Demolition or eleventh-hour legislation?
According to Karen Bell, state Rep. Tommy Gregory, R-Bradenton, is drafting legislation to protect Raymond “Junior” Guthrie’s stilt-house from demolition and plans to get the legislation passed before April 30, the end of the legislative session.
Bell, who owns A.P. Bell Fish Co. and other businesses, has been assisting Guthrie in his battle against the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The department sued Guthrie in 2018, one year after he built the house on pilings over state-owned submerged land yards off the A.P. Bell docks in Sarasota Bay.
The DEP won the case, but a series of extensions on Judge Edward Nicholas’ final demolition order allowed the structure to remain standing.
It is unclear whether Gregory’s legislation would be a standalone bill or an amendment.
It’s also unclear if an attempt to pass a bill can be accomplished before the 2021 session is set to end April 30.
Despite multiple attempts, The Islander was unable to get a statement from Gregory’s office.
State Sen. Jim Boyd, R-Bradenton, and Republican Rep. William “Will” Robinson Jr. of District 71, in which the Guthrie house is located, are supportive of the legislation, Bell said April 14.
Guthrie maintains the 1,200 square-foot structure is a historic net camp, built on pilings his ancestors drove into the bay bottom three generations ago. Net camps were barren shacks erected over the water in the 19th century to store cotton nets before the advent of monofilament nets. They dotted the Cortez waterfront into the 1960s.
Local critics of the structure, which was built with electricity and other amenities, have characterized it as a “party house” and have said Guthrie should not enjoy the special privilege of building on state-owned land.
“I believe some of that is personal to Junior, and what I think people should keep in mind is that was Junior’s grandfather’s camp originally,” Bell said. “How many people can say their grandfather had a camp there? There are other pilings out there and, honestly, I wouldn’t be opposed if some of those families wanted to rebuild their camps.”
Guthrie said April 14 he is grateful for Bell’s help and won’t celebrate until any legislation is officially passed.
“We’ve got to wait until it happens first, then we’ll figure it out,” he said. “It’s great if we keep it, great if we don’t. When you get to be 72 years old, you roll with the punches.”