Holy week, Easter plans. 20
Fuel spill. 5
Grassy reopens. 24
Happy Easter
VOLUME 25, NO. 23
APRIL 12, 2017 FREE
The Best News on Anna Maria Island Since 1992 AsTheWorldTerns go big for Easter. 6 Bradenton Beach pushes forward with fitness trail. 2 Native plants take root in demo garden. 3 Anna Maria’s VRO: 1 year later, debate continues. 4
Op-Ed
The Islander editorial, reader letters. 6
10-20 YEARS AGO
From the archives. 7
Meetings
On the government calendar. 8 BB mulls moratorium extension. 8
Happenings
Community announcements, activities. 12-13 Make plans, save a date. 14-15 FISH fights Aqua By The Bay. 16 Center holds out hope to close budget gap. 18
Obituaries. 20 Streetlife. 22 Stormy outlook. 25 Center youth soccer kicks off. 26 Fishing action. 27
ISL BIZ Truckin’ Coquina, business news. 29-30 Classifieds. 31
www.islander.org
Neal wins decision on Harbor Sound
By Kathy prucnell islander reporter the 5th district court of appeal upheld a state wetlands permit for an enclave of homes on perico island for developer pat neal of neal communities. the march 21 decision takes the developer a step closer to constructing Harbor Sound on 3.46 acres fronting on anna maria Sound, including the destruction of 1.05 acres of Neal mangroves. Three appellate judges affirmed a Southwest florida Water management district august 2015 permit decision in the appeal initially brought by former manatee county commissioner Joe mcclash and four nonprofits, ManaSota-88 Inc., Florida Institute for Saltwater Heritage, Sierra club and Suncoast Waterkeeper inc. another order by the 5th dca in march turned down requests from both sides to assess their attorneys’ fees to the other. Harbor Sound is planned as four 8,400 square-foot homes on 23,700-28,200 squarefoot lots on anna maria Sound for neal family members. “that’s still the plan,” neal told the islander april 5. Harbor Sound is adjacent to Harbour isles, a partially-built 650-plus unit development approved in 2010 by the city of Bradenton. in the march appellate arguments, attorneys for neal and Swiftmud asked the panel to allow the state permit to stand, while mcclash’s cape coral attorney ralf Brookes said a prior administrative law judge’s decision ought to prevail. Brookes wrote in an april 4 email, “We presented all of our arguments very well,” adding the 5th dca issued no written opinion. “We, of course, are disappointed that the district court did not uphold the administrative law judge’s decision.” the aLJ decision compared neal’s project to the dredge-and-fill projects in Florida in the 1960s and 1970s — before environmental controls — and recommended denial, which was overturned by the Swiftmud governing board, then headed by developer pLeaSe See Neal page 3
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Wild dolphin show
A dolphin racing toward the shore jumped from the shallow water at Bayfront Park in Anna Maria and Carl Conn of Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, had his Nikon Coolpix with a zoom lens ready. “I was surprised to see it come into 2-3 feet of water,” he said. Conn has spent winters on Anna Maria Island for six years. He said, “The dolphin went back and forth in front of all the swimmers a good distance away. Then, all of a sudden, the dolphin swam very fast and close…. It seemed to be chasing something.”
BB restaurant owner jailed for noise-making
By Kathy prucnell islander reporter “excessive and petty” is how freckled fin owner Scott Lubore described his arrest for a noise ordinance violation at his Bradenton Beach bar-restaurant at 101 Bridge St. Lubore, 48, was arrested april 5 — and taken to the manatee county jail — after BBPD Officer Steven masi heard loud music at 8:40 p.m. while on Fourth Lubore Street South coming from Bridge Street. “the music seemed louder than the normal range,” masi reported. “i could hear that the music was coming from the freckled fin and not the island time, because they had no live music at this time playing.” Lubore described a “rocking” springbreak scene at the corner of Bridge Street and gulf drive with freckled fin’s bar “getting crushed” and people dancing on balconies along Bridge Street. “i’m not saying we weren’t over the limit, we were,” Lubore said about the noise level. Still the freckled fin owner complains he’s been unfairly targeted. “the mayor wants to make a point,” he said, adding mayor Bill Shearon holds a
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grudge about Lubore refusing to pick up the mayor’s dog poop. Lubore views his night in the manatee county jail “a waste of taxpayer’s money,” for the use of BBpd and jail resources. “for what?” he said, adding he was responsible for the same fine. “noise is noise,” Shearon said, adding Lubore had been warned. as far as the dog poop, the mayor said it was something he didn’t see, because he is sight-impaired, but once made aware, he curbed the mess. masi measured the april 5 noise from the Freckled Fin at 81-86 decibels across the street at 200 gulf drive and then at the Freckled Fin property line, where 93-98 decibels registered. the city noise limit for the 7-10 p.m. time frame is 75 decibels. Between 2016 and the end of march, nine complaints took police to the freckled Fin and the bar-restaurant was ticketed five times. noise blamed on the freckled fin march 26, however, was from island time Bar and grill, an incident for which island time managers were warned, according to BBpd detective Sgt. Lenard diaz. the freckled fin owner wants to know how many times other Bradenton Beach bars pLeaSe See NOiSe page 2
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