Despite an impassioned plea from one commissioner and numerous residents to consider “a pause” in duplex construction in the city of Holmes Beach, three commissioners at a Feb. 28 work session weighed in against the measure.

        While Anna Maria city commissioners had voted a week earlier to take steps toward a moratorium to address short-term rental problems, Holmes Beach commissioners decided instead to continue studying the issue.

        Commission Chair David Zaccagnino told a gallery of about 40 people in city chambers that a moratorium is the “most extreme” action a municipality can take, because it suspends property rights and, if enacted, he feared “threats of lawsuits.”

        Zaccagnino said builders informed him there were “less than 20” duplex lots remaining in the city where two new homes could be built. New construction has been blamed for the proliferation in recent years of multiple-story, multi-family short-term rental units.

        “A lot of people are not here who pound the nails,” said Commissioner Pat Morton, who with Commissioners Sandy Haas-Martens and Zaccagnino pointed out some people may be intimidated by remarks from the gallery to speak out.

        Commission John Monetti said he opposed a moratorium.

        Commissioner Jean Peelen, who called for the moratorium along with some speakers who addressed the commission, disputed Zaccagnino’s count of buildable duplex lots.

        “I’m horrified that it’s going to keep on happening,” Peelen said, as she called for a moratorium as “a pause in the issuance of permits for multi-story duplexes,” to allow the commission to finish studying the issue and make needed policy changes without a flood of more permit applications.

        “My major concern is, while there are no applications in the pipeline now for multi-story duplex new construction, there could be multiple applications for such submitted at any time” before we finish “studying the issue,” she said.

        Earlier this year, Zaccagnino asked each commission member to form a focus group to study various problems related to resort housing. The groups are expected to make recommendations regarding changes in the city’s regulations on building, zoning, permitting, code enforcement and rental contracts by the end of April.

        “I have a lot of these on my street,” said Barbara Marcheck of 66th Street, in support of Peelen’s position. “I don’t want another one. They are changing our character. Our land development codes are just too lenient. This is a dire situation.”

        Pam Leckie of Gulf Drive said she lives across from the R-2 zoned district where multi-story duplexes are allowed. She “implored” commissioners to “fish or cut bait.”

        She said increased traffic alone is cause for commissioners to consider imposing a moratorium.

        “You’re in a hornet’s nest,” said Tom Sabo of 68th Street. “Builders, for the most part, do a great job. Just a few of the builders ruin it for the rest of us.”

        Patty Sabo said she believed the commissioners were trying to pass the buck, and she, like Peelen and several other speakers, challenged Zaccagnino’s count of remaining duplex lots.

        They insisted teardowns of existing duplexes also contribute to the issue and there are many more than 20 ground-level, older properties that could be rebuilt as multi-family rental homes.

        Zaccagnino appeared to focus on vacant lots.

        Manatee County Commissioner Carol Whitmore, formerly mayor and commissioner for 16 years in Holmes Beach, asked the commissioners to reconsider their positions. She recommended commissioners take a “deep breath,” “step back” and listen to its residents because, “all these people are freaking out.”

        In other work session matters, commissioners asked the city attorney to prepare an amended outdoor dining ordinance that will require commission review of establishments considering adding more than eight seats for outdoor dining, and to abolish the annual permit and accompanying $100 fee.

        The present outdoor dining ordinance was approved in 2008, and requires the mayor or mayor’s designee to approve an initial permit after review of a site plan showing the location of the dining area to be compatible with existing surrounding properties and neighborhood.

        Commissioner Morton said he is seeking a change as a result more additions to its outdoor seating by Martini Bistro-Fins Bar, 5337 Gulf Drive, “snarling traffic” and creating a hardship for nearby merchants due to the overflow of parking into their lots.

        Also at the work session, the commissioners directed the mayor to move forward on a recent $8,291 fence bid to redesign the city’s Birdie Tebbetts Field at 62nd Street and Flotilla Drive, despite comments from residents that opposed spending city funding to improve a ball field that has seen little use in the past three years.

        Zaccagnino proposed a dog park be created by reducing the ball field size and adding a new fence in the outfield after hearing from dog owners in January who wanted a new field policy and signage change to allow them to exercise their dogs at the field.

        Zaccagnino claimed shared use of the field by ball players and dog owners and dogs created a greater liability for the city.

        Bonner Joy, editor and publisher of The Islander, reminded commissioners dog owners had requested sharing the field, not simultaneous use. She said she’d rather see the $9,000 spent for lights on the field.

        Another resident, Dawn Wash, said it’s a Babe Ruth field and those “kids don’t use it” because they get home in the winter-spring baseball season at 4:30 p.m. and “by the time they’re able to use the field, it’s dark.”

        Zaccagnino said the commission was not spending money for the kids, but for the dog owners. He claimed sharing the field  “is a lawsuit waiting to happen.”

        Commissioner Haas-Martens pointed out the ball field use needed to remain as part of the city’s land development code and comprehensive plan.

