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Public provides input on Cortez Marina’s future

Public provides input on Cortez Marina’s future

Written by Leslie Lake on . Posted in Community News, Cortez.

BRADENTON – Manatee County residents expressed their preferences for the future of Cortez Marina at the first of five public workshops at the Bridge Church on July 24.

The workshop, held in an open house format, had four stations – an aerial map of the parcel, a location map and survey, priority ranking for desired amenities and an opportu­nity for attendees to post a short statement.

Public provides input on Cortez Marina’s future
Manatee County residents attend the first of five public input workshops on the future of the Cortez Marina. – Leslie Lake | Sun

Manatee County purchased the former Seafood Shack property, which consists of seven upland parcels of approximately 5.9 acres and two submerged land leases of 2.9 acres, on Dec. 31, 2024 for $13 million with the intention of using it for boat ramps and a public marina.

According to a July 11 Manatee County press release inviting residents to attend the workshops, “Manatee County Govern­ment is starting with a blank slate to design a vibrant public boat launch and waterfront destination at the Cortez Boat Ramp and public input is being sought. Every dock plank, parking space and amenity will reflect the community’s vision, so project managers are opening the doors wide for citizens to contribute their creativity, concerns and aspirations.”

“The feedback is incredibly important to the commissioners,” Manatee County Communications Division Manager Casey Zempel said. “Any one of these sessions is an opportunity for people to let us know what kind of waterfront they want to see.”

Public provides input on Cortez Marina’s future
Workshop attendees expressed their preferences regarding the future Cortez Marina amenities. – Leslie Lake | Sun

Suggested amenities for the property included a bait and tackle shop, mooring field, waterfront destination, working waterfront/fish market, passive waterfront, recreation rental, waterfront food truck plaza and waterfront dining. Using stickers, attendees ranked their choices.

“We’re going to combine all the data and let the ideas surface and put together a presentation that we can put before the board and hopefully get approved using all this feedback – great feedback – from the community.”

Consulting firm Kimley-Horne will compile the data from the five workshops and make a final presentation to county commissioners.

“We started with the Cortez area and that really started with our boots on the ground effort. Our neighborhood connec­tions team went out and canvassed the neighborhood door-to-door to make sure the surrounding community knew about these open house sessions so we can have the relevant feedback of those who live in close proximity to the future boat ramp,” Zempel said.

Zempel said county residents could also leave feedback at the Cortez Boat Ramp website.

Additional public workshops are scheduled:

  • Wednesday, Aug. 6, 5-7 p.m., Manatee Central Library, 1301 First Ave. W., Bradenton;
  • Monday, Aug. 11, 5-7 p.m., Island Library, 5701 Marina Drive, Holmes Beach;
  • Wednesday, Aug. 13, 5-7 p.m., Rocky Bluff Library, 6750 U.S. 301, Ellenton;
  • Monday, Aug. 18, 5-7 p.m., Lakewood Ranch Library, 16410 Rangeland Parkway, Bradenton.
Public input sought on future pier building use

Public input sought on future pier building use

Written by Joe Hendricks on . Posted in Anna Maria, Community News, Featured.

ANNA MARIA – The public will soon be given a chance to provide input on the future use of the currently vacant City Pier building.

The city of Anna Maria will host a public meeting on the City Pier on Wednesday, Feb. 10 at 1:30 p.m.

Originally scheduled for Feb. 2 but then pushed back a week, the Feb. 10 meeting will take place inside the larger city-owned pier building that was originally intended to be occupied by a restaurant operator.

With Brian Seymour, Nick Graham and Vic Mattay now operating the City Pier Grill & Bait Shop in the smaller of the two city-owned pier buildings, the future use of the larger pier building remains undetermined.

During the Thursday, Jan. 14 city commission meeting, Mayor Dan Murphy proposed a special meeting at which he would provide the public and the commission with some possible options.

“Between now and the end of the month, I will have some recommendations for the city commission to consider,” he said.

Commissioner Joe Muscatello suggested the meeting take place inside the pier building so the public can see the available space for themselves.

Murphy said the possible options include a full-service, sit-down restaurant, a special event facility, or a special event facility that also includes a retail sales operation. He also said representatives of the Sarasota-based Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium have expressed interest in using the vacant space for a learning lab.

“Mote Marine has some very specific ideas they’d like to share with our commission, so they need to be in attendance at that meeting,” Murphy said.

Murphy said the possible use could include a combination of some of these possibilities and that no one has approached him recently with any specific plans for a restaurant, retail space, or special event venue.

He added he will provide commissioners with some basic architectural drawings that illustrate how the interior space could be used for the various possibilities.

“I think we need to decide what we’re going to do with it,” Murphy said of the vacant space made more valuable by its beautiful views.

Murphy said he doesn’t expect the commission to decide at the Feb. 10 meeting.

“This is just the first meeting to discuss the future of that space. I don’t think you can do it all in one meeting,” he said while noting he expects to hear a variety of proposals and ideas.

“We can put together a plan, but I can’t pursue five plans at once. I think we need to agree on our first choice, and maybe here’s our second and here’s our third. We need to zero in on one plan and drive that into fruition as quickly as possible.”