The city of Anna Maria was hit with 18 Bert Harris Jr. claims April 27-28 from attorneys Kevin Hennessey and Scott Rudacille.
The claims allege the city’s eight-person occupancy limit on short-term vacation rental units will cause a loss in property values amounting to $5,824,000.
Bert Harris Jr. claims allow property owners to take action against government entities that devalue their property through governmental actions based on the Bert Harris Jr. Private Property Rights Protection Act enacted in 1995.
The city has 180 days to respond to the claims.
Mayor Dan Murphy said April 28 the city is investigating each of the claims.
Hennessy is an attorney with the law firm Lewis, Longman and Walker of Bradenton. He represented the Anna Maria Island Vacation Property Association and other Anna Maria property owners in a lawsuit filed in May 2015 against the city. That case was dismissed without prejudice Dec. 8, 2015.
The VRO went into effect April 1.
Larry Chatt, president of the AMIVPA, said April 29 the association is not involved with the Bert Harris claims.
Rudacille works for the law office of Blalock Walters in Bradenton.
— Tal Reeve