CORTEZ – The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s governing board is expected to issue an approved final order regarding the Hunters Point Resort & Marina dock permitting efforts.
The final order pertains to a permit challenge initiated by the owners of the Cortez Village Marina in 2021.
The governing board will meet Tuesday, May 23 at 9 a.m. at the water district’s service office at 7601 U.S. Highway 301 N. in Tampa. The Hunters Point action item is listed as item 7.2 on the meeting agenda. The meeting will be live-streamed on the water district’s website and the meeting video will later be archived there.
The meeting-related general counsel’s report prepared by senior attorney Jennifer Soberal notes Administrative Law Judge Bruce Culpepper presided over the multi-day hearing conducted on behalf of the Division of Administrative Hearings last June, August and September.
On March 7, Culpepper entered his order that recommends the water management district enter a final order to issue the environmental resource permit needed to construct 49 docks along the man-made Hunters Point-owned canal surrounding the development property on three sides. The docks would service some of the 86 homes currently being built on the property in Cortez.
The privately-owned canal is also utilized by Cortez Village Marina clients, several residential property owners and guests at two canal-side RV resorts in Cortez.
Several residential docks are already located along the other side of the man-made canal. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
Soberal’s report notes Culpepper found that the preponderance of the evidence demonstrated by the attorneys and witnesses representing Hunters Point developer Marshall Gobuty’s Cortez Road Investments and Finance ownership group provided reasonable assurances that constructing the docks is not contrary to the public interest.
“The administrative law judge further concluded that there are no reasonably anticipated significant adverse impacts on safe navigation from the construction of the dock; the marina (Cortez Village Marina) did not meet the burden of the preponderance of competent substantial evidence proving the dock is contrary to the public interest,” Soberal’s report says.
The owners of the Cortez Village Marina challenged the issuance of the permit needed to construct the Hunters Point docks. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
“During its review of the entire record and, based in part upon the marina’s first exception, district staff found that one sentence in paragraph 42 of the administrative law judge’s recommended order was not based on competent substantial evidence and should be stricken. Otherwise, the rest of the marina’s exceptions were denied for the reasons stated in the proposed final order after a thorough review of the entire record,” Soberal’s report says.
Paragraph 42 in Culpepper’s recommended order pertains to bathymetric surveys and canal depths.
“Because the administrative law judge’s findings of fact were based on competent and substantial evidence in the record, with the exception of the stricken sentence in Paragraph 42, and the administrative law judge’s conclusions of law were reasonable, the recommended order should be adopted as the district’s final order,” Soberal’s report concludes.
CORTEZ – Seven new wooden pilings have been placed in the privately-owned Hunters Point canal near the canal-side entrance to the Cortez Village Marina.
Installed last week, the pilings have various signs affixed to them that say, “Caution, Narrow Bridge Ahead,” “Mana- tee Zone, Slow Speed, Minimum Wake,” “You Are Entering a Private Canal, Please Monitor VHF Channel 9,” “Inbound Traffic Every 15 Minutes on the Hour,” “Outbound Traffic Every 15 Minutes on the Hour” and “No Wake Zone.”
Signs containing safety and navigational instructions are affixed to the new pilings. – Cortez Road Investments | Submitted
Hunters Point developer Marshall Gobuty said the new pilings and signs were installed for safety reasons in response to concerns that Cortez Village Marina representatives repeatedly expressed during the multi-day permit challenge hearing held in 2022, presided over by administrative law Judge Bruce Culpepper.
The new pilings appear to narrow the navigable area of the canal near the marina entrance, but Gobuty said the pilings still provide a 20-foot-wide clearance for boats to pass through, one at a time, and that a water district representative viewed the new pilings and expressed no concerns.
The marina ownership group seeks a ruling as to whether the Southwest Florida Water Management District properly issued the environmental resource permit in 2021 that allows 49 Hunters Point docks to be built along the decades-old, man-made canal Gobuty purchased in 2016 when he bought the Hunters Point property.
During the hearing, marina representatives and expert witnesses claimed two-way boat traffic on the canal would become more challenging and less safe with the installation of the 49 canal-side residential docks desired for the Hunters Point community currently under construction in Cortez.
During the hearing, Gobuty, his attorney, Susan Martin, and his expert witnesses suggested limiting boat traffic on the canal to one-way travel occurring at 15-minute intervals to help ensure greater navigational safety for canal users.
The privately-owned canal currently provides marina users with their only direct access to the Intracoastal Waterway and it was stated during the hearing that the marina ownership group has no written or verbal agreements that guarantee the continued use of the canal.
The canal also provides several canal-side homeowners (some of whom have been named in an unresolved civil lawsuit filed by Cortez Road Investments) and two RV resorts with access to the Intracoastal Waterway.
The parties involved in the dock permitting challenge dispute still await a recommended order from Culpepper regarding the permit issued by the water district, to be followed by a final order issued by the water district’s governing board.
This photo represents the view boaters see of the new pilings when approaching the Cortez Village Marina’s canal-side entrance. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
Gobuty said a water district representative viewed new pilings and expressed no concerns. The new pilings appear to narrow the navigable area of the canal near the marina entrance, but Gobuty said the pilings still provide a 20-foot-wide clearance for boats to pass through, one at a time.
