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Revised pier ordinance before commission

Bradenton Beach city commissioners approved a first reading of an ordinance intended to streamline rules for the Historic Bridge Street Pier.

The commission held the hearing on the ordinance May 21, and will hold its second reading and hearing on the measure June 4 at city hall, 107 Gulf Drive N.

City attorney Ricinda Perry drafted the ordinance working with Bradenton Beach Police Chief Sam Speciale, who directed reconstruction of the pier following severe storm damage.

Perry said she and Speciale “wanted to bring everything up to date under one ordinance.”

“This was the chief’s and my best stab at making sure we had the rules in place to provide for a safe, orderly use of our pier,” she added.

There was no public comment offered on the ordinance and commissioners had little discussion on the proposal before unanimously approving the first reading and setting another reading June 4.

The ordinance contains a list of prohibitions on the pier:

  • No swimming or diving.
  • No operation of autos, scooters motorcycles or bicycles.
  • No carrying or discharging of firearms, firecrackers, torpedoes, rockets or other explosives.
  • No domestic animals, with an exemption for the use or training of a service animal.
  • No igniting gasoline, kerosene, charcoal, wood.
  • No dumping or littering.
  • No cast-netting.
  • No manual bleeding of fish.
  • No loitering, sleeping or “protractedly lounging on the seats.”
  • No indulging in riotous conduct or abusive language.
  • No selling of merchandise without the consent of the city commission.
  • No soliciting for any trade without the consent of the city commission.

The ordinance also requires that children under 15 must be accompanied by an adult during the hours of 8 p.m. to 7 a.m.

Violators could face up a $500 fine and 30 days in jail.

“There’s a lot of policy making that’s going on in here about how your pier is used,” Perry said.