Pine Avenue Restoration has dropped its lawsuit against the city of Anna Maria.
Attorney Andrea Mogensen, representing PAR, filed for a dismissal without prejudice Jan. 15 with the Manatee County Clerk of Circuit Court.
PAR is a collection of six two-story buildings along Pine Avenue, mixing retailers, offices and restaurants on the ground level and vacation rentals upstairs, all within the city’s residential-office-retail district.
PAR sued the city July 28, 2015, alleging the short-term vacation rental ordinance was unconstitutional.
The lawsuit said the VRO created “an unworkable, arbitrary, oppressive, and cost-prohibitive scheme which effectively prohibits the practicable operation and disturbs vested property rights.”
When the PAR properties were being developed in 2008, PAR and the city worked closely in developing terms for the district.
The VRO was written originally in April 2015 to regulate short-term rentals in the city’s residential zones.
A September 2015 revision to the VRO included the ROR district, but a third revision adopted last November removed the ROR zone from the regulations.
Anna Maria Mayor Dan Murphy declined to comment.
Mike Coleman, principal of PAR, also declined to comment.
— Tal Reeve
