Manatee County commissioners are on a roll when it comes to disappointing their constituents.
Despite overwhelming protests from the community, commissioners have approved $2.9 million for three pre-design criteria packages for three parking garages, one at Manatee Beach in Holmes Beach.
Even Commissioner George Kruse, whom Island residents were starting to rally around, voted in favor of the budget amendment.
Commissioners’ intent with these packages is to seek a public-private partnership agreement for a private developer and builder to come in with a bid package to build and run these parking facilities. The reason a private company or investor would do such a thing, as was said on the county commission dais on May 14, is so they can profit from the paid parking facility.
There goes Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge’s supposed reason for going around Holmes Beach officials to build the parking garage at the beach, which was to give more people access to the beach. Instead, by this plan, only those willing to pay for the privilege of parking on Anna Maria Island will have access to the beach.
Van Ostenbridge already stated that he has no intention of seeking a reduced or free rate for Manatee County residents. Now he and the other five members of the county commission are actively spending tax dollars to build a revenue stream for the developers – and possible campaign contributors – they select at the expense of taxpayers and Manatee County residents.
Holmes Beach Mayor Judy Titsworth is the only Anna Maria Island mayor who has taken a stand against paid parking and doesn’t allow it in her city. Holmes Beach has the only free and truly accessible beach access left on Anna Maria Island and county commissioners have gone all the way to the state Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis to make sure that it’s closed to only those willing to pay a premium to access the sand.
With the current slate of county commissioners, this is your tax dollars at work, something voters should remember at the ballot box in the Aug. 20 Republican primary, where many of our local elections are decided, and in the Nov. 5 general election.
MANATEE COUNTY – Whether residents want it or not, the wheels are in motion for county taxpayers to foot the bill for a three-story parking garage at Manatee Beach in Holmes Beach.
County commissioners voted unanimously on May 14 to approve $1.125 million for a preliminary design criteria package for the parking structure.
The item was listed as a budget amendment under the consent agenda before Commissioner George Kruse pulled it for discussion; consent agenda items are voted on without discussion. The funds for a pre-design criteria package of the parking structure, along with $625,000 for a similar design package for a parking garage at the Bradenton Area Convention Center and $1,175,000 for a garage at the Premiere Sports complex, total $2,925,000. The budget amendment states that those funds are being transferred from the 2023 Revenue Improvement Bonds Capital Projects fund.
Kruse said he pulled the item from the consent agenda because he felt that the commission needed to have more discussion before committing taxpayer funds to come up with a plan for the garages during an RFP process for designing and building the structures. He noted that while other infrastructure projects have been delayed for two years or more due to a lack of funding, commissioners are willing to push the parking garage projects forward. He said he felt the commission should have gotten more information before spending money.
“We say we’re fiscally conservative up here,” Kruse said, noting that he has a lot of questions about why his fellow commissioners are willing to spend taxpayer funds without more information.
Speaking on behalf of county staff, Manatee County Director of Property Management Cary Knight said, “My understanding of the process that was put into place is that we’re bringing on an architecture firm to do a pre-design criteria package. That pre-design criteria package then gets included with RFQ for a three-P partner (public-private partnership) to come and make proposals for how they would build the building, how they would finance it, how they would make money off of it, whether or not it would be a paid parking situation or maybe the county is a lease situation where the three-P becomes basically the bank for the county. That’s kind of the process that’s in place right now.”
“It seems like this is almost a cart before a horse,” Kruse said. He added that he feels the county staff could determine if paid parking is a viable option. He suggested looking at established paid parking in Bradenton Beach to see utilization, hourly rates and what the backlash from visitors and residents is. He said he feels he’d rather spend the money elsewhere.
Despite Kruse’s misgivings on the topic, he voted in favor of allocating the funds to design services for the three parking garages.
County Administrator Charlie Bishop said the county isn’t “an expert on building parking garages” and is relying on Elliott Falcione, executive director of the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, to determine that public-private partnerships are viable at the three proposed parking garage locations.
The downtown Bradenton parking garage, which has been deemed structurally poor and needs to be replaced as soon as possible, was not on the list of proposed garages discussed at the May 14 meeting.
The beach parking garage is a pet project for Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge, who represents the residents of Anna Maria Island and west Bradenton, many of whom have spoken out publicly against a parking garage at the county-owned beach in Holmes Beach. Van Ostenbridge has disregarded protests from residents and visitors, along with other county commissioners, stating that the parking garage would allow for more inclusive beach access for county residents, despite the fact that he plans for the garage to have paid parking instead of the free parking currently allowed in Holmes Beach.
While Holmes Beach city leaders have staunchly defended their city against the encroachment of paid parking, which has sprung up to the north and south in Anna Maria and Bradenton Beach, Mayor Judy Titsworth has stated that if county commissioners build the garage with paid parking, the city may have to rethink its stance on paid parking.
SIDESTEPPING HOLMES BEACH
Currently both multi-level parking garages and paid parking are against the city’s land development code and ordinances. County commissioners opted to circumvent the city by going to the Manatee County state legislative delegation. The five-member delegation pushed a bill through the state Legislature in 2023 allowing the county to build the parking garage at Manatee Beach without approval or permits from the city.
During a 2023 county commission work session, Van Ostenbridge presented his ideas to his fellow board members. He said the garage would have three stories with a fourth parking level on the roof and span the entirety of the buildable space at the public beach park. The current historic concession stand, retail space, bar, restroom and shower facilities would be demolished with new facilities built into the parking garage. At the time, he estimated the parking garage could be built for about $45 million.
