Manatee County commissioners took the bait at a meeting loaded with supporters of a Cortez institution damaged by the 2024 hurricanes.
Commissioners now are seeking solutions to revitalize a red-tagged business adjacent to the Seafood Shack.
Commissioners, meeting Jan. 28 at the county administration building in Bradenton, unanimously agreed to direct staff to look for options to preserve Annie’s Bait & Tackle after hearing pleas against a potential demolition that would impact business and village preservation and end an era.
Annie’s operator Bruce Shearer, who has owned the business since 1996, estimated the cost to repair the property at $5,000. “That’s all the damage I got,” he said.
Cortez business owner Capt. Kathe Fannon suggested villagers could put Annie’s back together again and “it’s not going to take that much.”
The pleas proved persuasive. Commissioners had heard from deputy county administrator Bryan Parnell at the start of the discussion that Annie’s could not be salvaged but they eventually were swayed to look beyond the county assessment.
The waterfront fixture, popular with fishers, boaters and diners, is north of the Cortez Bridge, adjacent to the Seafood Shack restaurant and marina, all which were acquired by the county Dec. 31, 2024, to create the Cortez Marina public boating facility. The $13 million purchase from Vandyk 1st Gulf Coast was underway prior to the devastation brought by Hurricanes Helene and Milton last fall.
“We discussed how we could keep operations going on the marina for the two and a half years before we can build something new and get something in place,” Parnell said.
But, he added, “post-hurricanes, it’s not an option for us anymore.”
Parnell said the structures were so severely damaged that their repair would go beyond a federal 50% rule.
But after public comments, all in favor of Annie’s preservation, Commissioner Jason Bearden, District 6, said he wanted the county to investigate how to save the snack bar, bait, tackle and gas business.
“County Administrator Bishop, I need you to figure out how to make that building up to code to make Annie’s continue, no ifs, ands, or buts,” Bearden said.
Eventually Bearden’s order was put into a motion that Bishop would bring back in 30 days the options to retain Annie’s. The measure passed unanimously.
The day after the meeting, Commissioner Tal Siddique, District 3, which includes Cortez and Anna Maria Island, met with county staff at Annie’s for an inspection, the start of the 30-day review.
The other commissioners plan to hold similar reviews with staff, each at a different time to avoid a violation of Florida’s Government-in-the-Sunshine Laws.
Commissioner’s view
One day after the motion passed (Jan. 28) to find options to save Annie’s Bait & Tackle in Cortez, I was first on the ground with county leadership on a comprehensive tour of the property.
Administrator Charlie Bishop, deputy administrator Bryan Parnell, property management director Cary Knight, natural resources director Charlie Hunsicker, sports and leisure director Molly White, a building inspector, numerous support staff and general contractors were boots on the ground with me.
We assessed the condition of the fuel tank, the dock and the interior of the building. We reviewed the damage assessment report and spoke to (owner) Bruce Shearer and daughter Anna.
While other board members have yet to tour the property, I found the outlook was not good for the current structure. I do not believe the current structure can be repaired.
It will need a rebuild to current code.
The condition of the fuel tank is unknown and a significant portion of the dock is gone. The interior is unrecognizable.
Meanwhile, we are allowing Annie’s owner free access to recover his property and belongings.
— Tal Siddique, Manatee County District 3 commissioner
See that is the problem, the structure isn’t that much damaged, but the problem is like the county commissioner said he can’t see how it can be saved, likely because all he has ever seen is modern construction of the past twenty years, you know the designs where they say the building is only good for twenty-five years. The reason the structure has endured all of the storms of a likely seventy years is because the material and workmanship made it that strong, and yes it can be restored and meet the pertinent safety codes just as it did the day before the storm. In this case the people with real expertise are the locals and those who have repaired and maintained it for all these many years, and frankly those other guys couldn’t build an Annie’s with millions of dollars, by the time they all agreed the project would be scrapped. Get it up and running again, it is part of history and we’d like to keep it.