Time to step up. 4-5
Where’s Tuna Street? 14-15 Night blooms. 17 #aMitogether
VOLUME 28, NO. 33
JUNE 10, 2020 free
astheworldterns fret over parking on AMI. 6 Warning: Pandemic is not over. 3 raw sewage spills into Sarasota Bay. 3 am businesses enthusiastic for pier opening. 3
Opinions. 6 10-20 YEARS AGO
the Best news on anna maria island Since 1992
Residents react to parking cuts, HB chief responds By chrisann allen islander reporter
NESTING NOTES: rain or shine … 18
As the state has phased in more activities, Holmes Beach has phased out parking. And some people are concerned with how the reduction of about 1,100 parking spaces will impact Anna Maria Island. In late April, Holmes Beach commissioners agreed to a plan proposed by Police Chief Bill Tokajer that removed parking spaces from city rights of way once the city reopened parking. The city closed nearly all of its beach access, right of way and on-street parking April 10 due to concerns over the spread of the virus. In her June 4 COVID-19 report, Mayor Judy Titsworth said the city would reopen under the new parking plan June 5. A letter opposing the plan from former Commissioner Rick Hurst was posted to social media June 2, prompting a flurry of comments from people on and off the island. The letter led to an online petition that asks Holmes Beach to reinstate parking as it had been in the city before the closures. In addition, a parking protest was announced to take place outside city hall, 5801 Marina Drive, at 5 p.m. Tuesday, June 9, after press time for The Islander. A teleconferenced city commission
Sewage spills into Sarasota Bay. 19
By ryan Paice islander reporter
Looking back. 7
RoadWatch. 8 cra drives tram plan forward. 8
Happenings community announcements, activities. 10 center remains financially sound. 11 How to help. 11
Meetings.
11
Streetlife. 12 HBPd arrests ‘wanted’ man from alabama. 12 BB to increase parking fines. 12
Obituaries. 16 Gathering.
16
team sports rain out, surfing in gulf. 20 dodging the storms, catching the fish. 21
Skimming
AMI. 22 AMI
tourism tax revenue tumbles. 23
PropertyWatch. 24 CLASSIFIEDS. 24
storm avengers:
ready, set.… 26
NYT puzzle. 27
#AMItogether
islander.org
Parking along 36th Street in Holmes Beach near the beach access is posted June 4: “no parking beyond this point.” the city planned to reopen on-street parking June 5, but with about 1,100 fewer spots than before the closure for coVid-19. islander Photo: chrisann allen
meeting was to start at 6 p.m. June 9, and protestors posted on social media that they would dial into the meeting during public comment. In his letter, Hurst said the city “decided to permanently eliminate close to 2,000 parking spots, which will reduce street parking from approximately 2,500 spots down to 479 spots plus 120 golf cart spots.” Tokajer responded in a June 4 email that the city previously offered 2,405 on-street parking spaces within a quarter-mile of the beach, but the new restrictions would allow
1,303 parking spots within that area, including two spots near each beach access for golf cart/LSV parking. “This is a reduction in on-street parking of 1,102 spots or approximately 45%,” the chief wrote. He said the 479 spots Hurst referred to are the parking spaces the city reports to the state for beach renourishment. He said 364 parking spots are required to maintain funding for renourishment projects. Hurst also wrote in his letter that he is
to reopen for the first time since March 17 with full capacity outdoors and capacities of 50% inside. “We’re overjoyed, finally, to be open,” Joe Cuervo, owner of the Drift In, 120 Bridge St., Bradenton Beach, said June 5. “Seventynine days. That’s an awful lot of time and a lot of money lost during the peak of spring season. But hey, you got to do what you got to do.” Phase 2 also opens the door to retailers at full capacity while maintaining sanitization protocols and social distancing guidelines.
DeSantis did not adjust the 6-foot standard for social distancing. Restaurants, which reopened at 50% capacity in phase 1, can provide bar-top seating. Outdoor dining is limited only by social distancing, while the 50% limit on indoor seating remains. Gyms can fully reopen in phase 2, with social distancing and sanitization protocols. Entertainment businesses, such as theaters and auditoriums, can open under a limit
PLeaSe, See parking, Page 2
AMI cocktail bars open as Florida recovery enters phase 2 Anna Maria Island taverns and bars were back in business June 5, as Florida took another step in the pandemic recovery. The second phase of the state’s reopening plan went into effect June 5 for all counties except Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach, the counties hit hardest by the pandemic. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wrote in the executive order that he began the second reopening phase based on guidance from President Donald Trump, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Florida Surgeon General and the state health officer. However, the Florida Department of Health recorded 1,419 new cases June 4 and another 1,305 cases as phase 2 was set to begin. There were 62,758 cases in the state as of June 6, along with 2,688 deaths. DeSantis’ Reopen Florida Task Force recommended a three-phased approach to reopening the state, but the state won’t enter phase 3 until there is “no evidence of a rebound or resurgence” of COVID-19 cases during phase 2. Phase 3 would allow vulnerable people to resume social gatherings and businesses to operate at full capacity. In the meantime, phase 2 allowed bars
PLeaSe, See bars open, Page 2
Will corr, local surfer, artist and musician, locks in one of the nicer breaks kicked up by tropical Storm cristobal June 6 at the White avenue beach where anna maria meets Holmes Beach. islander Photo: Kevin P. cassidy