Not everyone on Bridge Street wants to see the sunset.
The Bradenton Beach city chambers were at capacity for a May 19 meeting as business owners, employees and residents turned out for a “sunset review” of the pandemic-relief measures enacted to alleviate indoor capacity limits placed on businesses due to COVID-19 restrictions.
A “sunset review” refers to the evaluation of a program or ordinance that is set to expire.
In this case, Ordinance 21-533 was meant to expire along with coronavirus safety recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The adoption of the ordinance in May 2020 and the adoption of Ordinance 21-533 in June 2021 temporarily lifted land development restrictions and allowed expanded open-air dining and retail sales on private property. The measures also allowed for the conversion of up to 50% of established parking into outdoor dining and retail space for businesses that applied.
Some residents have complained that the expanded business opportunities created nuisances, specifically noise.
And at an earlier meeting this spring, some called for the sunset of the provisions, mostly due to noise.
Fred Bartizal, owner of the Bridge Tender Inn & Dockside Bar on Bridge Street, disputed the complaints.
“I want to get a couple of things straight,” Bartizal told The Islander in a May 17 phone interview. “Before COVID, I was approved for all my seating. I didn’t increase my seating during COVID. And I have had entertainment out there for the past 10 years.”
According to Bartizal, the only element added at the Bridge Tender under the pandemic-relief ordinance was a canopy.
“I have been here since ’89 and I’ve had music since the 1990s,” Bartizal said. “I put this tiki bar in about 12 years ago and have had music there all along. We have obeyed all noise ordinances that the city has put forth.”
He and other business people, including managers and employees, attended the May 19 meeting.
Commissioner Jake Spooner, owner/operator of the Bridge Street Bazaar and the Fish Hole and owner of the Daiquiri Deck building, all on Bridge Street, spoke of the need to distinguish between the positives under the ordinance and noise complaints that residents attributed to the use of temporary tents and outdoor live music.
“We have a noise ordinance for a reason,” Spooner said. “This has nothing to do with noise. It has to do with extra seating. To me, the noise is a totally separate ordeal. This ordinance is just saying you can expand your seating outdoors to be safer.”
Bradenton Beach Police Chief John Cosby also spoke to the complaints, saying outdoor music was at greater levels due to tents in use by some local businesses.
“Our officers take random readings when we work in the CRA district,” said Cosby, referring to the redevelopment area bordered by Cortez Road, Sarasota Bay, Fifth Street South and the Gulf of Mexico. “We’ve had no violations. Everybody that owns a business on that street knows that we take readings and proper action will be taken if they are in violation.”
Michael Dolan, owner of Wicked Cantina on Gulf Drive, told commissioners: “I would like to request that they leave the ordinance in place for several reasons. One, our employees and customers, to keep them safe. Our POS system, we track how many people sit on the patio and how many sit inside. Seventy percent of our business is on the patio. You can come to our restaurant any night. We have empty tables inside. People will wait up to an hour to sit outside because of COVID.”
Mayor John Chappie deferred to city attorney Ricinda Perry to interpret the legality of allowing Ordinance 21-533 to continue.
Perry, the author of 21-533, read the measure, which states: “This ordinance shall expire and be deemed to have been repealed once all COVID-related limitations to the operations of restaurants and retail locations impacting capacity of occupancy loads or social distancing requirements are no longer a recommendation by the Center for Disease Control or promulgated as a law pursuant to the federal regulations.”
Perry turned to the CDC website to produce an answer as to whether the CDC still had recommendations concerning occupancy and social distancing.
“In my opinion in reading this, the CDC is still recommending social distancing and has recommendations in place to prevent the transmittal of COVID-19 and its subsequent variants,” she said.
Chappie then addressed the gallery, saying there was no relevant action regarding Ordinance 21-533.
The commission agreed, leaving the outdoor expansion in place.
At Wicked Cantina it is no longer about safe distancing, it is about expanding outdoor setting at the cost of already tight parking. If you want to use the parking lot to keep people safe great but then you must follow the guidelines and separate the tables.