They cried out with one voice: Something has to be done!
Bradenton Beach residents and city commissioners gathered June 7 for a town hall meeting at the Annie Silver Community Center, 103 23rd St. N. Their intent was to discuss a building moratorium to help control the onset of large short-term vacation homes.
For the residents, new homes that offer space for 18 or more guests mean larger vacation groups coming into small neighborhoods, adjacent to smaller homes on small lots, and that means less peace and quiet for residents.
On the table is a proposed six-month building moratorium for new construction of homes with more than four bedrooms.
Bill Vincent, candidate for the Ward 4 commission seat in the November municipal election, said, “Bradenton Beach is the last city on the island to deal with this issue.”
Holmes Beach and Anna Maria enacted — and rescinded — similar building moratoriums to address the problems associated with vacation rental homes. Both cities now have vacation-rental ordinances.
Bradenton Beach Commissioner Jake Spooner preached caution. The first-year commissioner said he fears lawsuits and increased legal fees from a moratorium.
“You’re witnessing the destruction of your town,” Holmes Beach Commissioner Jean Peelen said. “These large homes are built for investors, not residents.”
Manatee County Commissioner John Chappie, a 42-year resident of Bradenton Beach, said, “This is the first time I’ve been concerned for the city. We’re losing our neighborhoods.” Chappie also is running for the Ward 4 commission seat in November.
“We’re not doing anything. Every week there’s another house knocked down. We can’t not do anything because of fear,” resident Betsy Sillars said.
But something will be done.
If the commission doesn’t adopt a building moratorium, voters will decide Nov. 8 whether to create one.
A citizen’s initiative petition submitted in April would put the issue on the Nov. 8 ballot.
“A moratorium helps everybody. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done and we need to stop the big houses,” resident Priscilla Von Ahnen said. Von Ahnen was the driving force behind creating the petition.
“The citizens have pushed the commission to make a decision,” Mayor Bill Shearon said. “But we’ve already been here several times.”
In November 2015, a moratorium was discussed by the commission but failed by a 4-1 vote. Commissioners decided to focus on a “quality-of-life” ordinance that was supposed to control vacation rentals and large homes.
However, that ordinance was never enacted, due to staffing and enforcement issues.
Vosburgh was the lone vote against that ordinance.
Shearon tried to bring a moratorium before the commission when he returned to the mayor’s office in November, but the proposal again died, with support only from Vosburgh.
“I’ve been for a moratorium from the start,” she said. “I don’t know why the others are against it. We’ve got to make it happen.”
After the meeting, Vincent defended the moratorium, saying, “Fear of lawsuits should not be a driving factor. There is no alternative.”
Anna Maria faced a moratorium-based lawsuit in 2015, when AMI Breeze alleged the city failed to act on building permit applications submitted before the moratorium was enacted Sept. 22, 2014.
AMI Breeze’s attorney, Sean Kelly, and the city agreed to a stay of proceedings Aug. 11, 2015. No legal action has been taken on the matter.
Discussions about vacation rental issues will continue at noon Thursday, June 16, at city hall, 107 Gulf Drive N.