police Chief John Cosby objected to the parking lot and said it would cause excessive vehicular traffic in the area.

“The chief specifically objected to turning on a southbound lane from a parking lot because it will likely back up traffic,” Perry said. “To travel in the northbound lane will require a vehicle to travel across three lanes of traffic and that is very dangerous, especially without traffic control devices.”

Perry added that without an FDOT study and without support of FDOT, the proposed parking would create a dangerous situation.

“People need to stop doing things before they come to the city, period, it’s not going to be tolerated. We have rules and regulations and we treat everybody the same according to our land development regulations and our comprehensive plan and it creates problems, and creates a tremendous cost to the taxpayers when things happen the way they should not happen,” Chappie said.

Gulf Drive Café expansion approved

Gulf Drive Café expansion approved

Written by Joe Hendricks on . Posted in Business, Restaurants | Bars.

BRADENTON BEACH – Gulf Drive Café owners Wendy and George Kokolis have the city’s approval to expand their beachfront business operations.

On Thursday, Aug. 15, the city commission unanimously approved the Kokolis’ request to add 86 seats, 887 square feet of covered dining area, expand the existing kitchen area by 446 square feet and add 886 square feet of second-story storage space.

The additional seating is allowed because of changes made to the city’s land development code in 2016. The old code required one parking space for every three seats, plus one parking space for every two employees during the establishment’s largest shift. The current code requires one parking space for every four seats, plus one parking space for every two employees during the largest shift.

The Gulf Drive Café’s revised seating capacity is capped at 300 seats and that applies during weddings and other special events.

Representing the Kokolis family, architect Bob Gause said improvements also will be made to the dumpster area at the north end of the property, and the south end of the beachfront property will no longer be used for overflow parking.

The Kokolis’ will also work with the city and the Florida Department of Transportation to make stormwater improvements, crosswalk improvements and handicapped parking improvements that require city property, state property and some of the Kokolis’ property, he said.

George Kokolis Dock

Kokolis dock request approved

Written by Joe Hendricks on . Posted in Bradenton Beach, Community News.

BRADENTON BEACH – The Bradenton Beach City Commission has approved Gulf Drive Café owners George and Wendy Kokolis’ request to install a 120-foot-long residential dock and boat lift for their multi-unit residential property at 110 Fifth Street South.

The entrance to the four-foot-wide residential dock will be located across the street from the Kokolis’ property at the corner of Fifth Street South and Bay Drive South, near an existing opening in the mangrove shoreline that may require additional trimming.

Representing the Kokolis family, attorney Patricia Petruff presented the dock and boat lift requests to the Bradenton Beach City Commission on Thursday, Nov. 15.

The commission unanimously approved the four-part request that Planning and Zoning Board members unanimously recommended approval of in September.

The four-part commission approval includes:

  • The city granting an easement for the small piece of city land between the road and the water at the corner of Fifth Street South and Bay Drive South;
  • A special use permit for a non-commercial boat dock and boat lift in the Public Recreation Area (PRA) zone district;
  • A special use permit for a non-commercial dock exceeding 65 feet in length from the mean high-water line;
  • A request to reduce the south setback from the dock and boat lift to 10 feet from 25 feet.
The dock and boat lift will be available to residents and rental guests at this multi-unit property at the corner of Fifth Street South and Bay Drive South. – Joe Hendricks | Sun

As she did at the Planning and Zoning Board meeting, Petruff noted the Kokolis’ permitting requests are consistent with previous dock permitting requests granted throughout the city.

The commission offered no objections to the construction of the dock and the installation of a boat lift, but the commission approval also includes a stipulation regarding commercial use of the residential dock.

“Any fishing charter boat using the dock shall not meet charter customers at the residential property.”
– Patricia Petruff, Attorney

Petruff said the Kokolis’ son planned to live in one of the units located on the property across the street and she believed it would be his boat occupying the boat lift that would also be available to other tenants and guests staying on the property.

City Planner Alan Garrett confirmed that more than one boat is allowed at a residential dock.

City Attorney Ricinda Perry asked Petruff if she would be opposed to a stipulation that stated the dock could only be used for residential purposes. Petruff said the dock would not be leased for commercial purposes, but there could theoretically be an instance where a visiting charter fishing captain trailers a boat to the Kokolis property and as a rental guest would be allowed to use the dock while staying there.

Petruff said she didn’t envision a charter captain coming down from Nantucket and renting one of the Kokolis’ units for the entire tarpon season, but she would not agree to a stipulation that placed limits on her clients that are not placed on other dock owners.

After a lengthy discussion on this topic, Petruff and the commission agreed to the following stipulation read aloud by Petruff: “The dock approved by the city adjacent to the property located at 110 Fifth Street South may only be used by the property owner or a person who is leasing a unit on the property. Any fishing charter boat using the dock shall not meet charter customers at the residential property.”

Kokolis said charter customers could, however, be picked up at the Coquina boat ramps or some other docking facility.

Mayor John Chappie sought and received assurances that a dock that length would not interfere with boat traffic in the navigational channel that runs offshore from the North Coquina Boat Ramp to the Bridge Street Pier. The City Commission has frequently expressed a desire to dredge that channel if and when approximately $400,000 in funding can be secured for a dredging and seagrass mitigation project.

Chappie also sought and received assurances that the street-end dock area would continue to provide access to the water for kayak users and others at that corner.