After nearly a year of debate, voters in Bradenton Beach opted Nov. 8 for a six-month building moratorium.
The six-month moratorium puts a halt on the acceptance, review and issuance of building permit applications for all housing units that contain more than four bedrooms or sleeping areas in the R-1 and R-2 districts of the city.
The moratorium vote was 444 “yes” and 146 “no” and went immediately into effect following the election, according to Bradenton Beach Mayor Bill Shearon.
“I have been a strong supporter of the moratorium and am happy to see our efforts fulfilled,” Shearon said.
The halt on building was presented several times to the city commission and rejected each time.
On April 19, Bradenton Beach resident Priscilla Von Ahnen submitted a petition to city hall containing signatures from 79 residents and proposing that a six-month building moratorium in the R-1 and R-2 districts be added to the Aug. 30 primary ballot.
According to the city charter, electors can propose ordinances, provided they have a minimum of 50 signatures or 10 percent of the voters who participated in the most recent city election, which was Aug. 30 with 282 votes cast.
The petition must be circulated with a draft of the proposed ordinance.
The petition Von Ahnen circulated called for a six-month moratorium on building permits for housing designed with more than four bedrooms or sleeping areas and for duplexes to be limited to two bedrooms per unit.
Von Ahnen met all the requirements.
According to building official Steve Gilbert and city planner Alan Garrett, the moratorium could drastically reduce building permits being issued or reviewed in Bradenton Beach.
In a meeting June 16, Gilbert warned commissioners the moratorium needed to be amended to clearly define a sleeping area.
“The language needs to be amended to define the difference between a bedroom and a sleeping area. We’re going to have a problem on what we can accept,” Gilbert said in June. “We have to count all the rooms. Which means nobody’s going to get accepted.”
But the petition was submitted to the city too late to change the language, according to city attorney Ricinda Perry.
The moratorium ordinance went to the ballot as it was written, so it remains to be seen what affect the change will have on future construction plans.
In an interview Nov. 10, Garrett said, “The building official, Steve Gilbert, and I will be meeting soon with the city attorney, Ricinda Perry, to gain a clear understanding of what we can accept and process during the moratorium.”
“We are hoping smaller houses mean less people in the city,” Von Ahnen said Nov. 9. “Now we are just hoping the commission takes advantage of the time to do something about it.”
Planning and zoning board chair John Burns said Nov. 8, “Sometimes we just need to take a breather,” in reference to the moratorium.