Manatee County officials have their sights set on expanding Kingfish Boat Ramp in Holmes Beach.
But Holmes Beach Mayor Judy Titsworth wants to be included in the planning process.
Titsworth told The Islander May 20 that she’s growing frustrated with the county’s exclusion and disregard for city concerns when considering plans to redevelop the boat ramp, which is maintained by the county.
The existing ramp serves boaters with three vessel-launch lanes, 47 truck-trailer parking spaces, 14 single vehicle parking spaces and one portable toilet.
The county’s redevelopment plan for the boat ramp includes two phases of improvements.
Phase 1 will include adding a bathroom, reconstructing the ramp to provide four vessel-launch lanes, installing 600 feet of new seawall and building 5,000 square feet of new docks.
The phase might involve paving over the boat ramp’s sand-and-shell parking lot with concrete but, following a May 10 vote by county commissioners, an option without paving also will be considered.
Phase 1 is projected to cost $7 million, with funding from a $4.5 million grant from the Gulf Consortium, a public entity, and $2.5 million from the West Coast Inland Navigational District.
A second phase of construction would increase the boat ramp’s capacity to 88 truck-trailer spaces by expanding the parking lot eastward.
Phase 2 won’t begin until the Florida Department of Transportation builds the Anna Maria Island Bridge connecting Bradenton and Holmes Beach, which could be 5-10 years in the future.
In the meantime, Titsworth has concerns for the first phase of the county’s plans, including:
- The removal of some 140 Australian pine trees to accommodate pavement and a seawall extension;
- Parking in place of an existing picnic area;
- Paving the shell parking lot;
- The extension of a dock and elimination of parking to accommodate the county’s proposed water taxi landing and a trolley stop.
Titsworth said removing so many well-established trees would negatively impact the aesthetic value of the boat ramp, which she said serves as a gateway to the city. She added that many of the trees have existed for more than half a century and provide shade for visitors and shelter for wildlife.
“Yes, they’re an invasive species, but they clearly serve a purpose,” Titsworth said.
Some county commissioners, including Holmes Beach resident Carol Whitmore, have spoken out against removing so many Australian pine trees at the boat ramp.
However, county administrator Scott Hopes has said the project would need to be redesigned to reduce the number of impacted trees — which might put the project at risk, since the work must be completed before the permit from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection expires in November 2023.
Titsworth said the county’s plans to push the waterfront picnic area farther west to accommodate truck-trailer parking spaces would ruin the area many people enjoy relaxing and picnicking.
As for parking, Titsworth acknowledged the benefits of paving the parking lot, but she prefers “undeveloped nature” — crushed shell.
Titsworth also questioned the county’s plans to extend the boat dock and convert parking on the east end to a retention area.
She said both changes appear to be aimed at accommodating a landing for the county’s proposed water taxi program, to better handle a water taxi and adding a trolley stop to transport water taxi patrons across the island.
Titsworth said county staff told her the plans were not designed for a water taxi landing.
However, Hopes wrote in a May 18 email to Titsworth that the county did have “intent” to use Kingfish as a water taxi landing, which would require the addition of a trolley stop, as well.
Titsworth responded to Hopes in a May 18 email stating that she would have preferred a different location for a trolley stop — one that would not require the removal of trees.
“At some point we need to stop destroying trees to accommodate new uses,” Titsworth wrote.
“How many boaters will be displaced due to this new use?” she asked.
She told The Islander that the city would continue to review the plans but, if it planned to add a water taxi landing, city commission approval would be required to add the new use to the site plan.
“This is a prime example of them keeping us in the dark so they can railroad through what they want,” Titsworth said. “The county’s going to do what the county wants to do. … It’s extremely frustrating.”
“We know what our city needs. They don’t care to talk to us about what our needs are,” she added.
Hopes did not respond to a May 20 email from The Islander.
Wait, what? Titsworth is concerned about removing pine trees and states “aesthetic value?” She further states: “we know what our city needs?” What about those needs of the city? What about allowing the massive and on-going tear-down of 2,000 sq ft houses and replacing them with 6,000 sq ft McMansions? Water shed concerns. How’s that working out when you allow this. On an island busting at the seams with people, replacing a dwelling that once housed 8 people with ones that can now hold 20 people. You see it on every road, every street with no signs of slowing down. How’s that “aesthetic value” working for this cause? The slow destruction of what was once a quaint island with so much to offer. Now turned into a money-grab, monster box plateau. Get a little more real if you want to be taken seriously.