www.amisun.com
JUNE 16, 2021
PARKING: Tensions mount FROM PAGE 1
discussion about parking. During the meeting, both sides aired some of their grievances and agreed to work to find solutions. Titsworth said she’s concerned about the lack of communication between the county and city and some of the inaccurate information being shared as fact at county commission meetings and with the media concerning parking in Holmes Beach. The city has 1,261 non-permit public parking spaces, including some on residential streets and at beach ends in residential neighborhoods. There also are 642 permit-only spots open to residents of the Island city until 5 p.m. daily. All of these parking spaces are located a quarter-mile or less from the beach. When Holmes Beach leaders created the permit-only spaces on residential streets following COVID-19 closures in 2020, it was the implementation of a city plan that had been in the works for several years. It also eliminated 497 parking spaces citywide. The city needs 476 public parking spaces to qualify for beach renourishment funds. Titsworth said the parking changes were implemented to help residents who were having a difficult time with beachgoers parking on residential streets. Some of the issues include noise, trespassing, trash and people using residential properties as restrooms and using outdoor hoses
for showers, noting that no facilities are available outside of Manatee Beach in Holmes Beach. She said it also creates a safety problem as there are no lifeguards present outside of the public beach boundaries. Sticking to her guns, Titsworth said the city would provide no additional public parking and that it’s up to the county to do so. She added that she’s provided Hopes with the name of a commercial property owner seeking to sell the former Bank of America location on Manatee Avenue, with the suggestion that the county could purchase the property and use it for beach parking. Currently, the city’s codes have no provision for a parking garage to be built. Van Ostenbridge responded that if additional lifeguards are needed outside of the public beach, it would be up to the city to provide them. To combat parking issues, he said he would contact Holmes Beach churches to see if they would be willing to provide public parking on their properties. It would require a change in city codes and two public hearings to allow for public parking at local churches for non-church functions. During a June 8 city commission meeting, Father Matthew Grunfeld, of the Episcopal Church of the Annunciation, said his congregation has no interest in being put in the middle of the county and city fight over parking.
ANNA MARIA ISLAND 607, 609, 611 Fern Streets & 610 Rose Street 12 Beds 6 Baths 1,568 Sq. Ft. Hannah Hillyard & George Myers 941-744-7358 A4497933 $5,900,000
LIDO KEY 1300 Benjamin Franklin Drive 1208 3 Beds 4/1 Baths 5,254 Sq. Ft. Susan Fox & Jonathan Fox, PA 941-544-6648 A4492990 $3,900,000
HOLMES BEACH 103 75th Street 4 Beds 4 Baths 2,737 Sq. Ft. Kathy Marshall 941-900-9777 A4495220 $3,200,000
LONGBOAT KEY 4325 Gulf Of Mexico Drive 603 2 Beds 2/1 Baths 2,672 Sq. Ft. Melinda Alvarez & Hannah Hillyard 941-704-0633 A4500702 $1,695,000
ANNA MARIA ISLAND 8017 Marina Isles Lane 3 Beds 3/1 Baths 3,593 Sq. Ft. Kate Enis 941-330-6068 A4500595 $6,500,000
BRADENTON 9235 43rd Terrace W 3 Beds 2 Baths 2,482 Sq. Ft. Erica Thomas 941-799-9365 A4502020 $614,500
BRADENTON 7304 24th Avenue W 2 Beds 2 Baths 1,527 Sq. Ft. Maria Christenson & Karla Davidson 941-920-3583 A4499897 $450,000
PALMETTO 615 Riviera Dunes Way 205 2 Beds 2 Baths 1,696 Sq. Ft. Cheryl Roberts 941-266-1450 A4497161 $369,000
THE SUN
At Anna Maria Elementary School, Van Ostenbridge agreed the county would look into supplying a restroom trailer on the property and would contact the Florida Department of Transportation about providing flashing crosswalk signage for the crosswalk at Gulf Drive. Titsworth pointed out that vehicles stopping for pedestrians could cause vehicular traffic delays. The county representatives also agreed to reach out to FDOT concerning the traffic patterns on stoplights leading down Manatee Avenue to the public beach. Holmes Beach Commissioner Jayne Christenson maintains that part of the problem on the Island isn’t lack of parking but an issue with the timing of the traffic light at Manatee Avenue and East Bay Drive, something the city’s been trying to work with the county and FDOT to have remedied for months.
TUESDAY TANGLE
The stalemate between the two sides was short-lived. During a June 8 Manatee County Commission meeting, the city of Holmes Beach was under consideration for potential tourist development funding. While one smaller project was approved by commissioners, a second larger one was not. Van Ostenbridge took a moment before voting to say that city leaders need to consider the consequences of their actions before voting against providing funding to the city. Mayor Judy Titsworth was not at the
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county meeting due to a prior obligation. During a Holmes Beach commission meeting held the same day, commissioners and the mayor all expressed their displeasure with the decision. Commissioners Terry Schaefer and Christenson both said they’d agreed to meet with Van Ostenbridge to listen to what he has to say but that they wouldn’t be attempting to broker a deal on the city’s behalf. Christenson also said she would be meeting with Hopes and County Commissioner Carol Whitmore. “We finally poked the bear hard enough that they’re finally listening to us,” Christenson said. Prior to being a commissioner, Christenson worked with two committees to address parking and traffic in Holmes Beach. She noted that the first presentation of the parking committee concerning residential street parking took place in 2014. Commissioner Jim Kihm said he feels the county should be more proactive in planning for future growth rather than putting pressure on the city to make up for a lack of planning. Even if city leaders added back the lost 497 spaces, with more than 10,000 people moving to Manatee County every year and an average of 30,000 vehicles coming on to the Island every weekend day looking for parking, adding a few hundred spaces won’t solve the problem, he said. Kihm said city and county leaders need to have more dialogue and come up with real solutions and the financing to pay for them to address parking and traffic concerns.
LONGBOAT KEY 531 Harbor Cay Drive 4 Beds 4/1 Baths 4,396 Sq. Ft. Maureen Horn 941-539-3384 A4494952 $3,800,000
ANNA MARIA ISLAND 106 Tern Drive 4 Beds 4/1 Baths 3,649 Sq. Ft. Hannah Hillyard & George Myers 941-744-7358 A4501850 $3,595,000
BRADENTON 3608 W 54th Drive W J101 & J102 4 Beds 4 Baths 3,776 Sq. Ft. Leah Secondo 941-545-4430 A4497828 $800,000
LONGBOAT KEY 250 Sands Point Road 5104 1 Bed 1 Baths 634 Sq. Ft. The Walter Group 941-232-2000 A4496014 $639,000
PARRISH 11245 82nd Street E 3 Beds 2 Baths 1,489 Sq. Ft. Jody Shinn 941-705-5704 A4502075 $300,000
PALMA SOLA BAY CLUB 3420 77th Street Circle W 203 3 Beds 2/1 Baths 1,857 Sq. Ft. Pamela Miller 614-632-2801 A4499769 $563,000
NEW CONSTRUCTION PERICO ISLAND 303 108th Street W 114 2 Beds 2 Baths 1,083 Sq. Ft. Hannah Hillyard & George Myers 941-744-7358 A4500468 $300,000
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