        “With all due respect, I’m with Bonner on this issue …,” Whitmore said. “This (dog park use) is recreation that would suffice” under both plans, Whitmore said, and “I think you should keep it simple, keep it as it is.”

         She also said the city has greater liability at the skate park than from a dog park.

44-year-old Holmes Beach man was arrested for robbing a Sarasota bank March 2, and also has admitted to a second robbery, according to the Sarasota Police Department.

Police say Danny H. Nemeth, of 112 31st St., Holmes Beach, walked into the Bank of America, 3175 Fruitville Road and approached the bank teller with a black bag in his hand after standing in line.

According to a SPD release, Nemeth said, “Fill my bag with everything you got. No dye pack or I’ll come back and hurt you.”

After receiving an undisclosed amount of money, Nemeth exited the bank. He was observed by a witness getting into a primer grey Nissan pickup truck. Police responded to the robbery at approximately 4:40 p.m., and spotted Nemeth’s vehicle a short time late near the corner of University Parkway and Lockwood Ridge Road.

Police pulled Nemeth over without incident and secured him at the scene. The teller was brought to the location where she identified Nemeth as the man who robbed the bank.

Police recovered the money from under Nemeth’s truck seat.

During the ensuing interview, police say Nemeth admitted to a Feb. 29 robbery of BB&T Bank, 3201 N. Tamiami Trail.

According to SPD Capt. Paul Sutton, his department received assistance from the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office, which deployed numerous deputies and a helicopter, as well as help from the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.

“We are grateful for their help,” Sutton said in a prepared statement.

The Florida Department of Transportation repair project to the Longboat Pass Bridge/State Road 789 continues, and lane closures will occur between 10 p.m.-6 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, a DOT press release said.

Contractor Quinn Construction Co. Inc. is working 24/7 to finish the project by late spring, the DOT said in the release.

Over-size vehicles are banned from using the bridge because the travel lanes have been reduced from 12 feet wide to 10 feet during the project. The DOT said the ban would likely remain in effect until work is completed late this spring.

The west sidewalk is closed, but pedestrians can use the east sidewalk during the project. The west sidewalk is expected to open in about 2-3 weeks, the DOT said.

The draw will open for boaters on demand.

The DOT also has closed the area on Greer Island — often called Beer Can Island — to pedestrians and boaters during the project. The DOT cited safety concerns and liability as factors in its decision to close that part of the beach.

Completion of the project is expected in spring 2012.

The DOT said it will perform routine maintenance work on the Cortez Bridge for the next several weeks, but no lane closures or disruption of traffic is expected. The maintenance project is expected to end in late March, the DOT said in its press release.

In the Cortez area, motorists can expect DOT intermittent westbound lane closures at night on State Road 684/Cortez Road from 127th Street West in Cortez to 51st Street West in Bradenton as workers repair and replace drainage inlets and pipes.

The work will take place 8:30 p.m.-6 a.m. weekdays, and the project should finish by April 30, the DOT said.

Motorists are advised to drive with caution in project areas.

A sighting just offshore of Anna Maria Island is an indication that sea turtle nesting season is not far away.

Eric Cairns, manager of the Cedar Cove Resort, 2710 Gulf Drive, was flying his helicopter over the resort, when he turned it out over the Gulf of Mexico waters.

What he saw next surprised the veteran pilot.

“I’ve been flying for years and I’ve never seen anything like this before,” said Cairns. “It was simply amazing.”

About 500 yards due west of the resort in open water, Cairns spotted two large dark masses in the water. He and his copilot dropped the helicopter to about 200 feet above the water to get a better look.

“I saw two massive pods of sea turtles, with about 60-100 sea turtles in each pod,” said Cairns. “They were moving very slowly. They were all the same color and they were all moving in the same direction.”

Cairns said he couldn’t resist making a few more passes over a sight few people get to see.

“When I looked down I just couldn’t get a grasp on what I was seeing,” he said. “We circled back several times and it was just the most amazing thing I ever saw in my life.”

Anna Maria Island Sea Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring executive director Suzi Fox said she isn’t surprised that the turtles are already in the area.

“We feel the unusually warm waters is going to lead to early nesting,” said Fox who noted the sighting was a clear indication of mating.

“Sea turtles are normally not very social animals,” she said. “However, when the girls start waving at the sailors and winking, you know what that means. It’s mating time.”

While it is rare for the average person to see the mating habits of sea turtles, maritime regulars and sea turtle experts have seen these patterns before.

“I remember, about 15 years ago they had so many matings in the entrance of the St. Johns River, right in the middle of the shipping canal,” said Fox, “the freighters were not sure how to get around them. The Coast Guard was called in, and hung off their bows with poles so they could move the turtles softly aside, trying not to disturb them.”

Nesting season officially begins May 1. Typically, only loggerhead turtles nest on AMI beaches. They come ashore after dark and look for sandy conditions to nest on the beach. The sparkle of moon and stars on the water then guide them back to their habitat.

Fox said that May is typically a slower month than June, but action on the beaches this May could get busier than usual with ideal conditions already in place for mating turtles.