A whole “lot” of nothing.
The city of Bradenton Beach lifted the closures on paid parking lots managed by Beach to Bay LLC just a few hours after city building inspector Darin Cushing implemented a shutdown order Aug. 9.
The order was issued due to the company’s non-compliance with city requirements.
City officials, including city attorney Ricinda Perry, conferred Aug. 9 after the city was contacted by the lot owner’s legal counsel about the shutdown. Shortly after, the city reversed direction on its enforcement of the lot closures and allowed operations to resume.
On Aug. 1, city building official Darin Cushing hand-delivered a notice of shutdown to Beach to Bay LLC identifying parking lots at 101 Bridge St., 206 Bay Drive N., 207 Church Ave., and 103 Third St. N. — as non-compliant.
The letter informed Beach to Bay, owned by developer Shawn Kaleta, the lots would be shut down Aug. 9 for failure to complete city requirements agreed upon in February and March commission meetings.
Cushing Aug. 9 barricaded and taped off the entrances to each lot.
But a few hours later, Louis Najmy of Najmy Thompson PL, the law firm representing Beach to Bay, demanded the barriers be removed.
An email from Najmy Thompson PL requested the lots be reopened and asked for new deadlines for improvements.
“We regrouped yesterday and discussed the letter from his (Kaleta’s) attorney,” Cushing said in an interview with The Islander.
“We collaborated to make a response back to Najmy and gave him (Kaleta) a little more time,” Cushing said.
One caveat requested by Cushing was that upgraded, detailed site plans be provided by Aug. 16.
Beach to Bay delivered the plans Aug. 11.
“As of last night, I am reviewing them,” Cushing said Aug. 13. “From my standpoint, they appear to be sufficient.”
He said once the review and site plan approvals are done, the city would issue a new deadline addressing other stipulations.
Kaleta originally constructed and began operating the parking lots without obtaining approval from the city or presenting the matter to the planning and zoning board. As a result, the parking lots have been operating since February without city authorization, placing them in technical violation of local regulations, according to Cushing’s Aug. 1 letter.
In Feb. 15 and March 21 meetings, commissioners granted Kaleta temporary use permits for paid parking lots, requiring the building official to approve the administrative site plans and certain stipulations met.
However, detailed site plans were not produced until Aug. 11 and many city stipulations remained unmet as of Aug. 13.
In the stipulations for all properties, parking is restricted to motor vehicles, but no trailers, RVs, campers or buses and no overnight parking or tailgating. Hours are 7 a.m.–9 p.m. and enforcement must be available around the clock.
The owners must apply for a building permit or land development approval within eight months of receiving temporary use permits.
Basic site plans delivered by Beach to Bay to the city Aug. 9 showed a 93-space lot for the combined lots at 101 Bridge St., 207 Church Ave. would have 25 spaces and the lot at Third Street North would have 13.
An artesian well adjacent to the 101 Bridge St. lot has been leaking water down Third Street toward Sarasota Bay.
Sam Negrin, a Beach to Bay spokesperson, Aug. 9, said the process of capping the artesian well is ongoing.
Cushing said Aug. 13 that Manatee County had become involved with the capping process extending the timeline for completion.
“We need to look at what’s a realistic amount of time for the projects,” Cushing said.
“It’s work that is going to take a little time. Once the site plan is approved, we can determine an appropriate amount of time for those projects,” he said.