CORTEZ – A hearing is underway to decide whether Hunters Point can build 49 docks in the canal bordering the new development.
The case pertains to the environmental resource permit that the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) issued Hunters Point developer and property owner Marshall Gobuty in June 2021.
The permit allows Gobuty to build 49 docks – or one continuous dock with 49 slips – along the privately-owned canal he purchased when he bought the Hunters Point property in 2016. Construction is well underway on many of the 86 three-story, net-zero energy rated solar powered townhomes, but the docks will not be built until the permitting challenge is resolved. Many who pre-purchased Hunters Point homes did so with the understanding that their home would include a dock.
The Cortez Village Marina’s ownership group is challenging an environmental resource permit issued in 2021 for the construction of the Hunters Point docks. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
In July 2021, MHC Cortez Village LLC, the Cortez Village Marina ownership group, filed a petition for an administrative hearing naming Gobuty’s Cortez Road Investments ownership group and SWFWMD as respondents and asking that SWFWMD be ordered to revoke the approved permit or modify it in a manner that further protects navigation.
The petition claims the Hunters Point docks would increase traffic on the canal, impair vessel traffic by narrowing the navigable portions of the canal, negatively affect the marina customers’ safe use of the canal, limit the size of the vessels that can use the canal and negatively impact the profitability and ongoing operations of the Cortez Village Marina. The marina is located along Cortez Road West, less than a half-mile east of the Hunters Point property and upstream of the canal owned by Gobuty’s Cortez Road Investments and Finance Inc. The canal borders the Hunters Point property on three sides.
The Buttonwood Inlet and Holiday Cove RV parks are also located along the canal, east of the Hunters Point property, as are several privately owned homes. The west end of the canal passes under the humpback bridge at 127th Street West, where it connects with the Intracoastal Waterway near the Seafood Shack restaurant.
Administrative law judge Bruce Culpepper presided over the June 14-15 hearing at the SWFWMD office in Tampa on behalf of the State of Florida’s Division of Administrative Hearings. The next hearing date has not yet been scheduled.
Attorneys Susan Martin and John Fumero represented Cortez Road Investments at the hearing. Attorneys Megan Albrecht and Elizabeth Fernandez represented SWFWMD and attorneys Matthew Chait, Devon Woolard and Dan Norby represented the Cortez Village Marina.
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. All parties involved agreed that the riparian rights – the right to continue using the canal for navigational purposes – of the marina, the marina customers, the RV resorts and those who own homes along the canal are a matter to be decided in a circuit court.
Hearing Testimony
After opening arguments by the three parties involved, Martin began presenting Cortez Road Investment’s case, joined at times by SWFWMD attorneys, with cross examination by the Cortez Village Marina’s attorneys.
While testifying and being cross-examined, Gobuty said the Hunters Point docks are designed to accommodate boats no longer than 25 feet, while the marina accommodates vessels as long as 35-38 feet. It was also noted the marina and storage facility accommodates approximately 350 vessels.
On June 15, Captain Dane Fleming was called as a witness for Cortez Road Investments. Fleming said he navigated and measured the canal on two different occasions prior to the hearing. Fleming expressed his opinion that the canal is wide enough to accommodate the Hunters Point docks without hindering or impeding navigation.
Fleming called into question a video previously provided on behalf of the marina owners. He noted the captain of the boat from which that video footage was filmed was navigating on the wrong side of the canal while filming. Fleming said this resulted in camera angles that “skewed” the marina’s claims regarding visibility and the canal being too narrow for safe navigation in some areas. Fleming noted there are some areas that are too narrow for two boats to pass side-by-side, but one boat can wait in the wider area until the other boat navigates the narrower area.
Stantec ecologist and permit expert Elizabeth Eardley helped Gobuty’s development team acquire the environmental resource permit granted in 2021. While testifying Wednesday, Eardley said the state permitting process did not require a navigational impact study because the canal is privately owned. She also testified the Hunters Point docks are designed to allow adequate remaining navigational space in the canal and are not expected to impede navigation.
When the hearing continues, SWFWMD attorneys will present their arguments regarding the environmental resource permit being properly issued. After that, the Cortez Village Marina attorneys will present their arguments.
Ownership and riparian rights
Even though riparian rights will not be determined during the administrative hearing, testimony was still given pertaining to the history and ownership of the canal.
The canal area directly west of the Cortez Village Marina is owned by Cortez Road Investments and is also utilized by canal-side homeowners and the Buttonwood Inlet RV Resort. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
When testifying on behalf of Cortez Road Investments, attorney and property title expert Adron Walker said the man-made Hunters Point canal did not exist when Florida was granted statehood in 1845, thus the canal’s submerged lands are privately owned and are not state-owned submerged sovereign lands. Walker also testified that the man-made canal did not exist when the property now known as Hunters Point was first platted in 1921.