Van Ostenbridge said the garage would have around 900 parking spaces, about 450 more than what currently exists on the Manatee Beach property, and paid parking of at least $2 per hour would be necessary to pay for the construction of the garage and the estimated $200,000 annual maintenance costs.
During demolition and construction, the current parking spaces and facilities would be unavailable to beachgoers, meaning that the only beach on Anna Maria Island with restroom, shower and changing facilities would be Coquina Beach on the southern tip of the Island.
Island residents, visitors and elected officials alike all protested strongly prior to the bill being filed during the legislative session and continue to do so.
The latest protest action against the parking garage occurred earlier this month at a rally hosted by residents’ group Save Florida Home Rule, where several people spoke out against the building of a parking garage at Manatee Beach. None of the county commissioners attended, though a contender for Van Ostenbridge’s seat on the county commission, Diana Shoemaker, did speak and said she was committed to hearing the voices of the residents in District 3, not dismissing them as she said some others have done and continue to do.
HOLMES BEACH – Spring break is in full swing on Anna Maria Island but despite long traffic delays, the Island’s biggest city still has plenty of parking for beachgoers, according to officials.
During a March 12 commission meeting, Police Chief Bill Tokajer said he’d been out every day during spring break to check parking in Holmes Beach. Despite beautiful weather and traffic delays, he said there were hundreds of spots available to beachgoers throughout the city in marked spaces within a quarter mile of beach access points.
He said he’d seen entire blocks of open spaces that were properly marked. Due to the number of open spaces, he said he’d stopped counting the openings when he reached in the hundreds each time he was doing inventory.
In addition to the open parking spaces within the quarter block area, more unmarked parking spaces slightly further from the beach were also available.
Tokajer said that over the previous week and two weekends since spring break started, Holmes Beach has seen an average of 36,000 cars coming into the city each day.
Mayor Judy Titsworth said that the open parking spaces are being recorded with time and date-stamped photographs for future meetings with state legislators. She said the problem isn’t a lack of parking, it’s that people aren’t in favor of waiting in line for up to three hours to travel down Manatee Avenue from Bradenton to the Island.
City leaders are working diligently to make sure that available parking spaces in the city are improved and marked as well as indicated on the city’s public parking map. The accounting of parking spaces is at least partially due to an ongoing issue among the city, Manatee County commissioners and members of the Manatee County state legislative delegation concerning the availability of beach parking in the city.
County commissioners say that there isn’t enough parking in the city after some residential areas were turned into permit parking-only areas during the day following complaints from residents about vandalism, trespassing and other issues with beachgoers parking in front of their homes and then damaging property, using private pools and hoses, leaving trash and causing other problems. State leaders made the decision to skip city permitting and land development code regulations during the 2023 state legislative session by passing a bill allowing the county to construct a three-story parking garage at the county-owned Manatee Beach. Though some county commissioners have been very vocal about wanting to build the garage as soon as possible, no funding for that project has been secured.
City leaders and residents continue to oppose the parking garage. If constructed, the garage would eliminate the current parking at Manatee Beach during construction, cause the demolition of the current concession, retail and restroom facilities and cost taxpayers more than an estimated $50 million to construct with an estimated $200,000 in annual maintenance once completed. County Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge, who champions the parking garage, said that the money for maintenance and construction would be recouped by charging an hourly rate for parking.
Paid parking is also not an allowable use in Holmes Beach. City leaders said if a garage is constructed and paid parking initiated there by the county it would mean that other parking, including street side and at beach access points, would also become paid parking spaces.
Parking at Manatee Beach, at beach access points and along the side of the road where allowable in Holmes Beach is currently free.
HOLMES BEACH – Holmes Beach city commissioners discussed the Florida Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA)’s consolidation study on Nov. 14, which lists the city of Bradenton as a possible annexation destination for Holmes Beach, Anna Maria and Bradenton Beach.
Reading aloud a statement, Commissioner Greg Kerchner said, “When I offered up my last soliloquy, I poured out my concerns over the influence of local developers, about state and county politicians not having our best interests at heart and about the threat of a consolidation being forced down our throats.
Commissioner Greg Kerchner stressed the importance of providing OPPAGA with all the pertinent facts. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
“But maybe we can turn this threat into an opportunity. Our job now must be to help the evaluators follow their own guidelines. We must ensure that they learn the unblemished truth about what has already transpired and must guarantee that they have all the facts they need to reach fair and just conclusions so that their recommendations are in the best interests of everyone involved, islanders and off-islanders alike,” Kerchner said.
“We need to wipe away any taint of political wrangling by clearly and fairly highlighting the relevant facts while insisting that all pertinent issues are considered. Unfortunately, this includes all the issues around visitor parking in Holmes Beach, which, for whatever reason, continues to play an outsized role in all our interactions with legislators and other governments,” Kerchner said.
Commission Chair Terry Schaefer said the consolidation of the Island cites would be “the granddaddy of destruction and overriding home rule in our community.”
Commissioners also discussed statements that Holmes Beach Mayor Judy Titsworth and State Rep. Will Robinson Jr. (R-Bradenton) made the previous week regarding the study.
Titsworth said she hadn’t planned on addressing the OPPAGA study again until she read Robinson’s comments in the newspaper.
“Just because they’re saying something doesn’t mean it’s true. Just because they keep repeating the same thing doesn’t make it any more true. I don’t know how to respond to this continued narrative – and it’s always directed at me, it’s always directed at our city. We are upholding our charter, our comprehensive plan, our land development code. We care about quality of life. We are showing up to work every day,” she said.
