CANAL: Hunters Point prevails in permit challenge

FROM PAGE 5 slips that include "high-and-dry" slips, outside dry storage and in-water slips. McPadden testified the marina’s average boat size is 26 feet long and the largest boat stored there is 38 feet long and 11 feet wide.

The order notes the canal provides the marina and its clients with their only direct water access to the nearby Intracoastal Waterway.

“Consequently, to reach Tampa Bay or the Gulf of Mexico by boat, marina customers must travel down the canal past Hunters Point,” the order notes.

The order notes there are approximately 18 single-family homes located alongside the canal and many of those homes have existing docks and boatlifts – most of which predate Gobuty’s purchase of the Hunters Point property and canal in 2016.

this end, Cortez Road has and may continue to pursue legal action to ensure that the private homeowners across from Hunters Point comply with Manatee County codes in the configuration and placement of their docks in the canal.”

Testimony Given

The order notes Cortez Road Investments has already implemented several navigational aids to enhance the safe use of the canal. One-way travel along the canal at timed intervals is encouraged to help prevent boats from passing side by side in the canal’s narrowest areas. Mirrors were installed at the 90-degree corners to increase boater visibility. “No wake” signs require boaters to travel at minimum speed and canal users are encouraged to monitor VHF radio channel 9 regarding inbound and outbound canal traffic.

“All witnesses agree that following construction of the dock, boats will still be able to freely travel through the canal one at a time. The proposed dock will not interfere with or prevent a single boater from traversing from the bridge to an upland property.

“The evidence shows that the dock will not reduce the safe navigational width of the waterway any more than the bridge at the entrance to the canal, which is 15 feet wide, or the narrow bottleneck just before the marina where mangrove growth restricts safe movement to one boat at a time,” Culpepper noted in his order.

KATHY HOUCK | SUBMITTED

Celebrate ‘Greg’s Last Dance’ on Saturday

Greg “Grego” Koeper’s life will be celebrated with “Greg’s Last Dance” at the Swordfish Grill in Cortez on Saturday, March 18 from 1-5 p.m. Koeper passed away in February at the age of 67. He was a former Swordfish Grill manager and the former owner of Grego’s Almost to the Beach Tavern.

In his order, Culpepper states: “Mr. Gobuty conveyed Cortez Road (Investments) never authorized any homeowners along the canal to access or use the waterway it owns. Neither has Cortez Road (Investments) given the marina or its customers specific permission to traverse the canal. Mr. Gobuty urged that Cortez Road (Investments) does not necessarily object to boaters using the canal to access Anna Maria Sound. However, Cortez Road (Investments) does intend to take steps to ensure that its property interests and rights to the canal are protected, as well as ensure the safe use of the canal. Towards

Regarding testimony he received, Culpepper’s order says, “Ms. Greenawalt best framed the analysis by acknowledging that the dock, and any boats moored thereto, will undeniably affect navigation through the canal to some extent. The evidence clearly shows that boaters will have to be mindful of a reduced navigable width when traveling alongside Hunters Point, particularly when crossing the three ‘pinch points’ on the north-south channel. However, Capt. Fleming convincingly explained that after the dock is built, the canal will still contain sufficient space for boaters to safely travel between the bridge and the marina.

“It is uncontroverted that the placement of the dock in the canal will affect navigation to some degree. However, the evidence was insufficient to conclude that the dock will constitute an environmental hazard to public health, safety, welfare or property. Similarly, the evidence and testimony do not show that the construction of the dock will cause more than a mere inconvenience to boaters similar to what they already face at the bridge, much less result in a significant impediment to navigation,” the order states.

“Based on the evidence and testimony presented at the final hearing, the undersigned finds that Cortez Road (Investments) and the district presented competent substantial evidence establishing Cortez Road’s entitlement to the permit. Conversely, the marina did not meet its burden of demonstrating that the district should not issue the permit,” Culpepper stated in his order.