Jilt-house?
Despite rumblings that state Rep. Tommy Gregory, R-Bradenton, of District 73, would take action to protect Raymond “Junior” Guthrie’s stilt-house from demolition during the legislative session that ended April 30, no legislation was proposed.
The Islander was unable to obtain a statement from Gregory despite multiple attempts.
Republican Rep. William “Will” Robinson of District 71, where the structure is located, also could not be reached for comment.
On March 8, 12th Circuit Judge Edward Nicholas granted a motion for a stay of enforcement on his final order that the Sarasota Bay structure — built in 2017 on pilings yards off the A.P. Bell Fish Co. docks in Cortez — be torn down or moved. The order opened a 60-day window for “the Florida Legislature or other governmental body to consider protection for the structure.”
The window will close May 7.
To date, no local authorities have shared plans to intervene on Guthrie’s behalf.
However, A.P. Bell Fish Co. owner Karen Bell, who has been assisting Guthrie in his legal battle against the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, said April 30 that preserving the structure is still a possibility.
“Just because it’s not happening in this session doesn’t mean that there aren’t things going on in the background that hopefully will still come to be,” she said. “I certainly don’t think it’s over.”
In 2018, the DEP successfully sued Guthrie for building the structure — a residence with utility service — on pilings over state-owned submerged land, but a series of extensions on Nicholas’ final demolition order allowed the stilt-house to remain standing.
Critics have deemed the structure a “party house,” while Guthrie maintains the stilt-house — built on pilings he said his ancestors drove into the bay bottom three generations ago — is a “historic net camp.”
Net camps were barren shacks built over the water in the 19th century to house cotton fishing nets before the advent of monofilament nets. Unlike net camps of old, Guthrie’s 1,200-foot structure was built with electricity, air conditioning and other amenities. He said he has stored nets inside the stilt-house for short periods in the past.