“They keep pointing at the mayor that’s ‘putting up roadblocks,’ the mayor’s ‘that’s not doing what she says.’ I have done every single thing that’s been asked of me except putting unlimited parking in our residential districts. Name me one coastal community that has unlimited parking. There are none. We’ve proven that we have excess parking on any given day. Everybody who wants to can come right now; they just don’t want to because there’s too much congestion and traffic,” Titsworth said.
She noted the city recently created additional public parking spaces along Holmes Boulevard. She also noted she previously took Manatee County commissioners George Kruse and Jason Bearden on tours of the city’s available parking spaces.
“During that peak season tour, there were empty parking spaces in our city right of ways. I showed him (Kruse) the church parking available for overflow. He was amazed. Same thing with Bearden. Spring break, height of season, there were empty parking places everywhere. How can you continue to say we’re preventing families from coming out here? It’s wrong and I’m over the false narrative,” Titsworth said.
Titsworth said the consolidation study is “a power grab from the top down” being driven by state legislators and not by the Island residents and property owners who will have no input on the consolidation study requested by Robinson, Sen. Jim Boyd and the other members of the Manatee County Legislative Delegation.
Titsworth said all three Island cities are thriving.
“Why wouldn’t somebody want the city of Holmes Beach?” she asked. “We have zero debt. We have $12 million in reserves. At a height limit of 36 feet, we have a $3 billion taxable value in our little city of Holmes Beach. The city of Anna Maria is $2 billion. The city of Bradenton Beach is $1 billion. Our three tremendous little cities equal the taxable value of the city of Bradenton and all their high rises and everything else.”
According to the Manatee County Property Appraiser’s Office, the total taxable value of all Bradenton properties in 2023 is $5.91 billion. The total taxable value of all Anna Maria Island properties is $6.15 billion.
The current millage rates in Anna Maria and Holmes Beach are 2.05 mills. The current millage rate in Bradenton Beach is 2.3329. Bradenton is 5.8351 mills and Manatee County is 6.2326 mills.
“Consolidate us into the city of Bradenton, they just doubled their taxable value. This is not about parking. It has never been about parking. It’s about doing what they want to do,” Titsworth said. “I don’t want to play these games. I want them to leave us alone. I promised OPPAGA we are going to work with you and give you every single thing you want from our city. We are a good city. We have so much to be proud of and we have every right to continue to be a city that serves the people who want to be here.”
Titsworth refuted Robinson’s statement that the Holmes Beach population has declined.
“That is not true. Our population is increasing, and it’s because of the hard work of our commission and our boards; and because it’s paradise out here,” she said.
In his recent statement, Robinson said he would support maintaining the height limits currently established in each of the three cities’ charters.
Earlier this year, Robinson co-sponsored state legislation that allows Manatee County to build a three-story parking garage at Manatee Beach in Holmes Beach.
“Representative Robinson said he’d respect the limits we have right now, but he told me if he could have had six stories, he could have gotten 1,500 to 1,700 parking spaces,” Titsworth said.
Commission Chair Terry Schaefer believes the consolidation study is motivated by financial interests. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
In support of Titsworth’s comments, Commission Chair Terry Schaefer said, “The commission stands squarely behind you. It seems like some legislators have forgotten where they came from.”
Schaefer expressed confidence that the information provided by each of the three Island cities would support their continued operation as independent cities.
“I was encouraged to hear elected officials will be interviewed. I was discouraged to hear the plan is not to hear from the public,” he said.
Shaefer said he’s been researching the city of Bradenton and Manatee County regarding their debt obligations and financial reserves.
“It’s an eye-opener, folks. Strong positive reserves in all three Island cities. Not so much the case in the alternative. I don’t have any doubt that the whole motivation is financial. I think the garage was a smokescreen. I think it was an issue that they took up to try to taint and create ill will to divide people from off-Island and those of us who live and serve here. I think it backfired,” Schaefer said.
“If anyone is wondering why, the why is the money and the dissolution of charters. Height restrictions go away. If you don’t think there are aggressive developers out there who wouldn’t like to have an opportunity to build something higher than 36 feet in our city and on our beaches, pay more attention to what’s happening where communities don’t have control,” he said.
On Nov. 16, the city of Holmes Beach received a request for information letter from OPPAGA. That letter can be read here.
This is in response to the Aug. 23 edition of the Anna Maria Island Sun, “Beach parking garage fight continues.”
I just want to add my voice in support of the comments made by Holmes Beach Police Chief Bill Tokajer. My family has been coming to Holmes Beach since the early 1980s when my in-laws lived across the street from Manatee Beach. Our three children have such great memories of being on the beach and “jumping in the waves.” We celebrated my mother-in-law’s 80th birthday at the Beach Café, where my wife’s parents danced together to the background music that always seemed to be playing at the Beach Café every night. Sunday mornings we’d take the kids over to have breakfast with The Pancake Kings. When we were back in Chicago, and then in Minnesota, I’d often see the AMI sticker on cars while out driving, and it’d make me wish I were there. Thousands upon thousands of people all over the country can probably tell you of the great times they’ve had at Manatee Beach and the Café.
It’s part of what Anna Maria Island is all about. It’s the City Pier, where the people responsible resisted putting up railings along it when it was recently rebuilt because railings weren’t in the original design. It’s going to the restaurants that seem to have been there forever, like Hurricane Hanks, Skinny’s and the Sandbar, and coming back to them year after year. But what attracted me right away to Anna Maria Island, and especially Holmes Beach, was that Holmes Beach has somehow managed to hold on to having the look and feel of being a town. It’s not what most of the other islands along the Sun Coast have become. That’s what draws people to come here and to want to live here. Manatee Beach, the Beach Café, the Pancake Kings, they’ve all been an integral part of the Island for as far back as most people can remember.
