Coquina Beach to be stopped

4THE SUN ISLAND NEWS

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AUGUST 10, 2022

IN BRIEF

Sun earns statewide press awards

Two Anna Maria Island Sun staffers won awards in the 2022 Florida Press Association Weekly Newspaper Contest on Aug. 5 in Ponte Vedra Beach.

Cindy Lane won STEVE BORGGREN | SUN second place in the In-Depth Reporting category for coverage of the announced closing of the Cortez Post Office, later rescinded due to the efforts of village residents.

Artist Steve Borggren won third place in the Original Local Editorial Cartoon category for “Red Tide.”

Water taxis, food trucks on Thursday agenda

The Anna Maria City Commission will meet on Thursday, Aug. 11. The regular city commission meeting will begin immediately after the conclusion of the commission budget meeting that begins at 1:30 p.m. The budget meeting will feature discussion on the proposed 2022-23 fiscal year capital projects that include street paving, Pine Avenue improvements and stormwater and drainage improvements. During the regular meeting, Convention and Visitors Bureau Director Elliott Falcione will provide the commission with a water taxi update. The commission will discuss on first reading a new ordinance that specifies where food trucks are allowed to operate in the city. Mayor Dan Murphy will provide his fact-finding results regarding the bid proposal recently received for the Reimagining Pine Avenue sidewalk improvements. The mayor will present the city’s annual service agreement with the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office and also an agreement with Corcoran Partners lobbying firm. City Clerk/Treasurer LeAnne Addy will present the requested renewal of the city employees’ health, dental and vision insurance plans.

Correction

Hunters Point developer Marshall Gobuty paid $10 million for the property and canal he purchased in 2016. A story in last week’s Sun incorrectly stated a lower purchase price.

Modifications planned for Coquina, Cortez beach parking lots

Fencing or bollards will be installed along the Cortez Beach parking lot to prevent tandem parking.

BY JOE HENDRICKS

SUN CORRESPONDENT | jhendricks@amisun.com

BRADENTON BEACH – Manatee County has some modifications in mind for the Coquina Beach, Cortez Beach and Bayside Park parking lots.

City and county officials discussed the plan recently when Bradenton Beach Mayor John Chappie, Police Chief John Cosby and Public Works Director Tom Woodard met with Manatee County Commission Chair Kevin Van Ostenbridge, Deputy County Administrator Charlie Bishop, Public Works Director Chad Butzow and Parks and Natural Resources Grounds Operations Manager Carmine DeMilio.

DeMilio summed up those discussions in a video recap that Chappie shared with city commissioners during their Aug. 4 meeting.

In the video, DeMilio details the county’s plans to create an additional overflow parking area near the children’s playground at the southern end of the Coquina Beach parking lot. Those plans include the installation of a split rail fence and the planting of royal palm trees to separate the children’s play area and the overflow parking area.

DeMilio said county staff would manage the overflow parking area and open and close the gates as needed to provide additional beach parking. DeMilio said this modification requires a change work order to the phase 2 drainage and parking lot improvements already taking place in the center section of the beach parking lot. Additional fencing will be installed along the entrance road that runs parallel to Gulf Drive South.

DeMilio said the county also plans to install a median, with parking on both sides, in the unpaved parking lot at the south end of Coquina Bayside Park parking lot, near the Longboat Pass Bridge.

CORTEZ BEACH

DeMilio said the county plans to eliminate automobile parking at the far north end of the Cortez Beach parking lot along Gulf Drive South, between Fourth and Fifth streets south. The county plans to limit that narrow strip of parking spaces to motorcycle and golf cart parking.

To address the issue of tandem parking – cars parking in front of other vehicles – the county plans to install fencing and/or rope bollards that would reduce the depth of the automobile parking areas to 10-12 feet deep, which would only provide space for a single row of automobiles to be parked between the fence and Gulf Drive South.

DeMilio did not specify when the proposed changes would be made to the Coquina Beach, Bayside Park and Cortez Beach parking lots.

TRAM PATH

After watching DeMilio’s video, Chappie commented on the proposed fencing in the Cortez Beach parking lot.

“The idea is to move it back so you cannot tandem park in that area. There’s a big safety concern – not only tandem, but three (vehicles) in a row,” Chappie said.

Chappie said vehicles parked two and three deep reduces access to the multi-use trail and reduces the drivable area between the parked cars and the bike lane along the western edge of Gulf Drive South. Chappie also said the city could create a tow-away zone there to further address tandem parking.

Commissioner Ralph Cole noted the Bradenton Beach Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) hopes to one day install along that same stretch of the Cortez Beach

MANATEE COUNTY | SUBMITTED The narrow stretch of parking spaces at the north end of the Cortez Beach parking lot will be limited to golf carts, motorcycles and other non-automobiles.

SEE PARKING, PAGE 13