Some discourse at Bradenton Beach city hall over a business’ valet parking in an unimproved block of 100 Gulf Drive North may help push forward a long-planned dunes project at the site.
There are two property owners in the area — the city owns a lot about 50 feet wide and fronting Gulf Drive. And ELRA Inc., which owns the BeachHouse, has a larger section of property — about 200 feet fronting Gulf Drive. The private property nearest the street is used for overflow, valet parking at the BeachHouse.
In a recent letter to city officials, Suzi Fox, executive director of Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring, suggested the city advise ELRA that it “will need to cease parking on sea turtle nesting habitat after dark.”
Only a portion of the property is used for parking, but Fox said that until a dunes is constructed as a barrier, nesting habitat at the location extends from the water to Gulf Drive.
In the letter, Fox noted that on a recent night, when there were no vehicles parked in the lot, a female loggerhead nested near the BeachHouse.
“I believe there is positive proof that we need to keep this area clear of any and all objects after dark,” Fox wrote.
City officials responded, noting an agreement struck some years ago that involved ELRA, the city and AMITW that allows for the valet parking under certain conditions in turtle season.
The agreement was outlined in a 2009 memo from Bradenton Beach building official Steve Gilbert to Fox that stated, “The conditions we discussed in 2007 should remain in place; that is, valet area is for weekend and holiday operations only; that only ‘first shift’ vehicles be valet parked facing east by valet staff; that these vehicles are to be shuffled out of that area by sunset; and any vehicles remaining after sunset be moved by valet staff only, and with no operating lights while exposed to the beach area. That was the arrangement we discussed while standing on the area in question.”
Ed Chiles of ELRA said his restaurant adheres to the agreement. “Nobody parks in there except the valet,” he said. With lights offs.”
City attorney Ricinda Perry, who also has represented ELRA, sent Fox a brief but pointed reply. She asked whether the executive director was suggesting the city “unilaterally strip the property owner of his property rights and eliminate a use that appears to have been in place for 20 years?”
Perry said Fox’s “demand to the city is extraordinary.”
Perry restated her position June 2 during a city commission meeting. Fox, the attorney said, “did not produce any evidence that there was any kind of sea turtle issue.… We can’t take away someone’s property rights.”
A discussion on the issue wasn’t lengthy. Commissioner Ed Straight, the city’s liaison to AMITW, said he spoke with Fox and that he would be meeting with her and building official Steve Gilbert this week.
Fox, looking back at the bargain struck in 2007, said the agreement was contingent upon the dunes construction. ELRA was supposed to get half of the lot and the turtles the other half, she said.
“We asked them to put in a dune, and they haven’t done it,” Fox said. “This is a viable nesting beach and there is a chance a turtle will be harmed.”
Fox said her records show 26 nests and 57 false crawls in the BeachHouse area, but Chiles said there never has been a turtle nest or a false crawl in the disputed area.
As for being a turtle-friendly business that has installed proper lighting fixtures and made other improvements, Chiles said, “Our record on that is clear.”
Last week, Chiles also turned to the dunes project, which he said would allow for parking, provide protection for city hall in a storm and create a buffer for wildlife on the beach.
Building a dunes at the location is the No. 1 project in Bradenton Beach’s 2009 hazard mitigation plan, which details strategies and steps to protect property against storm damage and flooding.
“Let’s go,” Chiles said. “Whatever we can do to get this moving along.”
A meeting is expected to take place later this month involving city staff, ELRA Inc. and LTA Engineers to discuss the project, which would require sanction from the state.
ELRA has proposed paying for the engineering and design work on the project, as well as for the dune construction on its part of the land, while the city would pay for improvements on its parcel.
In the short-term, a temporary screen might be installed to serve as a buffer between the beach and the parking lot.
“There’s no evidence that turtles have ever nested there,” Dr. Robbin Trindell of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said, referring to the parking area.
However, because there is a chance of such, she said the FWC is discussing the placement of a silt fence that easily be removed.
“Once they are done using that area, they roll it up,” Trindell said of the valet attendants.
Trindell, however, emphasized that the concept would not negate the need for the dunes. “It would be appropriate to get a sand dunes, a natural barrier in place, to separate the open area,” she said.