Take that away by putting in a three-story concrete structure right where people have been parking for years, well, it’s paving paradise to put up a parking lot. Once you lose paradise, you can’t get it back.
MANATEE COUNTY – In the aftermath of a Manatee County Commission work session discussing the building of a parking garage at Manatee Beach, city and county officials continue to make their thoughts known on the hotly debated project.
During the Aug. 14 work session, county Commissioner Jason Bearden said that the beach parking garage should be “the top priority for the county.” This would rank the proposed three-story parking structure at the county-owned beach in Holmes
Beach, with an estimated 900 parking spaces at a cost of $30-50 million, higher than parking garages at the downtown Bradenton county administration building, among others.
Manatee County commissioners stated the garage would provide beach access for everyone in the county, which has almost half a million residents. Anna Maria Island is a 7-mile-long barrier island that is 1 mile wide at the widest point. According to Holmes Beach police, who patrol the Manatee Beach parking lot, the lot has more than 400 parking spaces with hundreds more located within a quarter mile of the public beach access, the only one in the city with restroom, shower and concession facilities.
The current downtown garage has an estimated lifespan of less than two years due to structural issues. A presentation on the plans for that garage estimates that it will cost about $100 million to construct and, once complete, would potentially have two stories of office space for county staff and parking for both the administration building and the downtown business and entertainment district at large.
Bearden’s comments were echoed by Commissioners James Satcher and Kevin Van Ostenbridge.
Commissioner George Kruse stated that while he’s not in opposition to putting a garage at the site, he doesn’t feel that it’s the project that’s most needed in the county right now. He was the sole member of the county commission who opted not to move the project forward into the design phase at this time.
After the meeting, Kruse released a statement reiterating his position on the proposed beach parking garage. He said that while the county has heard many reasons from residents why the garage should not be built, personally, he has two reasons why the project should slow down, not speed up. The first reason, Kruse said, is the cost of the parking garage versus other needs in the county that could better serve a larger number of people. Some of his examples include failing infrastructure across the county, the planned Fort Hamer Bridge, which he said would help more than 21,000 people a day in their commutes and cost approximately $60 million, and the planned downtown parking garage, all of which are currently awaiting funding.
Kruse went on to say that these projects could better enhance the quality of life for more county residents than a few hundred parking spaces at the beach.
During the county presentation, staff said there are approximately 300 surface parking spaces at the county beach available. If the garage is built, it will remove those spaces, along with the concession stand, retail stores, restrooms, bar and showers, for a minimum of 18-24 months. The new facilities would be incorporated into the bottom level of the garage, providing about 900 parking spaces on the property for beachgoers.
While the county presentation listed Manatee Beach as having about 300 parking spaces, Holmes Beach officials state that the existing parking area has 406 spaces. When first proposed, Van Ostenbridge said the beach garage would have 1,500 or more parking spaces. County staff said it would have a maximum of 900 spaces, increasing parking at the public beach by 496 spaces according to the city or 600 according to the county.
Holmes Beach Police Chief Bill Tokajer, whose officers patrol the beach property, also issued a statement following the county work session. In his statement, Tokajer said that even during heavy beach days, such as over spring break, there were regularly 100-300 parking spaces available in the city for beachgoers that went unused. He also noted that if the garage is approved, lanes need to be installed along the sand for first responders and law enforcement personnel to be able to respond to an emergency situation.
“Approving this garage will truly put you on the wrong side of history,” he said. “You will be ruining the character of the Island, the experience that past guests have had and future guests expect. Destroying a beautiful landmark with open space, a natural environment filled with trees and nature, replacing this historic site with a massive concrete public safety nightmare.”
In addition to concerns about being able to access beachgoers in an emergency, Tokajer has also expressed concerns about patrolling the garage structure itself and traffic and safety concerns due to the congestion caused by a larger number of people trying to get in and out of the garage at the same time.
My wife and I have been homeowners in Manatee County for 30 years and permanent residents for about half that time. We now reside full-time on Anna Maria Island, where we built a new home in 2014. It is reasonable in size and it has only one elevated floor, elevated to meet the latest codes. We love this area and settled here by choice after living in three different countries and spending time in 20 others.
I wish to express my feelings about this parking garage which is causing so much frustration and dissatisfaction. Mostly, I would like to present a totally different approach.
Building a multi-floor garage is not the ideal solution. First of all, it will only contain the additional number of cars generated by all the new construction surrounding the Bradenton area for at best a year. What will we do in another year – build a second garage, and then a third, as hundreds of new homes are popping up like mushrooms all around our area?
The land area of Anna Maria is approximately 0.73 square miles or less than 2 square kilometers. During the winter season, there are approximately 6,500 residents on this Island, making it a population density of 8,900 people per square mile. The average population density in the U.S. is 37 people per square kilometer or 96 per square mile. We are therefore already 93 times more populated than the national average.
The problem is that this situation cannot be alleviated by adding more parking capacity. What we need is to create one or more new beaches outside of this small spit of land called Anna Maria Island.
Manatee County, according to Google search and the “Welcome to Manatee County” literature, has nearly 150 miles of “pristine coastline.” However, it seems that practically all the road signs indicating the direction to beaches in Manatee County point only toward Anna Maria Island.
