Scoring update: Florida Department of Transportation 2, Joe McClash 0.
For the second time since mid-November, the DOT has rejected a legal challenge from McClash to the agency’s plan to replace the Cortez Bridge with a 65-foot-clearance fixed span.
“Not the Christmas present we were wishing to receive,” McClash said in a Dec. 18 email blast.
“This is a disappointing decision, but not unexpected,” he wrote. “FDOT wants to dictate without a legal review of its action as a state agency.”
At issue is whether the DOT has jurisdiction over the items listed in the hearing request. The DOT maintains it does not, saying it is taking action on behalf of the federal government and not as a state agency.
“This ruling defies logic and, most of all, allows a state agency to dictate to our community the type of megabridge or other road projects without recourse provided by our state’s rules,” McClash wrote in his email.
The DOT contends the matter must be settled in federal court.
“Pursuant to federal law, the department assumed Federal Highway Administration’s responsibilities on the Cortez Bridge,” DOT spokesman Brian R. Rick wrote in a Dec. 19 email to The Islander.
“In short,” he said, “where FHWA was previously identified as the lead federal agency, this function is now served by the department. Since the complaint is regarding federal law, a federal judge needs to hear the complaint, not a state permit administrative hearing officer.”
The DOT announced Oct. 10 it had approved a 6-year project development and environment study and was going ahead with design work for the megabridge to replace the 62-year-old Cortez drawbridge.
McClash filed a petition Oct. 29 for a formal administrative hearing, citing 25 instances in which he says the DOT acted wrongly.
The DOT rejected McClash’s initial petition Nov. 13. He filed the appeal Nov. 22.
McClash said he is unlikely to make a final decision on what steps to take next until Jan. 10.
But he told The Islander in a Dec. 19 phone interview he is “definitely leaning toward an appeal.”
The legal action, which he said he would take to the Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal, would challenge the DOT’s rejection of an administrative hearing.
“It would have nothing to do with the merits of the case,” he said.
McClash said he is also considering a challenge in federal court.
The bridge, located on Cortez Road, spans the Intracoastal Waterway and links the mainland to Anna Maria Island.
The drawbridge, with a clearance height of about 17 feet, had major repairs done in 1996, 2010 and 2015, and the DOT says it has outlived its lifespan.
Megabridge opponents say it would change the character of the fishing village of Cortez, designated a historic district in 1995. Many residents have been fighting the high bridge since the DOT revealed a plan for it in 1989.
McClash, a former Manatee County commissioner, filed the legal petitions on behalf of himself and several other Cortez residents and organizations.
Joe Kane, one of the petitioners, has lived in Cortez for more than two decades.
Linda Molto, another petitioner, has lived in Cortez 34 years.
Jane von Hahmann, a 43-year Cortez resident who served on the county commission 2001-08, also is a petitioner in the legal challenge.
Others are the environmental group ManaSota-88 and two other nonprofits, the Florida Institute for Saltwater Heritage and Cortez Village Historical Society.
The Anna Maria Island Bridge on Manatee Avenue, which also connects the island to the mainland and built the same year as the Cortez Bridge, also is slated to be replaced by a 65-foot-clearance fixed span. Its design schedule is further along than the Cortez Bridge because the DOT approved it first.
I feel if a Go Fund Me Account or similar account was opened many of us who live hear would gladly contribute what we can to fight the mega bridge.