The Bradenton Beach Community Redevelopment Agency plans Nov. 9 to explore the fate of the Monroe Cottage, a city-owned structure on property that may become a parking lot.
The cottage, built circa 1950 and used until earlier this year for the now defunct city project/program management department, is on Church Avenue just south of a public parking lot and the city public works department.
Earlier this year, the CRA began looking at ways to expand the use of the parking lot, which stretches from Church Avenue to Highland Avenue, where the police department is located.
The CRA reviewed several concepts for expanding parking in the area.
Two that involved reconfiguring or eliminating a city park on Highland Avenue have been rejected.
One remaining option, exhibit one, involves reconfiguring the existing parking area with a row of angled parking spaces, as well as added spaces adjacent to the park and on Church and Highland avenues. The preliminary plan shows a total of 38 public spaces, as well as some city staff parking.
Another option, one the CRA favored during a meeting two months ago, involves the changes proposed in exhibit one, as well as the demolition of the cottage, a shed and garage at 304 Church Ave. The preliminary plan shows a total of 47 public parking spaces, as well as city staff spaces.
The city purchased the 304 Church Ave. property several years ago for about $300,000 with plans to renovate the cottage, which is not up to local or state code and fails to meet access requirements under the U.S. Americans with Disabilities Act.
However, city commissioners have since said that a renovation would be too expensive and that there is no good city use for the structure.
The Manatee County Property Appraiser’s Office has assessed the value of the land at 304 Church Ave. at $155,330 and the value of the structures at $19,399.
Before the city can proceed with any parking expansion in the area, the CRA, a board made up of the city commission and mayor, must decide what to do with the cottage. That will be the discussion topic at a 1 p.m. meeting Nov. 9 at city hall, 107 Gulf Drive N.
“We never got through the disposition of the Monroe cottage — what was going to be done with it,” said Mayor Bob Bartelt. “We need to have a work session on that.”
While there has been commission consensus to raze the cottage, Bartelt said there has been no direct vote on the matter, and there also has not been any conversation with citizens.
“If someone would desire to have the building, if they would move it, we want to know those possibilities before we just … tear it down,” the mayor said.
Cottage question…
Have an idea for what should become of Bradenton Beach’s old Monroe Cottage and how a proposal might be funded? E-mail The Islander at lisaneff@islander.org with suggestions by Nov. 8.