I have heard that the cost of this garage may be as high as $45 million. Even if it should turn out to be half that much, I believe that a lot of vacant land could be acquired in that price range to establish a completely new “beach” area with plenty of parking spaces. This would tremendously reduce the usual gridlock which happens regularly when all the beachgoers guided by all the existing road signs arrive on this already crowded residential island.
HOLMES BEACH – Gov. Ron DeSantis may have signed off on a beachfront parking garage, but that doesn’t mean that city leaders are giving up the fight to stop the garage from being built just yet.
“We’re committed to fighting this thing. We’re not going to stop until there are shovels in the ground,” Commissioner Terry Schaefer said, with his fellow commissioners echoing the statement.
The garage that commissioners are vowing to fight is planned as a three-story parking structure with 1,500 or more spaces at Manatee Beach. While parking garages are not an allowable land use in any of the three Anna Maria Island cities, they are allowed in Holmes Beach by special exception. Feeling that city officials would never approve the garage, Manatee County Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge said he opted to circumvent the special exception process in Holmes Beach by encouraging state Rep. Will Robinson to introduce HB 947, a bill to allow for the garage to be built without requiring any input or approvals from the city. Despite public outcry against the bill, it received unanimous support from the local state delegation, the Florida House and Senate, and, ultimately, from the governor.
The garage is estimated to cost $45 million to build, $400,000 a year to maintain and take at least two years to build, during which facilities and parking at Manatee Beach would be unavailable. The existing concession building with a retail store, restrooms and the Anna Maria Island Beach Café would be torn down to make way for the parking garage. Once built, the garage is expected to house new restroom and concession facilities.
City Attorney Erica Augello said that the legal battle is now underway to try and stop the garage from being built. While she said she’s just beginning to work on the city’s legal defense against the parking structure, she said she’s aware that at least two groups of residents and other interested parties have sprung up locally to fight against the garage. Augello said that if either or both groups decide to retain an attorney to pursue legal action she would like the attorneys to contact her to coordinate legal efforts.
BRADENTON – More than 50 concerned citizens and city officials gathered on Friday to protest Manatee County’s plans to build a 1,500-space, three-story parking garage at Manatee Beach in Holmes Beach.
The protesters made their voices heard along Manatee Avenue in front of the county administration building in downtown Bradenton.
The scheduled protest coincidentally occurred a few hours after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed House Bill 947. Introduced by State Rep. Will Robinson (R-Bradenton), supported by Sen. Jim Boyd (R-Bradenton) and unanimously approved by the Florida House and the Florida Senate, HB 947 allows Manatee County to build a parking garage on the county-owned Manatee Beach property in Holmes Beach despite the city’s prohibitions on the construction of a parking garage.
Manatee Beach in 1955. – Manatee County Historical Records Library | Submitted
The parking garage must still comply with the height restrictions contained in Holmes Beach’s city charter, which will limit it to three stories with parking on the roof. To make room for the garage, which is expected to fill the entire existing parking lot, the vintage concession stand and other buildings at the beach will be demolished.
The estimated $45 million construction process is expected to take two years.
Protesters speak
Holmes Beach Mayor Judy Titsworth and city commissioners Dan Diggins and Carol Soustek participated in Friday’s protest.
“I’m glad the bill was either signed or vetoed because I didn’t want it to just go unnoticed,” Titsworth said. “Now people know what DeSantis believes in – the loss of home rule and big government overreach. That completely circumvents our ability to govern and people don’t have a voice anymore. It’s wrong.
“The parking garage is unfunded, so the county’s going to have to find the money. I hope they don’t dip into reserves because we need those reserves, especially with the increased magnitude of the hurricanes coming our way. And there’s a lot of infrastructure in the county that needs funding. We’re dealing with a county water pipe issue right now. I hope they put the emphasis on things like that instead.”
Holmes Beach Commissioner Dan Diggins, left, and Mayor Judy Titsworth were among the many protestors. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
Titsworth said the fight is not over.
“We have legal recourse and a couple other things we’re working on that I think could make an impact,” she said. “The citizens have to take their stand and tell the people they elected how disappointed they are.”
Titsworth said the city will have no input or oversight of the construction of the parking garage.
“They made sure we didn’t have a seat at the table. I’ve never seen such hostile local bill,” she said.
Diggins said, “I think it’s heavy-handed government at its worst. This bill was passed to solve an undefined problem. They never brought us a plan to say this is what we’d like to do with the studies about drainage, traffic and beach carrying capacity. If those things were done, we’d be open to consider it. This whole thing was done bass-ackwards.
“It was basically done because some county commissioner got their feelings hurt,” Diggins said. “We passed an ordinance that banned a parking garage. It had nothing to do with the county’s plans and that set this whole thing in motion. Once (Manatee County Commissioner) Kevin Van Ostenbridge saw that, he threatened us with retribution; and apparently, this is part of that retribution.”
Diggins and Titsworth were asked if the county ever considered buying the nearby vacant Bank of America property and building a parking garage there instead.
“I brought that up in front of Kevin and he said, ‘Why would I do that when we already own the county beach?’ He didn’t want to do it,” Titsworth said.
“I talked to Kevin before I was a commissioner and I brought up that suggestion. He said why would we do that? We already own the county beach,” Diggins echoed.
Soustek said, “There’s a lot of people here that are very concerned. We appreciate everyone who takes a stand against big government trying to take away home rule rights from the cities. It’s not the solution. It’s just another problem. There are other solutions. There are studies that were done in the past and they recommend off-Island mass transportation to the Island. That would help with the traffic. I think they should have taken a lot more time to look into the matter before they pushed it through.”
