When Robyn Kinkopf woke up one morning a few weeks ago, she noticed two new boat canopies at the 63rd Street city dock blocking her view of Watson’s Bayou.
Kinkopf, a Westbay Point & Moorings condominium resident, said she then reviewed the code and “it seemed clear that the city had broken its own ordinance.”
According to the code, “No boathouse or other covering for any boat berthed at a dock or pier, which is on and within a public waterway or portion of a waterway bordering on a residential district may be installed.”
At the Feb. 14 commission meeting, Kinkopf asked commissioners to remove the metal structure and canopies recently added for the fire rescue and police boats.
Two boat lifts were built last year at the city dock adjacent to the 63rd Street Boat Ramp in a shared project by the West Manatee Fire Rescue and the Holmes Beach Police Department. The canopies were approved and permitted by the city in November 2016.
“I do believe you made a mistake,” Kinkopf told commissioners. “The simple solution is to take down the canopies.”
Commission Chair Judy Titsworth said she recently took a look at the area.
“Although it’s beautiful, I think it does have a direct effect on your view,” Titsworth said.
Bob McGlynn, property manager for Westbay, said the structure has altered the association owners’ “riparian rights to an unobstructed view of the waterway.”
“I am sure the city’s canopy structure will have some impact in the loss of potential buys and loss of value of the units affected,” McGlynn told commissioners.
Commissioners will discuss the boat canopies at their 6 p.m. work session Thursday, March 2, at city hall, 5801 Marina Drive.
Robyn can get over herself. The fire department and police department ensuring that their apparatus are in tip top shape and ready to go at a moments notice is far more important than her stupid view. Her view is less important than people lives and property. She should be happy that they park their emergency boats so close to her home. End of discussion, if she doesn’t like it than she can move.