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VOL 21 No. 24
March 24, 2021
Manatee County lowers vaccine registration age BY KRISTIN SWAIN SUN STAFF WRITER | kswain@amisun.com
Treehouse owners’ plea rejected CINDY LANE | SUN
The treehouse is still standing tall over the sand at Angelinos Sea Lodge in Holmes Beach, but it may not be that way for long if the owners want to keep renting vacation units.
The Holmes Beach special magistrate ruled against the owners of the Angelinos Sea Lodge, denying their VRC renewals until code issues, namely the treehouse, are cleared up. BY KRISTIN SWAIN SUN STAFF WRITER | kswain@amisun.com
HOLMES BEACH – The owners of Angelinos Sea Lodge will not be allowed to lease their vacation rentals until they settle code compliance issues with the city, a special magistrate has ruled.
Settling those issues likely means demolishing the twostory beachfront treehouse they built without permits in 2011, partially on the erosion control line at 2818 Ave. E. During the March code compliance hearing, special magistrate Michael Connolly ruled that Lynn Tran and Richard Hazen are violating the city’s codes by leasing their vacation rental units, ordering them to cease until they obtain valid vacation rental certificates (VRCs). They also must refrain from advertising the property and pay hearing costs of $127.24. Another hearing will be required to assess the $250-per-day fine requested by code officers, he said. SEE TREEHOUSE, PAGE 12
CITY, MOTE INCH CLOSER ON PIER PLAN The city will be responsible for raising the initial $500,000 needed to create the marine education outreach center operated by Mote Marine. BY JOE HENDRICKS SUN CORRESPONDENT | jhendricks@amisun.com
ANNA MARIA – Mote Marine is another step closer to opening its education center at the end of the City Pier. Mayor Dan Murphy and Mote Marine Laboratory President Dr. Michael
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Crosby signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) Friday morning regarding the proposed City Pier Marine Educational Outreach Center to be located in the vacant city-owned building on the pier. Built as part of the pier replacement project completed last year, the 1,800-square-foot building sits across the breezeway from a smaller city-owned building leased to the City Pier Grill & Bait Shop. During Friday’s meeting, the city commission voted 5-0 in favor of entering into the memo of understanding with Mote Marine.
MANATEE COUNTY – Florida residents 18 or older can now register for the COVID-19 vaccine pool in anticipation of the state lowering the age requirement for the vaccine. Full-time and part-time residents who can prove residency and are 18 or older can register through the county’s online portal at https://www.mymanatee.org/departments/public_safety/coronavirus_information/covid-19_vaccine or by calling 311 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. While the county is not yet assigning appointments for vaccines to anyone under age 50, county officials are encouraging all adults to register to begin receiving appointments as soon as Gov. Ron DeSantis lowers the age requirement for all adults to receive a vaccine. DeSantis lowered the age to receive a vaccine to 50 on March 22, with a plan to open vaccine distribution to all adult Floridians by May 1. With the number of Florida residents who have received a COVID-19 vaccine going up and the number of people waiting in the county’s vaccine standby pool going down, Public Safety Director Jacob Saur said he feels COVID-19 vaccine doses can be quickly administered to those registered with the county. Saur said everyone in the Manatee County standby pool age 65 and older has been contacted at least once to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. As a result, Saur said county staff began contacting those 50 and older in the standby pool on March 19 for appointments for the 16,400 first dose vaccines being received by the county for distribution the week of March 22. For more information, visit www.mymanatee.org/ vaccine.
JOE HENDRICKS | SUN
Mayor Dan Murphy and Dr. Michael Crosby signed the memorandum of understanding Friday morning. SEE MOTE, PAGE 35
SOURCE: FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
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