Holmes Beach resident and Island business owner Morgan Bryant helped organize the protest.
Carla Ballew, Talha Siddique and Morgan Bryant participated in Friday’s protest. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
“I want to preserve Anna Maria Island. We don’t need a 1,500-space parking garage. It’s sad that the first thing people are going to see when they drive over the bridge is a giant parking garage,” she said.
“The biggest thing here is big government overreach and circumventing our home rule and our city’s ability to preserve itself. I was upset driving over here when I heard the news. I don’t know that this protest will change anything, but at least our voices will be heard. I hope the city and the county can find a better solution. People need to be made aware of the parking spaces we have throughout Holmes Beach and the Island. I grew up in east Bradenton. I understand why people get upset when they can’t find parking spaces, but there are parking spaces,” Bryant said.
Manatee County has the green light to make the parking lot east of Manatee Beach into a three-story parking garage from end to end. – Troy Morgan/PhotosFromTheAir.com | Submitted
“Some of us are also concerned that this will open up the door to a higher structure and before you know it, we’ll have a whole bunch of high-rises on the Island,” former Island resident Carla Ballew said. “We’re trying to keep the jewel that it was, which it’s not anymore, but we’re still trying to preserve some of that quaintness that used to be Anna Maria Island.”
“The county has completely mishandled this entire situation from start to finish. This is an absolute misuse and waste of our tax dollars,” Speak Out Manatee founder Talha Siddique said. “The county has closed off far more beach parking than the city of Holmes Beach has and that’s almost $50 million that could go to schools, teachers, our police and firefighters and our crumbling infrastructure. Our elected officials want to put our money towards something we don’t want. At its core this is a local issue. Our county commission didn’t want to work out a deal with the city. That’s why we need to speak out and we need to vote in 2024. If these county commissioners aren’t going to vote in accordance with what we want them to do, we have an opportunity to take anybody out of office who doesn’t want to listen to us.”
Longtime Island resident Tom Aposporos said, “The governor signed the bill and it surprises me because I understood he was a believer in home rule. This is the antithesis of home rule. Can you imagine a parking garage staring you right in the face as you’re driving onto that bucolic Island? And making traffic worse, not better. How can anyone who has an ounce of decency think that’s a good idea?”
Regarding Robinson and Boyd’s legislative efforts, Aposporos said, “I’m surprised. I’ve never had a reason to disrespect either one of them. I do not understand this at all. I think there has been political intrigue between the local governments and those gentlemen as state officials, but somehow I think that can be worked out. It doesn’t have to become this draconian decision to build a multi-story parking garage in the middle of a beautiful place. It will not accomplish what they’re saying it will accomplish and I hope that all comes out in the courts.”
Charlene Smock, left, and Brandi Brady question State Rep. Will Robinson Jr.’s legislative efforts. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
Charlene Smock and Brandi Brady were among those holding blue and red signs that said, “Danger Will Robinson.” Smock lives in Palma Sola and Brady’s family has owned and operated the West Coast Surf Shop next to Manatee Beach for more than five decades.
Regarding DeSantis signing the bill, Brady said, “We just found out and we’re devastated. You’re going to fill that big concrete building on the beach with a lot more people coming to the Island and leaving the Island. All the tourists that come into our shop love the Island the way it is and everybody we’ve talked to is against the garage. That might be great for our business, but no. We have enough business. Everybody has enough business. The traffic’s going to be even worse,” Brady said.
Smock said, “Think about emptying that parking garage with 1,500 cars all trying to come out at once during bad weather.”
Smock suggested the county finish its Coquina Beach parking improvements so those temporarily unavailable parking spaces are available again.
There is a smarter, less costly approach to increase parking capacity in Holmes Beach.
Anna Maria Island (AMI) is a treasure. We must protect it from the current misguided construction plan of a four-story, $45M garage at Holmes Beach. This project will create a bottleneck at the T intersection of Manatee Avenue and Gulf Drive, creating traffic delays of two hours or more at peak times. Queueing models prove that congestion on the island will become explosively worse than it already is.
More visitors are welcome on AMI, as they bring additional business to the restaurants and shopping outlets. But there are smarter, more cost-effective alternatives than building a massive garage at a choke point.
An alternative is to distribute the traffic load across multiple points. For example, Manatee County can contract with numerous parking lots off-island, including east on Manatee Avenue, to use their idle spaces. And shuttles can carry beachgoers to and from Holmes Beach. This is a smarter approach that is less costly, reduces current traffic congestion on the island, and mitigates the problems that will be otherwise imposed by the original misguided design. It also better serves the economic interests of the area.
HOLMES BEACH – A much-loved, historic Easter service may be in jeopardy if a multi-story parking garage is erected at Manatee Beach.
Thousands of people gather on the sand every year for the non-denominational Easter Sunrise Service hosted by the Anna Maria Island Kiwanis Club. Residents and visitors from all over the world gather for the service before the sun comes up, celebrating together as the sun rises in the east over the top of the single-story concession stand.
Manatee County commissioners have a plan to replace that building with a three-story parking garage with additional parking on the roof. The bill awaits a decision by Gov. Ron DeSantis. If approved, the county could build the garage despite prohibitions in city ordinances and the land development code. County commission Chair Kevin Van Ostenbridge estimates the 1,500-plus parking space garage will cost $45 million to build over at least two years.
The garage would change the venue where the sunrise service has been held for 58 years, rising at least 36 feet over the beach, casting a shadow on the sand in the morning, and blocking the view of the sunrise during the religious service.
