At the T-end of the Anna Maria pier sits the City Pier Restaurant and bait shop. The pier is owned by the city and leased to Mario Schoenfelder, who is responsible for repairs to the structure.
According to Schoenfelder, a multi-million dollar rehab job is out of the scope of repairs and he won’t pay.
“It’s not a lack of repair and maintenance that has caused the structural deficiencies,” Schoenfelder wrote March 20 in a letter to Anna Maria Mayor Dan Murphy.
Schoenfelder’s lease with the city stipulates he is responsible for returning the pier to the city in the same condition as when he signed the lease. The lease will expire in 2020 and, according to Schoenfelder, rehabbing the pier is not his responsibility.
“I don’t see an obligation for any contribution from my company,” Schoenfelder wrote. “The tenant is not responsible for rehabilitation!”
Schoenfelder said he and his company have complied with all requested repairs and that the repairs were permitted and approved by the city.
“Rehabilitation would extend the life of the pier 25 years, whereas the lease expires in 2.5-3 years,” Schoenfelder wrote. “There is no obligation to finance a rehabilitation that would extend the remaining period of the lease fivefold for the benefit of the city and subsequent tenant.”
Murphy said April 14, though Schoenfelder is refusing to help cover the rehab, he is willing to renegotiate and extend the lease.
If the lease is extended, Schoenfelder said he’d be more willing to help pay toward the rehab.
Schoenfelder pays the city $9,240 a month in lease payments. The lease will expire Dec. 15, 2020.
The Anna Maria City Pier was built in 1911 and has been repaired and rehabilitated many times.
The pier management and The Islander newspaper cooperated on a project for the 2011 pier centennial celebration that replaced the worn walkway with new planks that bear messages and memorials. The stringers under the deck also were replaced by the marine contractor.