e Pelican Press SIESTA KEY
AN OBSERVER NEWSPAPER
FREE • Thursday, OCTOBER 25, 2012
DIVERSIONS Kurt Wenner is sure to help festival be ‘chalk-full’ of art. INSIDE
OUR TOWN
INSIDE: Your guide to the 2012 Sarasota
NEIGHBORHOOD Gulf Gate haunted house scares up a frightful good time. PAGE 1B
getting sassy by Alex Mahadevan | News Editor
Restrictions revived on accesses As tourist season approaches, parking on Siesta Key continues to irk residents and business owners.
Alex Mahadevan
County Rescue Chief Scott Montgomery honors Robert Martini and Brad Ward during the County Commission meeting Monday, Oct. 22.
Bobbi Tuccinardi, owner of Sassy Hair Salon, recently discovered her employees lost access to a parking lot they’ve used for four years. The parking lot at Beach Access No. 5 is restricted to beachgoers. “What if I have a glass of wine at the beach after work, does
that make me a beachgoer?” she asked. Sarasota County plans to install signs at each of Siesta Key’s beach accesses notifying people that if they aren’t heading to the beach, they’ll have to find another place to park. Tuccinardi said a county parks and recreation staff mem-
ber told her the signs would be posted by November. Sassy employees regularly use the lot at Beach Access 5 to avoid the two-hour limit on parking spaces along Ocean Boulevard, tickets for parking in the right of way or a long walk to the municipal lot at night.
“It’s really about safety,” said Tuccinardi’s daughter, Jeris. The salon’s secretary would be at risk when making cash deposits, she said. The county code allows parks and recreation staff to post signage in lots they manage, if nonuse parking becomes a nuisance. Siesta Key Association President Catherine Luckner said she supports enforcement, on the
SEE ACCESS / 2A
+ Proud paddlers The County Commission honored Robert Martini and Brad Ward for their 24-hour paddleboarding fundraiser for the Sarasota YMCA Youth Shelter. County Rescue Chief Scott Montgomery and County Commissioner Jon Thaxton asked Martini about sharks at night during the paddle boarding. During the commemoration, Thaxton recalled some stories from local lifeguards. One such story, when a criminal tried to evade police and lifeguards by jumping into the water, drew laughs from commissioners and the audience.
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
by Alex Mahadevan | News Editor
+ Saved by the bumper On her way to pick up her daughter, Esabella, from ODA’s lower school, Allison Lerario hit a curb, and blew a tire. Lerario, who had her 3-year-old daughter with her at the time, received roadside assistance from fellow ODA parents Ingrid and Tommy Green, who recognized the school’s magnet on the side Lerario’s car. “My experience yesterday started off stressful but ended with an amazing sense of peace,” wrote Lerario in an email. “As I headed to the Siesta Key campus with my spare tire on soundly, I smiled.”
+ It Takes a Village Round 2 More than 200 people took part in “It Takes a Village Round 2,” Sunday, Oct. 21, at Blasé Café & Martini Bar, on Siesta Key. The event raised money for injured bartender Kurt Becker, an employee at Old Salty Dog, who became paralyzed recently from the waist down after falling from a ladder.
Alex Mahadevan
Tony and Cheri Bonasto’s food truck is parked in their Winding Way driveway — for now. The couple hoped to open in Siesta Key Village.
Sarasota County denies food-truck permit The move stalled two retired Texans’ transition from public service to feeding the public but kept Siesta Key in zoning harmony. Tony and Cheri Bonasto got married on Siesta Key Beach three years ago, bought a home on Winding Way the following year and moved onto the canopy road full time in August. They retired from careers as
a police officer and teacher, respectively, in Houston and bought a food truck they found on eBay to kick-start a culinary road trip they hoped would end with a brick-and-mortar restaurant.
But, the couple may never have a home base for the truck in Siesta Key Village as they planned; they recently got an insider’s perspective of the complex balance between the interests of businesses and residents on the island.
During the first public hearing Oct. 23 to consider private use of a county-owned right of way in the Siesta Key Overlay District, the Sarasota County Commission voted unanimously to deny a permit for Gumbo Mojo Food Truck to operate in the Village.
SEE TRUCK / 2A
INDEX Briefs....................4A Classifieds .......... 8B
Cops Corner....... 10A Crossword............ 7B
Opinion .............. 8A Real Estate.......... 6B
Sports................ 21A Weather............... 7B
Vol. 43, No. 13 | Four sections YourObserver.com