A legal notice from the state has a long-term camper on a spoil island in Anna Maria Sound breaking camp.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission served Lewis Whitaker, known to locals as “Lucky Lewy,” with a trespass warning Aug. 12 at his camp on a spoil island known to locals as Gilligan’s Island.
Located across the bay from Holmes Beach’s Key Royale and neighboring the north end of Perico Bayou just south of the Manatee River bulkhead, the island has been used by recreational campers and boat-going sightseers for decades.
Whitaker said the officers allowed him some time to remove his camp.
He also said he felt singled out.
“I am just thinking, why is there only one person out of hundreds of people that come and camp here?” Whitaker asked during an Aug. 13 interview with The Islander. “Other than the fact that I am her more than anyone else.”
Whitaker, in another interview Aug. 15, said the notice followed a May visit from the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, acting a video posted to social media showing Whitaker’s campsite after foul weather flooded the island.
The MCSO warning issued in May instructed Whitaker to “clean up the homeless camp.”
Whitaker says he is not homeless, he just leaves his tents in place between visits.
“I am not a homeless person. I have an address … every bank card, all my bills get sent to that residence,” Whitaker said, referring to his residence in west Bradenton.
According to the camper, he complied with the cleanup order and, when a county code enforcement officer came by boat later in May, the area was cleaned up. Whitaker said the officer waved and left, leading him to believe the matter was resolved.
With no known legal guidelines in place for length of stay or rules and regulations about the island’s use, Whitaker said authorities had never enforced any laws concerning his presence before this year.
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Whitaker said he faced homelessness after a housemate fell ill and the two couldn’t afford their rent. Whitaker, at the time, took refuge on Gilligan’s Island, staying a few weeks while he figured things out.
Whitaker now resides with a friend in west Bradenton and visits the island. Now retired, he said he enjoys his time there and boats back and forth between the island and home.
Meanwhile, the May citation raised questions about what governing institution was responsible for oversight of Gilligan’s Island.
Inquiries initiated by The Islander to various authorities, including the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Manatee County government and the office of the Manatee County Property Appraiser revealed that the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund of the State of Florida is on the county tax roll as the party responsible for Gilligan’s Island.
The trust is charged with the acquisition, administration, management, control, supervision, conservation, protection and disposition of state-owned lands.
The DEP’s Division of State Lands performs staff duties for the trust or TIITF and administers islands similar to Gilligan’s throughout the state.
However, Whitaker said until this year there had never been any kind of enforcement action nor was he told he was staying too long.
Whitaker said he will continue to try to have dialogue with the state but his main goal is to comply with the Aug. 12 notice.
“I plan to be off the island with my structures and belongings by Monday and it’s a lot of work,” Whitaker said Aug. 15.
Although sad to be ordered to leave the island, Whitaker remained upbeat.
“Storms are there to make you a better person, stronger and smarter,” he said as he began disassembly of his camp. “When people start realizing happiness is a choice … they will know I am going to be happy no matter what storm comes my way.”
Big difference between camping there once in awhile and setting up couches, solar panels, Tvs etc. Taking up half of the island and I was just there yesterday, the trash, couch, tvs etc left behind was so upsetting. Now no one can camp unless they have a big boat and want to spend days cleaning the mess there.
Big difference between camping there once in awhile and setting up couches, solar panels, Tvs etc. Taking up half of the island and I was just there yesterday, the trash, couch, tvs etc left behind was so upsetting. Now no one can camp unless they have a big boat and want to spend days cleaning the mess there.
Campers are campers. He was not a camper.
Despite him having a mailing address, this guy was a permanent resident who built actual structures and did not have adequate means to remove all his human waste and trash that polluted the island. He lived there almost all the time.