Sandy Haas-Martens, secretary of the Kiwanis club, said that the group is on its summer meeting schedule and have not discussed the future of the service if DeSantis signs off on the parking garage, but she anticipates it will be a topic at a future meeting.
Speaking on behalf of St. Bernard Catholic Church, one of the Island churches that participates in the annual service, Haas-Martens said the Easter sunrise service is something that brings the Island community together, both locals and visitors, and is something each church’s leaders enjoy participating in. The 2023 service was the first time the event was live streamed for online viewers.
Holmes Beach Police Chief Bill Tokajer, who handles security and traffic for the service, said he hopes the service will be able to continue.
“I’m still hoping the county commission comes to their senses and realizes the garage is a bad idea,” he said, noting that the city still had plenty of available parking spaces even over the busy Memorial Day holiday weekend.
If the garage is built, he said trying to get traffic in and out of the planned three-story space would be extremely difficult, especially if a large number of people try to leave at once, which often happens at the beach during a rainstorm, and at the end of the service.
“How are you going to get out when everyone is in line for the exit?” he said.
Representatives from other participating churches, Roser Memorial Community Church, Harvey Memorial Church, The Episcopal Church of the Annunciation and Gloria Dei Lutheran Church could not be reached for comment by press time for The Sun.
HOLMES BEACH – A new effort is rising to fight against a Manatee County and state-led effort to build a parking garage at Manatee Beach.
The effort is being led by a group of concerned city and county residents who hope to convince state legislators to abandon House Bill 947, the local bill backed by Rep. Will Robinson Jr. to circumvent the city’s building regulations and land development code to allow a 1,500-plus space parking garage to be built at the county-owned property located in Holmes Beach. The bill passed votes in both the Florida House and Senate without opposition.
As of press time for The Sun it had not been presented to Gov. Ron DeSantis for consideration. Legislators have until June 30 to present the bill. If the bill doesn’t get presented, it dies along with Manatee County commissioners’ immediate plans for the garage. If it is presented and DeSantis signs or ignores it, the bill becomes law upon signing or on July 1, whichever happens first. If he vetoes it, the bill goes back to the House for consideration during the next regular session.
The first part of the effort, spearheaded by Performance Analysis Expert Allan Levy along with a group of residents, is to sign petitions speaking out against the garage and to write DeSantis encouraging him to veto the bill if it comes to him for consideration.
If the bill becomes law, the second part of the effort is to focus on engaging Manatee County commissioners, who eventually would have to approve a budget, construction plans, building permits and a contractor for the project.
Another part, Levy said, is to make sure that all of the studies required for parking garage development are done in accordance with the law. Of particular note is a traffic congestion study which is required for any parking garage construction in Manatee County.
After observing the congestion created in Holmes Beach near Manatee Beach without the assistance of a large, three-story plus roof parking garage, Levy said his professional experience tells him that the structure would greatly increase congestion for beachgoers, not relieve it.
In fact, he said he believes his analysis will show the parking garage would create a condensed wall of traffic that would impede emergency personnel when responding to an emergency situation.
If emergency personnel couldn’t get to the site of an accident, fire, medical emergency or to medical care inland, Levy fears it could lead to dramatic increases in deaths.
He also believes the backup of traffic from the parking garage could cause driver delays of two hours or more to get back to the mainland.
Before retiring to the Anna Maria Island area, Levy used his skills for 30 years working with Fortune 50 companies to help them make sound, rational decisions. He’s using those same skills to analyze the problem of the parking garage to see what impact it will have on the area.
The group is hoping to join forces with Holmes Beach city leaders to fight against the parking garage, though no plans have been confirmed at press time for The Sun.
To sign one of the two petitions against the parking garage or learn more about the Paradise Lost effort, visit https://paradise-lost-109036.weebly.com/.
I am a fan of simple. I think we overanalyze many things. However, there are some things that call for higher-level thinking. The dilemma of transporting more people to AMI beaches is one of them.
The current knee-jerk parking garage solution from state and county leaders is decades old, tired and simple. It is “Boy howdy, let’s just pour us some more concrete.” It is wrong on so many levels.
There is a lesson here for the electorate. There are going to be other ongoing complex issues that call for creative and innovative thinking. The solutions to these issues will impact us all. We would be wise to elect future leaders who understand the whole picture, are forward-thinking and comprehend multiplex relationships. After all, they do have our fate in their hands.
TALLAHASSEE – Florida House Bill 947, sponsored by Manatee County Rep. Will Robinson Jr. to build a parking garage at Manatee Beach, still hasn’t hit Gov. Ron DeSantis’ desk.
The bill would allow Manatee County commissioners to approve and issue permits for the planned three-story, 1,500-plus parking space structure at the county-owned beach against local regulations in Holmes Beach, where the beach is located.
The bill passed both the state House and Senate, but as of press time for The Sun, it had not yet been presented to the governor.
Once the bill goes to the governor’s desk, he can choose to veto, sign or ignore it. If DeSantis signs the bill, it becomes law upon gaining his signature. If he chooses to ignore it, it automatically becomes law on July 1. If he vetoes it, the bill dies, and so do Manatee County commissioners’ immediate plans for the parking garage.
A veto from the governor would send the bill back to the House where it would be up for reconsideration in the next regular legislative session. It would require a two-thirds vote of both the House and Senate to overturn a veto from DeSantis.
