for beach access

Beach access hearing continues Friday

Beachgoers want a beach access path re-opened until their court case against the neighbor who closed it is settled at trial.

BY KRISTIN SWAIN

SUN STAFF WRITER | kswain@amisun.com

HOLMES BEACH – A case about beach access is set to go to trial in the coming weeks, but nearby residents are hoping to regain use of a path leading from the end of 78th Street to the sand before then.

Manatee County Circuit Court Judge Charles Sniffen heard testimony on Aug. 18 from witnesses for the plaintiffs, a group of property owners led by Linda Carmon. Testimony from witnesses for the defense, property owners Travis Resmondo and the Ocean Condominium Association, as well as arguments from both sides, were continued to a hearing later this week due to time constraints.

The case centers around a beach access path that winds through private property owned by both Resmondo and the condo association before reaching the sand and the Gulf of Mexico. The Aug. 18 hearing was for Sniffen to hear a case on behalf of the property owners to stop Resmondo from restricting access to the beach path, which they argue has been in use by local property owners for at least 70 years.

Attorney John Goldsmith, speaking on behalf of Resmondo, who was present for the hearing, said his client closed the path to the public and neighbors after more than 150 people used the path over the Easter weekend in April. Goldsmith said in addition to a large number of people traversing a little-used path, Resmondo also had issues with people trespassing on his property, littering, blocking access to his home and using his private driveway for beach parking, he said.

After the weekend, Resmondo had large plants placed across the path along with no trespassing signs, prompting his neighbors to start a court battle.

The hearing on the request to temporarily reopen the path until the matter is decided at trial was expected to take one day to complete, but the large numbers of witnesses on both sides of the issue prompted Sniffen to continue the case until Friday, Aug. 26 at 9 a.m.

No date has been set for the anticipated trial.

KRISTIN SWAIN | SUN Signs and recently planted foliage block access to a beach path stretching from the end of 78th Street in Holmes Beach to the sand and the Gulf of Mexico.

MANGROVES: Suncoast Waterkeeper questions response to trimming

FROM PAGE 4

ADDITIONAL CORRESPONDENCE

On June 23, Hudson sent an email to Fister, which he also copied to Chaves, Bosarge and Medallion Home founder, CEO and president Carlos Beruff.

Hudson’s email contained an aerial map that identified where the mangrove trimmings took place and several pages of inspection photos and photo descriptions that referenced “oversized trimming,” “aggressive trimming,” “spot of significant trimming litter left,” “trimming location below authorized height,” “location of possible tree topping” and “tree removal.”

In his July 1 response to Hudson, arborist Fister wrote, “On June 29th we conducted a site visit to the mangrove fringe at Long Bar Pointe. We did observe that not all trimming debris greater than 3 feet (in length) or 3 inches (in diameter) was completely removed from the fringe. We will be responsible to clean that debris from the fringe. It is our desire to allow this to take place during the next trimming event.”

Fister also suggested some of the trimming debris cited in the FDEP photos may have been the result of previous trimming efforts.

On July 12, Hudson sent an email to Chavez and Bosarge that included the following FDEP-requested actions: Within 30 days (by Aug. 12) remove the trimmings longer than 3 feet long and/or larger than 3 inches in diameter, remove the ‘hot spot’ trimmings and large piles of authorized trimmings, provide pre and post photos of the work conducted and investigate and provide photos of map location #5.

ENFORCEMENT CONCERNS

The Suncoast Waterkeeper letter also addressed FDEP’s overall enforcement efforts.

“We have witnessed a disturbing pattern of mangrove trimming violations and a lack of DEP enforcement, particularly in Manatee County. Manatee County still has significant mangrove coverage, (but) permitted and unpermitted mangrove trimming and removal is taking a disturbing toll on these precious environmental resources. We believe that property owners and contractors perceive that DEP is not providing oversight and that there will be little or no consequence to illegal trimming or removal. The environmental degradation that results is significant,” the letter states.

In closing, the letter encouraged FDEP officials to take appropriate actions to protect the remaining mangroves along Sarasota Bay and to also protect the integrity of the environmental laws and regulations that pertain to mangrove trimming.