BRADENTON – The horses ridden in the waters off the side of the Palma Sola Scenic Highway made their way back onto the agenda for the Corridor Management Entity’s April meeting and were a point of contention among members and the people who gathered in person and online for the meeting.
The conversation that began as lively soon became acrimonious as people on both sides of the issue attempted to argue their point to either keep the horse riding in Palma Sola Bay going or remove the horses.
The co-chair of the committee, Craig Keys, interrupted the debate several times to remind all those gathered that the CME has no jurisdiction over whether horse riding can continue or be banned from the causeway. He added that the group is not even an advisory committee to any governing body.
The group’s primary purpose is beautification and maintenance of the side of the roadway along the designated scenic highway, currently from 75th Street in Bradenton west along Manatee Avenue to the intersection with East Bay Drive in Holmes Beach. There is an application being submitted by the group to the Florida Department of Transportation to extend the Palma Sola Scenic Highway to the end of Manatee Avenue at Manatee Beach and to the north from East Bay Drive to the Holmes Beach city border with Bradenton Beach.
Some members of the CME and the public made the argument that the horses are a danger to the public by blocking access to sidewalks and preventing multi-modal transportation through the area on the northeast side of the causeway. There also were environmental concerns such as horse excrement in the water, damage to seagrasses and damage to trees due to tying the horses to palm trees along the sidewalks.
Representatives from Beach Horses, C Ponies and other supporters of horse riding on the causeway said the horses do not adversely affect the environment. Carmen Hanson, of C Ponies, suggested horse-riding operators be allowed to install hitching posts for their personal use along the causeway at their own expense to alleviate the issue of damaging trees to which the horses are tied.
Co-chair Ingrid McClellan said one of the objectives of the CME is to maintain a pet-friendly recreational area along the causeway, including users with horses. She said that along the causeway, different types of users have different areas where they can enjoy their favorite recreational activities, from horse riding to biking, use of small watercraft and swimming, among others.
McClellan said the city of Bradenton has legal jurisdiction over the causeway beach and members of the Bradenton City Council had, in late 2020, instructed their attorney, Scott Rudacille, to investigate what their options are, if any, concerning the horse-riding operations on the causeway. As of press time for The Sun, an update had not been placed on the city’s council’s agenda for discussion.
Keys encouraged everyone with concerns about the horses to contact their elected officials, including city council members and county commissioners, to discuss their issues.
In other business, Darryl Richard said he would work with FDOT and Manatee County to address erosion along the causeway beaches before other members of the CME worked to restore bollards knocked over along the corridor by tidal waters and vehicles.
McClellan said it was back to the drawing board for Manatee County representatives trying to create a plan to revitalize Kingfish Boat Ramp in Holmes Beach. She said the group working on the project hit a roadblock with the landscaping plans and is starting the design work over from scratch before resubmitting plans for permits from FDOT. Richard, the CME’s representative from FDOT, said the plans are not yet ready for official permit review by the department.
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