Manatee County got its OK to build a boat dock on the bay.
The Bradenton Beach City Commission approved a special exception application for the dock during its regular meeting Nov. 4 at city hall, 107 Gulf Drive N.
The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office and Marine Rescue Division will use the dock, which will be built just east of the new marine rescue headquarters at Coquina Beach Bayside.
The county sought a special exception for the project because the dock, as proposed, exceeds the 65-feet maximum length provided for in Bradenton Beach’s land-development code.
The dock, at about 2,750 square feet, will extend 238 feet from the shore into the bay.
That length was necessary to avoid impacting seagrass closer to shore, said Darin Cushing, project manager for the county.
“It needs to get out that far to get to water that’s deep enough for boats and it was required by DEP … to get beyond the seagrass beds, he said.
The special exception application went to the city commission with a recommendation from the planning and zoning board. The P & Z, however, also proposed two stipulations:
• That the city police department have access to a boat slip and boatlift on the dock.
• That the MCSO not limit public use of the water around or under the dock, which is in a popular location for fishers and crabbers.
The commission, after hearing from Cushing and Sheriff Brad Steube, did not include either stipulation in its unanimous vote.
On the first stipulation, Steube promised the BBPD would have a slip on the dock, but he said plans are to install only four lifts that will be used by MCSO. If BBPD wants a lift, he said it would have to be on the city’s tab.
Regarding public access to the water around and under the dock, Steube said that open access would be a problem for the MCSO.
“I’m going to have in excess of half-a-million (dollars) worth of boats on the dock,” the sheriff said. “I don’t need people around that dock.”
He said the MCSO likely will post trespassing signs, as well as install a keypad gate at the dock entrance.
“The bottom line is public safety,” Steube told commissioners and Mayor Bob Bartelt.
There was no disagreement at the dais.
Bartelt said a gate was a good idea. “Obviously it is going to be an attractive pier at 238 feet out in the water,” the mayor said. “And there’s going to be a lot of expensive equipment.”
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection already has issued a permit for the dock, which will be built by Shoreline Marine Construction. The DEP, in fact, required the longer facility.
In other business Nov. 4, the commission:
• Approved a special exception for the operation of a gift shop as an accessory use at Club Bamboo/Dream Inn, 2502 Gulf Drive N.
The exception application again went to the commission with a recommendation from the planning and zoning board with stipulations — that the size of the store space be limited to 252 square feet, the current footprint; and the business serve as a traditional motel gift shop, catering specifically to residents and guests.
During the P&Z meeting, some board members expressed concern that the gift shop, in a Residential-3 zone, would advertise for customers outside the Dream Inn. Commissioners approved the application without stipulations on a motion made by Jan Vosburgh, who said, “I don’t see how we can dictate to business owners who they can sell to and how they can advertise.”
Vosburgh noted that the inn has more on-site parking than is available at many other businesses in Bradenton Beach and, with a nod to P&Z board member Jo Ann Meilner’s objection to limits on the gift shop, said, “This is America.”
Vosburgh’s motion to approve the application without stipulations passed unanimously.
• Approved payment of an $8,765 invoice to M.T. Causley for building department services.
• Approved payment of a $7,302 invoice to city attorney Ricinda Perry for legal services in September.
The commission’s next regular meeting will be at 1 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 18, at city hall.