Hunters Point prevails in dock permit challenge

Judge Bruce

Culpepper’s recommended order still requires final approval by the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s governing board.

BY JOE HENDRICKS

SUN CORRESPONDENT | jhendricks@amisun.com

CORTEZ – Administrative

Law Judge Bruce Culpepper has issued a recommended order supporting the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s issuance of a permit for the construction of 49 canal-side dock slips at the Hunters Point Marina & Resort in Cortez.

“Based on the foregoing findings of fact and conclusions of law, it is recommended that the Southwest Florida Water Management District enter a final order granting Cortez Road Investment’s application for the permit to build a dock in the canal and issue ERP (environmental resource permit) Individual Construction

Major Modification Permit 43032468.003,” Culpepper stated in the written recommended order he issued on March 7.

Culpepper’s recommended order will be sent to the water district’s governing board for a final ruling. If the board’s final ruling supports Culpepper’s recommended order, the Hunters Points docks can be built in the man-made, privately-owned canal that surrounds the Hunters Point property on three sides.

Culpepper’s recommended order is based on the multiday administrative hearing he conducted on behalf of the Florida Division of Administrative Hearings (DOAH) over the span of eight days in June, August and September.

In June 2021, the water management district issued Hunters Point developer Marshall Gobuty and his Cortez Road Investments and Finance Inc. ownership group the environmental resource permit/individual construction major modification permit needed to construct the docks. The permit authorizes Cortez Road Investments to install approximately 4,352 square feet of new piling-supported dock structures and to replace approximately 3,631 square feet of existing piling-supported dock structures.

Cortez Village Marina is located eastward and upland of the Hunters Point property. In July 2021, the Cortez Village Marina’s MHC Cortez Village LLC ownership group filed a petition challenging the issuance of that permit.

MHC Cortez Village asserted the proposed docks would adversely impact safe navigation and increase and impair vessel traffic through the canal by narrowing the canal’s navigable width.

During the hearing, MHC Cortez Village presented the testimony of marina manager Skip McPadden, Capt. Christopher Karentz and others. Cortez Road Investments presented testimony by Gobuty, land title expert Adron H. Walker, Captain Dane Fleming and others. The water management district’s witnesses included Lauren Greenawalt, who serves as a lead environmental scientist for the district.

The Canal

According to Manatee County Property Appraiser records and testimony provided by Walker and Gobuty, Cortez Road Investments owns the portion of the canal that extends eastward from the humpback bridge at 127th Street West to the western boundary of the Cortez Village Marina property. Cortez Road Investments does not own the portion of the canal located directly in front of the marina basin or the remaining portion of the canal east of the marina. Culpepper’s order notes the marina has existed in its current configuration since at least 2008 and a marina facility has operated at that location since at least the 1970s. According to McPadden’s testimony, the marina provides approximately 365 boat storage