
7 minute read
NEWS
4THE SUN ISLAND NEWS
Visit our website, www.amisun.com. Scan this code with your smartphone to go there.
IN BRIEF
Holmes Beach resident Cierra Shannon, 28, who plead no contest to the felony charge of leaving the scene of an accident with a death on April 11, is scheduled for a sentencing hearing in front of Manatee Circuit Court Judge Lon Arend on June 20. An acknowledgment and waiver of rights signed by Shannon on April Shannon 11 states that the maximum penalty could be as severe as 30 years in prison or a potential minimum sentence of 4 years behind bars. Shannon was charged in the Feb. 10, 2021, accident that killed pedestrian Madelyn Dakin, 83, of Michigan. Though not in law enforcement custody, Shannon is not allowed to leave the state of Florida while awaiting sentencing in the case.
Get prepared for hurricane season

Manatee County Emergency Management will present the second annual Hurricane Preparedness Expo on May 17 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Bradenton Area Convention Center, 1 Haben Blvd., Palmetto. This is a family friendly event where visitors can learn about insurance, evacuation levels and procedures and much more about what to do when hurricanes approach. Hurricane season officially lasts from June 1 to Nov. 30. There will be vendors, an emergency vehicle showcase, door prizes and giveaways. For more information on this free event, call 941-749-3507.

Arbor Day planting scheduled
City leaders in Holmes Beach will be celebrating National Arbor Day with the planting of a cabbage palm tree. The celebration begins at 8:30 a.m. at the 34th Street pocket park located at 3400 6th Ave. The public is welcome to attend and view the new addition to the park.
Business card exchange at AMI Historical Society

The Anna Maria Island Chamber of Commerce will hold a business card exchange Thursday, Apr. 28 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Anna Maria Island Historical Society, 402 Pine Ave. in Anna Maria. Bring your business cards and mingle with chamber members, and those who may be considering membership. The fee is $5 for members and $10 for future members.
The Pat Copeland scholarships will also be awarded at this event. The scholarship was named in honor of former Sun staffer Pat Copeland, who is a founder of the Historical Society and has been chairwoman of the scholarship committee since the organization began awarding one.
Locals go crazy for crawfish
The Center of Anna Maria Island was ringing with the sounds of Louisiana on April 23 as participants gathered on the lawn for the sold-out Cajun Crawfish Boil.
The event was sponsored by Christine Major-Hicks, who had fresh crawfish brought in all the way from Louisiana for the event. Along with the crawfish, served as a traditional Low Country boil, the menu featured chicken and sausage gumbo, red beans and rice and bourbon bread pudding all from the Ragin’ Cajun out of Lafayette, Louisiana. Music was provided by The Stockton Brothers.
All proceeds from the Cajun Crawfish Boil go to help fund The Center’s senior programs and environmental initiatives.
KRISTIN SWAIN | SUN The big draw of the sold-out event was the fresh crawfish brought in from Louisiana and served as a Low Country boil. The Stockton Brothers took to the stage to play all of the crowd’s favorite tunes.
Treehouse case put on hold
BY KRISTIN SWAIN
SUN STAFF WRITER | kswain@amisun.com
The case of the city of Holmes Beach versus tree house owners Richard Hazen and Lynn Tran is on hold, at least for the time being.
In a March 21 ruling, Manatee County Circuit Court Judge Edward Nicholas stayed the case through Aug. 31. The ruling will allow both parties to comply with a March 8 case management order requiring each to enter briefings with the court.
In this case, city representatives are suing Tran and Hazen for injunctive relief to have a 2013 Holmes Beach Code Enforcement Board ruling enforced. Under the ruling, the couple would have to bring their property, known as Angelinos Sea Lodge, into compliance with city building codes and pay more than $123,300 in code fines as of April 22, 2022.
To bring the property into compliance, the two-story beachfront treehouse, a non-habitable structure, would have to be torn down.
The continuing $50 fine, assigned by the city’s special magistrate in May 2016, was backdated to July 22, 2015, more than 2,400 days ago as of press time for The Sun.
While city leaders, through their attorney Randy Mora, filed to have the matter go to trial on Feb. 1, Tran and Hazen’s attorney, David Levin, filed an objection on Feb. 16 stating that the case isn’t ready to go to trial because of another pending case in Manatee County circuit court. That case concerns whether or not a section of the city’s land development code named in the code enforcement order violates the couple’s constitutional rights.
That case is set for a Sept. 28 hearing before Nicholas.
FILE PHOTO The beachfront treehouse belonging to Richard Hazen and Lynn Tran in Holmes Beach is back in the news.
ACCESS: Neighbors clash over beach access path
FROM PAGE 1
In an April 22 talk with The Sun, Titsworth said she’d had city attorney Erica Augello look into the possibility of a public access path across the private property and had bad news for 78th Street residents. While an easement was noted as existing on the property in records before 2014, it is not listed on the current deed for the property at 101 78th St. In addition to the disappearance of the easement note on the deed and the fact that there are no easement documents recorded, Titsworth said the easement noted on prior documents was for a nonexclusive easement.
The problem with easements, she said, is that they have to state who the easement benefits. In this case, the easement didn’t state that it benefited the public.
With the property owners not blocking their neighbors from accessing the beach, just blocking the one path to the beach, Titsworth said she’s unsure of how a legal challenge would play out for neighbors. And since the dispute concerns private property, she said there’s very little the city can do, despite being contacted by neighbors and Manatee County Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge to urge city leaders to take action.
The mayor said she instructed city staff to put up a sign at the closed path noting that no beach access is allowed. A Holmes Beach police officer also was stationed at the end of the street on the weekend of April 22-24 to prevent public access to the path.
If the matter is resolved in the neighbors’ favor, Titsworth said she’d be happy to have the sign placed by city staff removed. Other signs at the path, including ones advising against trespassing, were not installed by city staff.
Neighbors of the beachfront property argue that not only should the easement on the property recorded in earlier deeds give them a right to use the path but that they should also have a right to use it due to the number of years it has been used for beach access.
In addition to writing to city and county leaders, some 78th Street residents have taken to social media to express their frustration with the issue.
Hilary Dravis posted on social media about her father, Vinny, who lived on 78th Street for more than 40 years and used the path to access the beach daily. She said he even purchased a bench from the city to place at the end of the path on the beach for others to enjoy. Dravis said her father would be saddened to see the path closed to the public.
No resolution to the beach access debacle was reached as of press time for The Sun.

GOOGLE MAPS Public access to the path entrance circled in yellow at the end of 78th Street is now blocked.






