MANATEE COUNTY – The battle between neighbors for beach access on 78th Street in Holmes Beach came to a close when a judge ruled against granting a temporary injunction to reopen the path to the sand.
“It’s a really unfortunate situation,” Manatee County Circuit Court Judge Charles Sniffen said. “Someone’s property rights are going to be affected by what I decide.”
After hearing two days of testimony from current and former property owners as well as county Commissioner Carol Whitmore and others, Sniffen said the arguments boiled down to a technicality. In order for a temporary injunction to be granted, he said the plaintiffs, a group of 78th Street property owners, would have to meet four criteria – prove the historic use of the path, irreparable harm, that the injunction is in the public interest and that the use of the path by the neighbors and public is adverse to property owners Travis Resmondo and the Oceana Condominium Association’s use of the path.
Resmondo closed the beach path, which begins on his property, after crowds over Easter weekend overwhelmed him by blocking his driveway, using his property as a parking lot, using his private facilities as their own and leaving behind trash at his beachfront home, something he said had been a problem for months. He closed the path without notice, and neighbors who had used it for decades argued in court that the closure caused them to be unable to easily access the beach and to lose some rental bookings at their properties due to lack of beach access.
Sniffen said there were two areas where the plaintiffs’ arguments failed. The first was to show irreparable harm, though due to the medical conditions of some of the neighbors who would have a difficult time accessing a path on 79th and 80th Streets to the beach, he said an argument could be made for irreparable harm. The second, and the one he hinged his ruling on, was adverse use.
After hearing all of the arguments and testimony as well as reviewing documentation provided by both sides, Sniffen said the issue is that up until Resmondo closed the path to neighbors and the public in April, the path was harmoniously used by everyone. Resmondo and the four owners of units at Oceana own the two pieces of property on which the path extends from the end of 78th Street to the beach. Both testified that they knew of the neighbors and their guests using the path and had no issues with it until recently. Sniffen said the testimony implied the property owners’ consent to use the path, meaning that its past use was not adverse to the owners.
While the case is open for appeal, it’s unlikely neighbors will seek a permanent injunction against closing the path since the temporary injunction was not granted by the court.
