ANNA MARIA – Building Department General Manager Dean Jones is leading the city’s efforts to join Holmes Beach, Bradenton Beach and Longboat Key in adopting and self-enforcing local mangrove regulations.
The multi-municipality regulatory efforts were first discussed during the April 17 Coalition of Barrier Island Elected Officials (CBIEO) meeting in Longboat Key. During that meeting, Anna Maria Mayor Dan Murphy proposed that the four barrier island municipalities work together to establish a local mangrove regulation program that would supersede the regulations currently enacted and enforced by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP).
Jones also attended the meeting and on April 25, at Murphy’s request, he provided the Anna Maria City Commission with an overview of the mangrove regulation and enforcement efforts to be pursued.
Jones’ presentation referenced a much-publicized mangrove removal event that occurred in late 2023 at a canal-side home at 111 Gull Drive in Anna Maria. The presentation included photos of the property before and after the mangroves were removed to make way for a new seawall.
“Part of what brought this process about was the fact that mangroves had been destroyed by a homeowner from out of state that felt they needed a seawall and didn’t really understand how important mangroves are to our ecosystem,” Jones said.
Another presentation slide listed the five Florida counties, one Florida city and one Florida town that have enacted their own local mangrove regulation and enforcement programs since 1996. Jones said of those seven, only Sarasota County’s mangrove program remains active.
Commissioner Charlie Salem asked Jones why the other mangrove enforcement programs faded away.
Jones said some people he spoke with didn’t even know who started their local mangrove programs and whether they ended due to a lack of resources or a lack of interest.
“The good thing is DEP will allow us to enforce our own mangrove ordinances, but we have to make sure we have the resources to do so,” Jones said.
Jones said he’ll be working in unison with Holmes Beach Planning and Zoning Administrator Chad Minor, Bradenton Beach Building Official Darin Cushing and Longboat Key Planning, Zoning and Building Director Allen Parsons.
Regarding FDEP requirements for local mangrove enforcement, one presentation slide said, “To receive delegation, a local government must demonstrate that it has sufficient resources and procedures for the adequate administration and enforcement of a delegated mangrove-regulatory program. This does not preclude a delegated local government from imposing stricter substantive standards or more demanding procedural requirements for mangrove trimming or alteration outside of riparian mangrove fringe areas.”
The presentation listed several next steps to be taken. Interlocal agreements must be established with all four participating municipalities and uniform guidelines must be adopted to provide continuity regarding administration and enforcement, including the fines and penalties levied on violators.
The municipalities must meet educational requirements and administrative guidelines and enforcement and communication protocols must be developed between the four municipalities to help intercept possible violations before they occur, or in the early stages of the occurrence.
“We need to have continuity across all the cities if we’re going to make this work,” Jones said. “Mangroves are a huge part of our ecosystem. When we remove them, bad things happen. The water gets worse and the wildlife goes away. We have the ability to protect our mangroves locally. We don’t have to let what happened at 111 Gull happen again. We can have some control over it.”
After noting that he also attended the CBIEO meeting, Salem thanked Murphy for his leadership and he suggested gathering more information about Sarasota County’s mangrove regulations and enforcement efforts.
During public input, Anna Maria resident Wayne Patterson thanked Jones and said, “I live right around the corner from that last decimated mangrove effort.” He asked how the city regulates mangroves in conjunction with property owners’ desire to install seawalls.
Commissioner Mark Short noted the city commission adopted a seawall ordinance a couple of years ago that states any new seawall installed must be installed landward of any mangroves that border the property – and doing so doesn’t reduce the total lot coverage allowed.
Patterson noted that didn’t happen at 111 Gull.
“They were removed before the permit for the seawall was applied for,” Short said. “Currently the city has no remedies. We always thought DEP would be the ones to remedy the situation. In my opinion, they’re not doing their job.”
Murphy then said, “At 111 Gull he had a permit from DEP. He did not have a seawall permit yet, but he had a permit to pull out all those mangroves. That’s what we’re trying to do here to preclude that from happening again. Otherwise, it’s going to keep happening,” Murphy said.
“Until we have local control,” Jones added.
Salem then said, “Because DEP doesn’t recognize man-made canals as part of this protection, that’s why they were allowed to remove those mangroves. We would be able to prohibit that kind of removal in those man-made canals.”
When asked what happens if one or more of the barrier island municipalities can’t agree on the mangrove regulations and enforcement measures later proposed, Murphy said, “We move right on. We need to get something done. In that meeting there was a pretty thorough understanding of what we needed to do and why we needed to do it. If somebody decides to back out, they’re on their own and the other cities will move forward.”
PAST PRESENTATION
This is not the first time the city of Anna Maria has inquired about establishing a local mangrove enforcement program. In 2020, FDEP representative Hannah Westervelt and the Anna Maria Commission participated in a mangrove trimming workshop.
During the workshop, Westervelt said, “Any local government can get the delegation of authority to regulate trimming and alteration of mangroves, but a local agency has to demonstrate they have the resources and the procedures in place. To establish that local program, you have to submit a written request for delegation to the department.”
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