The bill must be presented to DeSantis for consideration, otherwise, it dies despite earning approvals from state legislators. Once presented with the bill, the governor has 15 days to take action, according to the Florida constitution.
HOLMES BEACH – Florida House Bill 947 has just one more stoplight to pass before it becomes law, being signed into law – or not – by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
If the bill is signed, Manatee County has the green light to build a three-story, 1500-plus space parking garage spanning the width and breadth of the county-owned parking lot at Manatee Beach. All existing facilities at the beach, including the concession stand, retail and restrooms, would be demolished, with new facilities located in the parking garage.
Some locals and visitors are not happy about what would be the end of an era on Anna Maria Island.
The concession building has been at the public beach for decades, with the roof once functioning as a community dance floor. And while some people don’t mind the potential changes, others don’t want to see the current parking area and concession building demolished.
Carolyn Brown shares a vintage postcard photo of the concession building at Manatee Beach along with a plea for lawmakers, “Please don’t destroy this gem.” – Submitted | Carolyn Brown
The place is important to former Holmes Beach mayor, former county commissioner and long-time Holmes Beach resident Carol Whitmore.
“I have fond memories of the concession area since 1969,” she said. “That was the beach of choice for the islanders to gather. I used to go in the cold months and lay where the patio is currently behind the wall so I was protected from the cold weather. When they had steps leading to the rest, but it was cut off, my daughter and I used to sit at the top being protected by the cold weather to get sun. At one point I lived on top of West Coast Surf Shop with my daughter and I will never forget the public beach and the concession stand area.”
“I have a lot of memories of the public beach,” Holmes Beach resident and charter fishing Capt. Scott Moore said. “Years ago, we actually used to be able to dance on top of the concession building. There were stairs going up to the top and you could see all over and see the sunsets. My biggest memories are of the fishing pier that was in front of the public beach. We miss that. It also made for great surfing. A lot of people would like to have it back so they could fish off it. I know people don’t like changes, but I don’t care about the parking garage. Give my pier back.”
The owners of the West Coast Surf Shop, Florida’s oldest surf shop at the edge of the parking lot where the proposed parking garage would be built, are not happy about the prospect of a three-story structure at the beach.
Ronee and Jim Brady have owned the surf shop at 3902 Gulf Drive for 59 years.
“We don’t need any more concrete,” Ronee said, adding, “We have miles of parking at Coquina Beach that’s been under construction for two years. What about that parking?”
Jim expressed concern about the additional traffic and infrastructure.
“We don’t have the infrastructure for more cars,” he said. “The beach holds 500 cars, at the intersection going to the beach there are 35,000 to 40,000 cars a day and it’s congested. At another 1,000 cars with three people per car, there just isn’t enough room.”
Ronee recalls the dances on the concession roof in the 1960s and 70s.
“They used to have steps going up to the top and they had dances up there,” she said. “That building has a lot of history and that’s a shame to lose it.”
A crowd gathers well before sunset on May 11 to listen to live music, eat dinner and enjoy the view at the Anna Maria Island Beach Café at Manatee Beach. The beach café building, along with restrooms and a retail shop, is planned to be demolished as part of a plan to build a parking garage at the site. – Kristin Swain | Sun
Tanner Enoch, whose family has owned the Manatee Beach concession for the past 12 years, is taking a wait-and-see approach.
“We have a good partnership with Manatee County. We work with the county and we appreciate their ongoing effort to make improvements,” Enoch said. “Right now, my understanding is they’re seeing if they’re able to do this. I’m not super concerned.”
Enoch said his family’s beach concessions at Manatee and Coquina Beaches employ around 70 people.
“We’re happy with what we have here and we hope it doesn’t change anytime soon,” he said.
While too young to see it personally, Enoch said he has seen old pictures of the beach concession building when it had a rooftop dance floor.
More than 200 people took to The Sun’s Facebook page to have their voices heard.
“We’ve been vacationing there for years and plan to buy a home eventually,” Kensy Carter said. “If the parking garage happens, we will have to find a new spot. I can’t imagine how crowded the beaches would be. The quaint vibe we love so much would be ruined.”
“Ever since moving to the Island in 1999, we have enjoyed eating at the Manatee Beach café,” Suzanne Lansing Moderhak said. “Our kids/grands call it ‘pancakes on the beach.’ We have met our Canadian friends every Wednesday night for years during season for dinner to eat and listen to the music. We are very disappointed in the decision to tear it down for 2 years while an unnecessary parking garage is built.”
“This cafe and beach area is an iconic part of AMI, with decades of memories for so many!” Laura Lynch said, adding that she feels having a concrete parking garage as the first impression of Anna Maria Island for visitors is “a travesty,” a sentiment echoed by many others, including Holmes Beach Mayor Judy Titsworth, who led opposition to the garage.
Multi-level parking garages are not an allowable use within the city of Holmes Beach, where Manatee Beach is located, unless commissioners approve a special exception.
Manatee County Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge took his plan to build a parking garage at the county-owned beach to the local state legislative delegation when he concluded that Holmes Beach commissioners would not approve the use. Legislators gave his plan their unanimous approval, translating the request into a bill that passed both the state House and Senate. DeSantis can choose to sign, veto or ignore the bill, which would put it into law automatically.
If the bill becomes law, Manatee County Commissioner George Kruse said he estimates it would take about a year to get shovels in the ground to start construction of the parking garage if it’s approved by a majority of county commissioners.
Estimated to cost around $45 million with at least a two-year construction time, the garage would have to have paid parking to pay for construction and upkeep, estimated at $2 per hour per vehicle, Van Ostenbridge said.
