The newest player in the game of bridges is arranging its hand.
Bradenton Beach, the fifth complainant in a legal case against the Florida Department of Transportation’s proposed 65-foot-clearance fixed-span replacement for the 17-foot-clearance Cortez Road drawbridge, has begun seeking outside legal representation.
City attorney Ricinda Perry said March 22 she reached out to a couple of attorneys but had not received a commitment.
Bradenton Beach commissioners unanimously voted March 18 to join the Cortez megabridge opposition group — former County Commissioner Joe McClash, and a second former county commissioner, Jane von Hahmann, as well as Linda Molto and Joe Kane, both Cortez residents — and apportioned funding not to exceed $15,000 for legal fees.
“I think it was made very clear to Mr. McClash and Mrs. von Hahmann that the city is not looking to even allocate that much money,” Perry said. “Minimal expense is what the city is looking to accomplish.”
The case is relatively inexpensive, according to McClash, who spearheads the group, because it requires little discovery. To keep costs down, McClash said he would continue to carry the load.
McClash said March 22 he hopes to get the other Anna Maria Island municipalities on board as well.
“What happens to one city impacts other cities,” he said. “The character of the island is very important, not only to our community but to the people that visit, who are our economic drivers. They don’t want to see Anna Maria Island become a city like St. Pete Beach, with all these high rises. They love what we have and it takes work to protect it.”
The four original megabridge fighters, who lodged a 47-page complaint with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida March 9, 2020, maintain a high bridge would negatively impact the historic Cortez fishing village on the south side of the proposed structure’s eastern terminus on Cortez Road.
“The big issue that people should realize is that this bridge divides Cortez with a giant wall-like structure as it comes down almost three football fields from the bay, inland,” McClash said.
At the city commission meeting March 18, Bradenton Beach Mayor John Chappie said a high bridge would not benefit Anna Maria Island residents, either.
The complainants are seeking a compromise — to build a 35-foot-clearance drawbridge.
On Feb. 1, the opposition group and the DOT agreed to file an amended case management report, the first step toward mediation, a formal process in which a third-party helps parties resolve a dispute.
Now, the DOT must provide McClash and company with a draft administrative record by April 19 that details how the department decided to move forward with a high bridge.
That decision-making process must comply with federal regulations. The opposition group’s complaint highlights various ways the DOT broke the rules.
“As plaintiffs, we’ll scrub the administrative record in detail for what we feel were the rules violated by the DOT, which we have confidence that we’ll find consistent with our complaint,” McClash said.
Among the grievances, he maintains:
- The DOT failed to provide a socio-cultural effects evaluation of a 65-foot fixed bridge by neglecting to carry out a detailed income analysis of Cortez. McClash said the DOT instead used census data from a larger geographic area.
- The DOT failed to properly evaluate the effects a steeper bridge would have on pedestrians with mobility issues.
- The DOT used inaccurate data, including the number of locals opposed to the high bridge and the percent of vessels too tall to pass under the fixed span.
The McClash group can amend its complaint based on the records the DOT provides.
The mediation is tentatively set for Aug. 25.
If mediation is not successful, the next step is a recommended summary judgment, where the amended complaint will be part of the information the plaintiffs present to a federal magistrate.
However, McClash said there is a possibility mediation and a recommended summary judgment can be avoided through an informal settlement conference both sides agreed to attend.
McClash said the outcome would be a toss-up. “We’re 50/50, which is a good position to be in,” he said.
Bridge aesthetics
The DOT’s Cortez Bridge project is in the design phase, which will cost $6.7 million.
The DOT formed an aesthetics committee of 11 people. The committee’s next meeting will be online at 10 a.m. Thursday, April 1.
The meeting can be accessed at https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/995438029. To access by phone, dial 669-224-3412 and enter 995 438 029.
Questions and comments can be emailed to DOT design project manager Roxann Lake at roxann.lake@dot.state.fl.us.
Cortez Bridge battle
The 17-foot-clearance Cortez Road drawbridge was built in 1956-57. It spans the Intracoastal Waterway, connecting Bradenton Beach on Anna Maria Island to Cortez and the mainland.
A Florida Department of Transportation PD&E study, completed in 2019, resulted in a recommendation that a 65-foot-clearance fixed-span bridge replace the structure.
In January, the DOT scheduled the high bridge construction for 2026 in its draft five-year work program.
The group that has been challenging the DOT’s decision in federal court since March 2020 maintains a high bridge will destroy the character of the Cortez Historic District, a fishing village listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1995. The village is on the south side of the proposed structure on Cortez Road.