A battle was lost but the war continues.
While his temporary injunction was denied, Holmes Beach property owner Roger Alvarez told The Islander Sept. 4 that he remains determined to slow down the kayak tours in Sportsman Harbor offered by Bradenton-based Fun Florida Tours.
The harbor is an inlet off Anna Maria Sound that runs up to Alvarez’s property at 201 N. Harbor Drive, where manatees frequent the quiet waters.
Alvarez and his wife, Irene, filed a lawsuit against Fun Florida Tours alleging that the company’s lighted kayak tours into the canal disturb manatees, constitute a private nuisance and put them at risk of liability claims.
Part of the lawsuit was a motion for a temporary injunction that would have enjoined the tour company and its customers from entering the harbor, among other things.
12th Circuit Judge D. Ryan Felix denied Alvarez’s requested temporary injunction Aug. 19.
Alvarez said their goal was not to shut down the tour company but to slow it down to a more reasonable pace.
“We in no way, shape or form, had the intent to stop them 100% in any way,” Alvarez said.
He said Fun Florida Tours guides as many as four tours a day through the canal — some consisting of more than 20 lighted kayaks and about 30 people — that congregate near his property for 30-40 minutes per tour.
Alvarez said he wished the tours could minimize their impact along the canal by bringing in four-five kayakers for 10-15 minutes instead.
“I’m all pro-business,” he said. “But I’m also pro-business with the balance of respecting the home and the lives of the people that you are around and impacting.”
Alvarez compared the tour company’s activities to a business bringing 20-30 people to a residential road or right of way and shining lights inside homes.
He said there was a fine line between annoyance — which Felix acknowledged the tours might be in his judicial order — and a nuisance.
Moving forward, Alvarez said they would explore additional case law to establish such a nuisance, as well as emphasize the tours’ impact on their quality of life.
“My wife and I used to sit outside all the time. We no longer sit outside in our patio any longer. It’s a privacy issue,” Alvarez said.
He also pushed back against Fun Florida Tours owner Carl Hatley Jr.’s previous claims that they are using their money to “harass” the company, calling them “absurd.”
“My family is a family of immigrants and we’ve worked multiple jobs to be able to live on this island. We bought here before this place exploded cost-wise, and I’ve put my life into this home. To sit there and think that was part of what we were doing is completely absurd,” Alvarez said.
There were no upcoming hearings scheduled for the case as of Sept. 6, according to the Manatee County Clerk of Circuit Court’s website, manateeclerk.com.