CORTEZ – The public can watch the next Hunters Point Resort & Marina dock permit challenge hearing on Zoom, scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 16 at 9:30 a.m. through Thursday, Aug. 18 at the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) office in Tampa.
Additional hearing dates, if needed, are scheduled for Sept. 1-2 at 9:30 a.m. All hearing dates will have a Zoom conference option that anyone can access using the meeting ID 2965656070 and the meeting passcode 133626.
The administrative hearing pertains to an administrative challenge the owners of the nearby Cortez Village Marina, MHC Cortez Village LLC, filed against developer Marshall Gobuty’s Cortez Road Investments & Finance Inc. ownership group and SWFWMD.
Cortez Village Marina seeks the revocation or modification of the environmental resource permit that SWFWMD issued to Gobuty and his development team in 2021. That permit allows for the construction of 49 docks along the canal privately owned by Gobuty and Cortez Road Investments. The canal borders the Hunters Point property located along Cortez Road West on three sides.
Administrative law judge Bruce Culpepper is presiding over the hearing, which began on June 14-15. Culpepper said the sole intent of the hearing is to determine whether the water district properly issued the environmental resource permit that allows the Hunters Point docks to be built.
Navigation rights
The separate but related issue of any existing and ongoing riparian rights held by upland property owners, including the Cortez Village Marina, is a matter to be decided in the 12th Judicial Circuit Court in Manatee County.
The Hunters Point ownership group has filed a riparian rights-related lawsuit against the Cortez Village Marina that seeks an injunction to prevent the marina and its clients from using the Hunters Point canal. Judge Charles Sniffen has been assigned to the case.
On June 6, an attorney representing the Cortez Village Marina filed a response that, among other things, contends the navigable canal has been used for more than 25 years by the marina, the marina’s predecessors and those who own homes along the canal.
A counterclaim filed by Gobuty’s attorney states: “MHC (Cortez Village Marina) refers to the canal as the ‘navigable canal.’ By calling the waterbody the ‘navigable canal,’ MHC implies that the canal is navigable under the law and legally open to public use. However, this is not the case.”
The Hunters Point ownership group also recently filed a civil lawsuit to compel eight property owners to remove their docks, boat lifts and other structures located in the Hunters Point canal. Judge Edward Nicholas has been assigned to this case and the attorney or attorneys representing the defendants named in this lawsuit had not filed any responses as of Friday, July 1.
No hearing dates have been scheduled for either of the civil lawsuits.
CORTEZ – Hunters Point Resort & Marina has sued the neighboring Cortez Village Marina to keep it from using a canal where Cortez Village Marina claims Hunters Point should not be allowed to build new docks.
The Hunters Point property under development on Cortez Road West includes 86 three-story, net-zero energy use solar-powered townhomes, many of which are expected to have private docks along the canal that surrounds the Hunters Point property on three sides.
This model of the Hunters Point development includes the canal that surrounds the property on three sides. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
Hunters Point is about two-tenths of a mile west of the Cortez Village Marina and boat storage facility at 12160 Cortez Road W.
Boca Raton-based attorney Susan Roeder Martin filed the lawsuit in the 12th Judicial Circuit Court in Manatee County on May 26. The civil case has been assigned to Judge Charles Sniffen. As of Friday, the defendant’s attorney had not filed a response to the complaint.
Injunctions sought
The complaint states that Marshall Gobuty’s company, Cortez Road Investments and Finance Inc., owns the Hunters Point property, including the canal constructed the 1950s and purchased by Gobuty in 2016.
The lawsuit seeks a temporary injunction, followed by a permanent injunction, to prohibit the Cortez Village Marina, owned by MHC Cortez Village LLC, from using the private canal surrounding the Hunters Point property.
Marina customers use the canal to access the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) near the Seafood Shack restaurant, as do several homeowners who live on the canal. The lawsuit does not seek to prohibit homeowners with existing county-permitted docks from using the canal.
The complaint alleges the marina is unlawfully using the canal without the authorization of the property owner, and that the marina owners are encouraging customers to unlawfully enter the canal by advertising that those who lease marina slips can use the canal to access the ICW.
“There are no easements, licenses or other use authorizations for navigation dedicated to the Cortez Village Marina or the general public found in the chain of title,” according to the complaint. “The public records of Manatee County do not indicate that any additional rights to build docks, tie up boats or utilize the private canal were granted to defendant’s predecessors or to the public. Therefore, defendant’s use is limited to a single dock with but one boat.
“MHC Cortez Village has led its 350 patrons to believe that they can lawfully utilize the private canal to access the Intracoastal, as is evidenced in its marina brochure,” Martin stated in an email that included the lawsuit complaint.
Several homeowners own docks along other areas of the canal. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
When the proposed Hunters Point development was being approved by the Manatee County Commission in 2017, several residents who own docks along the canal voiced concerns about losing the use of the canal.
In response, Gobuty’s attorney, Caleb Grimes, said, “We don’t believe anybody with a current dock has anything that is improper. These people have the right to use them as they have historically used them.”
Dock permitting challenge
MHC Cortez Village LLC filed a petition for an administrative hearing in July 2021 against Cortez Road Investments and Finance Inc. and the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) challenging the district’s issuance of a permit allowing Hunters Point to build docks in the canal.
The petition claims the construction of the new docks would significantly increase and impair vessel traffic in the canal, negatively affecting Cortez Village Marina users’ ability to safely navigate the canal and affecting the marina’s profitability and ongoing operations.
The canal along the Hunters Point property is used by marina clients and neighboring homeowners. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
The petition requests the dock permit be revoked or modified to protect the marina’s riparian rights and navigational interests.
In December, Hunters Point Vice President of Development Ashley Klearman sent a construction update letter to those who purchased the Hunters Point homes about to be constructed.
