The islander newspaper e edition wednesday, feb 14, 2018

Page 1

Commissioner’s goodbye. 2 VOLUME 26, NO. 16

AsTheWorldTerns embrace V-Day. 6 AM pier makes cut for state cash. 3

Meetings

On the government calendar. 4 Petitioners defend fired city employees. 5

Op-Ed

The Islander editorial, reader letters. 6

10-20 YEARS AGO

From the archives. 7

Bradenton Beach simplifies path project. 8

Happenings

Community announcements, activities. 10-11 Make plans, save a date. 12-13 Celebrating Presidents Day. 16 HB committee flooded with concerns. 18

Streetlife. 20 BB plans historic district improvements. 21

Obituaries.

22

AM commission cultivates farmers market concept. 26 AME calendar. 27 Flag football champs crowned. 28 Fishing through the fog. 29 Expansions, shifts in local business. 30 CLASSIFIEDS. 32

Fish fest details. 14

Happy Valentine’s Day

The Best News on Anna Maria Island Since 1992

Heartfelt walk. 19 FEB. 14, 2018 FREE

www.islander.org

DEP sues to remove house built in Sarasota Bay

By Kathy Prucnell Islander Reporter The Florida Department of Environmental Protection filed a two-count complaint Feb. 6 asking a judge to order Raymond Guthrie Jr. to take down the house he built in 2017 in Sarasota Bay near Cortez. The 1,211 square-foot house stands on stilts about 350 feet from the A.P. Bell Fish Co. docks. In the first count, the DEP seeks to enforce the department’s November 2017 “final order” requiring the structure’s removal and $6,500 in fines. The second count asks for a court to assess Guthrie an amount “not to exceed PLEASE SEE DeP PAGE 2

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection filed suit Feb. 6 to remove a house built without permits over the water in Sarasota Bay near the Cortez docks. Islander Photo: Kathy Prucnell

HB prepares to force treehouse demolition 23-year-old dies in

By Terry O’Connor Islander Reporter The demolition deadline came and went but the doomed treehouse still stands. Treehouse owner Lynn Tran emailed The Islander Feb. 9, on the afternoon of the city-imposed deadline to apply for a demolition permit for the structure, stating there will be “no demolition.” What’s next likely involves more trips to the courthouse and thousands more spent on attorney fees with a role reversal casting the city as plaintiffs and the treehouse owners as defendants. The final legal appeal by treehouse owners Lynn Tran and husband Richard Hazen ended when the U.S. Supreme Court declined Jan. 8 to hear their petition. The city issued a code enforcement notice Jan. 18 directing Tran and Hazen to apply for a demolition permit by Feb. 9. Holmes Beach Mayor Bob Johnson wants the owners of the illegal treehouse to tear it down voluntarily. Removing the twostory structure nestled in an Australian pine will require a demolition permit. As the owners apparently are declining to acquire a demolition permit, Holmes Beach will take “appropriate action,” according to a letter from city attorney Patricia Petruff. The next move is likely a city lawsuit to force compliance, according to Johnson, as it is long past time to end this costly standoff. Tran and Hazen have been under city order to remove the $30,000 treehouse since

2013. The treehouse was built in 2011 without city or state permits at 103 29th St., which includes Tran and Hazen’s home and four rental units named Angelinos Sea Lodge. Tran and Hazen say they’ve paid more than $180,000 in attorney fees and costs, plus they are liable for city-ordered fines of $50 per day since July 22, 2015, amounting to $46,650 as of Feb. 9. Tran incorporated HLT Dream Inc. in 2011 — the year the treehouse was built — to sell treehouse merchandise online and help pay their costs to retain the treehouse. City treasurer Lori Hill said Holmes Beach has paid nearly $130,000 in attorney fees and costs.

The treehouse in 2017. Islander File Photo

Cortez Road crash

By Kathy Prucnell Islander Reporter A motorcyclist died Feb. 8 from a crash with a van near an RV park on Cortez Road West in Bradenton. He was the son of former Bradenton Beach Police Officer Mike Bazell. Ryan Bazell, 23, of Bradenton, was traveling east on Cortez Road on a 2007 Yahama R6 when Carol Ann Nelson, 80, of Bradenton, driving west in a 2015 Kia Sedona, turned left “into the direct path of the motorcycle,” a Florida Highway Patrol report states. The motorcycle collided with the right, rear side of the van as the motorist turned into Sarasota Bay RV Park, 10777 Cortez Road W., according to the report. Bazell was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. Nelson was transported to Blake Medical Center in Bradenton with minor injuries, according to the FHP. FHP ticketed Nelson for failing to yield the right of way. Bazell may have been traveling at a “very high rate of speed,” according to Bradenton Beach Detective Sgt. Lenard Diaz, who added FHP is investigating the crash. “It’s so sad to lose such a young person, especially when it’s a former officer’s family. We pray for the family and our thoughts and prayers are with them,” Diaz said.


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