The Florida Department of Environmental Protection is fining a Sarasota Bay developer for violations of the state’s mangrove protective legislation.
The DEP in late December issued a proposed consent order that calls for Long Bar Pointe LLLP and Medallion Homes, owner of a multi-faceted home/condo/commercial development along El Conquistador Parkway on Sarasota Bay, to pay $8,500 in fines.
The DEP said inspections at the property — one on June 17 and another Aug. 25 — found:
- A portion of mangroves appeared to be cut annually more than 25% of foliage;
- Mangrove trimmings over 3 feet long or over 3 inches in diameter were not properly removed and disposed off-site;
- Mangrove trimmings were not evenly distributed;
- Prior and post photo documentation of the trimming was not provided to the DEP.
The activities violated a mangrove permit, a mitigation bank permit and the Mangrove Trimming and Preservation Act.
The law states, “In recognition of the important role mangroves play in Florida’s ecology, the Mangrove Act sets out to provide important protections for the trees and limits the ability to trim or remove them. At the same time, the Mangrove Act affirms the rights of waterfront property owners, specifically including the homeowners’ ‘riparian right of view.’”
The trimming was on the property “within the waterward extent of a mangrove fringe located in Sarasota Bay,” the DEP said.
The site is adjacent to the property undergoing the Long Bar corporate development.
Complaints about the trimming were submitted to the DEP in February 2022 and April 2022.
The $8,500 fine — payable by a cashier’s check — includes $1,000 to cover DEP costs, $3,000 for cutting mangroves too much, $3,000 for lack of documentation of the work and $3,000 for not properly disposing of the debris.
The DEP order — sent to Carlos Beruff, Chris Chavez and Rob Bosarge of Medallion Homes — follows a September 2022 warning about the activity.
Beruff, Chavez and Bosarge did not respond to Jan. 6 emails from The Islander.
When, in 2017, Manatee County commissioners held hearings for Long Bar’s Aqua by the Bay — now Aqua — development plan — hundreds of protesters turned out to meetings seeking to protect the mangrove-marine life habitat and the undeveloped bayshore.