During Walker’s testimony, property cards and images from the Manatee County Property Appraiser’s Office were displayed. One property card shows the Hunters Point-owned canal that extends from 127th Street West to the western boundary of the Cortez Village Marina property. Walker said he could not locate any easements or usage agreements ever granted to the marina or any other potentially impacted upland property owners regarding their right to use the privately-owned Hunters Point canal.
According to this property card image, the canal area highlighted in blue is owned by developer Marshall Gobuty’s Cortez Road Investments and Finance Inc. -Manatee County Property Appraiser | SubmittedThe canal area highlighted in blue is owned by Marshall Gobuty’s Cortez Road Investments and Finance Inc. as part of the triangular-shaped Hunters Point property. – Manatee County Property Appraiser | Submitted
Walker referenced another property card which revealed the portion of the canal located directly in front of the marina is not owned by the marina but is owned by the Cipriani family trust that previously owned the Hunters Point property and canal. Walker also said he’s not aware of any use agreement between the marina and the Cipriani family trust for the use of that portion of the canal.
According to this property card, the canal area in front of the Cortez Village Marina (highlighted in blue) is owned by the Cipriani family trust. – Manatee County Property Appraiser | SubmittedLocated in front of the Cortez Village Marina, the canal area highlighted in blue is owned by the Cipriani family trust. – Manatee County Property Appraiser | Submitted
Walker said the only existing right the marina and the other upland owners might have would be a prescriptive easement granted by a court. Walker said a declaration of that nature usually requires an existing historic use of at least 20 years.
Martin noted the original petition for hearing states the Cortez Village Marina has operated in its current configuration since 2008. The petition also notes that site has been used as a marina since at least the 1990s.
Recent lawsuits
In late May, Cortez Road Investments filed a civil lawsuit in the 12th Judicial Circuit Court in Manatee County seeking to prohibit the marina and its clients from using the Hunters Point canal.
The lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction that would prohibit Cortez Village Marina clients and employees from using the privately owned Hunters Point canal. The lawsuit notes the canal was constructed in the 1950s.
In early June, Cortez Road Investments filed a separate lawsuit against upland canal-side property owners Jonathan and Sheila Graham, Mark Ibasfalean, Jacquelyn Shepard, Mary Norman, Timothy Fitzpatrick and Wendy and George Kokolis. That lawsuit complaint states those property owners have constructed and are maintaining docks, lifts and other structures on and in the Hunters Point canal without the property owner’s authorization. The complaint notes that the Cortez Village Marina petition contends, in part, that the existing docks that extend into the Hunters Point canal could impede navigation for the marina customers.
“This has left plaintiff (Gobuty/Hunters Point) with no choice but to file this suit against defendants,” according to the lawsuit complaint.
The lawsuit seeks the removal of the named property owners’ docks, lifts and other structures located in the canal.
BRADENTON BEACH – City Commissioners have authorized a $302,626 contract with Westra Construction to expedite drainage improvements and rights of way and driveway restorations along Avenue C.
Minus Commissioner Randy White, who was absent, the commission unanimously approved three separate motions that will fast-track by nearly a year the Avenue C improvements.
During its Thursday, Oct. 18 meeting, the commission agreed to un-restrict $400,000 of the restricted $450,000 pier fund that had previously been set aside to self-insure the now-insured historic Bridge Street Pier.
The commission then approved the contract with Westra – the same firm that’s been working on Avenue C for much of 2018 as part of Manatee County’s force main replacement project. The release of the pier funds will provide the funds needed to do the project in fiscal year 2018-19 instead of fiscal year 2019-20. The required budget amendments needed for accounting purposes were also approved.
City Engineer Lynn Burnett said Southwest Florida Water Management District will reimburse the city $70,000 in the current fiscal year and $70,000 in the following fiscal year for the stormwater portions of the project.
The drainage improvements will include the installation of vertical infiltration trenches designed to reduce flooding by creating more space to store rainwater while it percolates downward into the freshwater aquifer.
Unlike previous infiltration trenches installed in Bradenton Beach and elsewhere on the Island, the Avenue C trenches will be filled with 57 stone, but then topped with a honeycombed, heavy-duty plastic eco-grid than can be filled with 89 stone, 250 shell mix or topped with sod, grass, brick pavers or other surface materials. Burnett told the commission the white lime rock 57 stone used for previous stormwater projects will not be visible when the work is done.
The contract also calls for Westra to restore to their previous condition the Avenue C driveway ends that they tore up during the force main replacement project.
The contract with Westra states the entire project must be completed by March 25, and Westra will be charged $1,000 for each business day after that if the project runs long. Burnett told the commission she is hopeful the project will be completed well before the contracted completion date.
The commission also authorized Burnett to provide $50,438 in design and engineering services for the Avenue C projects. That money will come from the $70,625 currently budgeted for those services.
The stormwater and drainage improvements will include the installation of more WaStop check valves that will help prevent tidal waters from flowing back into the drainage outfall pipes. And at the request of the commission, Avenue C will be graded and paved in a manner that ensures the proper flow of rainwater to the outfall pipes that empty into Sarasota Bay.
The first large-scale use of eco-grid in Bradenton Beach will also serve as a test case for stormwater and drainage projects to be planned next for Avenue B.