“MHC is arguing the proposed docks hinder the navigation of the canal, even though the proposed docks have been designed to provide as minimal an intrusion into the canal as possible and are in full compliance with all local, state and federal rules and regulations. It is our legal team’s position that this petition is without merit and that SWFWMD correctly issued the permit,” Klearman stated in her letter.
According to Gobuty, the administrative hearing is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, June 14.
Boat lift installation
In another canal-related matter, Hunters Point sent a cease and desist letter to George and Wendy Kokolis on May 17 regarding the boat lift being installed at their undeveloped lot on the canal directly across from the Hunters Point property. The Kokolis’ lot is next to the residence they own at 4317 126th St. W.
A cease and desist letter was issued regarding the installation of a boat lift on the canal across from the Hunters Point property. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
“It has come to my attention that you are building a dock/boat lift on Cortez Road Finance and Investments’ private canal. This letter is to advise you to immediately cease construction and to remove the works that you have already placed on my client’s private property. If you do not immediately remove your facilities, we will file suit and seek damages from you. We will also request attorney’s fee and costs,” Martin stated in her letter.
As of late last week, the boat lift had not been removed.
CORTEZ – The construction of the first Hunters Point Resort & Marina home is underway, but developer Marshall Gobuty is facing a dock-related permitting challenge from a neighboring marina owner.
Development plans for Hunters Point, located on the north side of Cortez Road east of the Cortez Bridge, allow for the construction of 86 single-family homes equipped with solar panels and storage batteries that Gobuty says will result in the homes producing more electricity than they use.
The plans also include a small marina and 47 docks to be constructed along the navigation canal that borders the property to the west, north and east.
Construction of the Hunters Point single-family homes is now underway. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
In late July, the Cortez Village Marina (MHC Cortez Village LLC) filed a petition with the Florida Division of Administrative Hearings to revoke a permit that the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) issued to Hunters Point (Cortez Road Investments and Finance/CRIF).
The owner of the nearby Cortez Village Marina and boat storage facility oppose the state-issued dock permit. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
The marina alleges that permitting the development’s new docks will hinder boat traffic for marina customers and nearby private property owners who also use the canal.
“Petitioner requests SWFWMD deny the application for, or revoke, the permit; or in the alternative, modify the permit to protect petitioner’s riparian rights and navigational interests,” according to the marina’s petition.
“It is our legal team’s position that this petition is without merit and that SWFWMD correctly issued the permit,” according to a construction update letter that Hunters Point recently sent to home purchasers. “Accordingly, CRIF is committed to fighting the permit revocation and moving forward with the development as originally planned. While CRIF expects to prevail at the hearing in March, this will still cause considerable delays to the commencement of construction of a portion of the development, other than infrastructure.”
Gobuty said his initial discussions with marina representatives produced no resolution to the dock permit dispute.
This diagram included in the petition for administrative hearing illustrates the canal locations and the locations of the 86 single-family homes to be built. The westernmost part of the canal is located at the top of the image. – Cortez Road Investments and Finance Inc. | Submitted
In the letter to buyers, Gobuty said 76 of the 86 homes have already been purchased, including many along the western canal now subject to the permitting challenge. Construction of the 20 homes along the canal at the western edge of the property remains on hold until the permitting dispute is resolved, he said, adding that construction along the eastern and central portions of the property will proceed.
The Hunters Point homes are currently selling for slightly less than $1 million each, he said.
The letter states that CRIF has obtained final site plan and construction plan approval from Manatee County and is pursuing multiple other development approvals at the local and state levels, including the final subdivision plat for the project.
“There has been an unfortunate delay with a key permit at the state level, specifically, the permit for the construction of the Hunters Point docks,” the letter states. “On March 15, CRIF applied to the Southwest Florida Water Management District for an environmental resource permit to construct the Hunters Point docks surrounding the development site. On June 29, SWFWMD acknowledged the application was in full compliance with all applicable rules and regulations and granted the permit to CRIF without limitation or restriction. With the final site plan approval and SWFWMD permit in hand, and the site cleared and graded, CRIF was planning to commence construction of the Hunters Point project two months ago.”
Gobuty said SWFWMD did deny two of the 49 docks sought, which were to be located along the western portion of the canal, noting that the height of the bridge near the Seafood Shack restaurant and the western end of the Hunters Point property that provides access to the Intracoastal Waterway limits the size of the vessels that can pass beneath it.
Several residential docks already exist along the westernmost portion of the navigation canal that surrounds the Hunters Point property. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
“We’re behind schedule, but the good news is you can see all the work that’s going on here now. We’re coordinating our infrastructure at the same time as going vertical on the construction of the homes,” he said.
An administrative law judge is expected to enter a recommended order about 90 days after the requested hearing takes place, according to the letter, which states that the parties will have an opportunity to respond to the recommended order for 90 more days, which could delay the construction of the westernmost homes until next September.
The letter also notes the marina’s owner, MHC, could file an appeal with the circuit court if the developers prevail in the administrative hearing process.
“You should be aware that MHC is owned by Equity Group Investments, founded, and chaired by the multi-billionaire, Sam Zell, so it has the financial backing to take this battle into the courts. Furthermore, despite our confidence that CRIF will persevere, there is always the possibility that the outcome of an administrative hearing or court process could be unfavorable,” the letter states.
Developer Marshall Gobuty presented his development plans to Manatee County commissioners in December 2017. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
The letter also addresses the worldwide material shortages, labor shortages, supply chain interruptions and increased costs developers are experiencing. The letter states these challenges are as serious, if not more serious, than the dock permit dispute and are not expected to be resolved until next summer at the earliest.
The letter advises buyers that if the dock permit challenge and the material and labor shortages persist, the developers may be forced to extend the time needed to construct some homes and/or boat slips.
