HOLMES BEACH – Residents Roger and Irene Alvarez are hoping for help from the legal system to prevent kayaking clients from Fun Florida Tours from trespassing on their property and causing what they call a nuisance.
In a complaint filed on March 29 in the 12th Judicial Circuit Court in Manatee County, the couple alleges that tours conducted by the company, which occur daily about every 1.5 hours from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., are causing irreparable harm to their quality of life and damaging their property.
The home at 201 North Harbor Drive is on an inlet off Anna Maria Sound called Sportsman’s Harbor, which borders a residential district in Holmes Beach. In the lawsuit, the couple alleges that the kayakers are loud, disruptive and damage their property by constantly grabbing onto and pushing off their dock, seawall and boat. The couple states that they’re concerned that someone could be hurt on their property during one of the tours, making it a liability issue for the private property owners. They also say they must constantly monitor the kayakers when the tours are brought by their home.
In addition, they allege that the nighttime tours feature brightly illuminated kayaks which cause more of a disturbance, along with noise.
The couple is seeking damages of $50,001 along with an injunction to prevent the kayak tours from being conducted in Sportsman’s Harbor.
As of press time for The Sun, the case had no hearing date set, but was assigned to Judge D. Ryan Felix.
In an April 3 email from a Fun Florida Tours representative, an agent with Manatee 311 wrote that navigable waters of the state are not time-restricted for paddlers, with the exception of waters located entirely within a preserve or park property, which in Manatee County are open from sunrise to sunset.
The Fun Florida Tours website lists clear kayak tours during day and nighttime hours, along with a sunset tour, with the nighttime tours featuring kayaks with 10,000-lumen LED lights on the clear kayaks to help view sea life. The website also offers LED paddleboard tours around Anna Maria Island, though paddleboards are not mentioned in the lawsuit.
