BRADENTON BEACH – Local history was made Monday afternoon when Jack Clarke was sworn in as mayor.

Clarke became the first Island resident and politician to replace a sitting mayor removed from office by city voters, which occurred during the May 19 recall election that ended Bill Shearon’s term as mayor six months early.

More than 40 witnesses and well-wishers gathered inside Bradenton Beach City Hall to watch attorney Stephen Perry swear Clarke in as the new mayor. Clarke will serve as mayor until the November city elections, when he and Shearon run against each other once again.

After being sworn in, an emotional Clarke thanked his wife Karen, the city staff and employees, the local merchants and business community and all those who supported his successful campaign.

“This is not an opportunity to settle scores, as some have suggested to me,” he said. “We’ve prevailed with a clear victory. However, a substantial number of voters apparently lack confidence in my abilities. It is my hope that these citizens will work together for a better Bradenton Beach. This administration will demonstrate going forward that my reelection in November is the right direction for the city to take.”

After the ceremony, Clarke was asked how it felt to be the mayor.

“I feel like the first part of the journey is complete and from this day forward we’re going to work to make Bradenton Beach a better place,” he said.

That work will continue during Thursday night’s commission meeting when Clarke will nominate former Mayor John Shaughnessy to fill his vacated ward 1 commission seat.

With the commission’s blessing, Clarke will also remove the pro tempore (temporary) status from Terri Sanclemente’s job title and officially appoint her as the city clerk.

His immediate to-do list will also include oversight of the efforts to find a new pier tenant or tenants and working with the commission and City Treasurer Sheila Dalton to create the 2016 fiscal year budget.

Rental property owners and agents have reacted to the vacation rental ordinance with a lawsuit. Five rental owners and LLC corporations joined Island Real Estate and the Anna Maria Island Vacation Property Association in challenging the new vacation rental ordinance, claiming it singles out rental owners and managers from single-family homeowners, which is prohibited by state law.

The suit was filed on May 22 by Timothy J. and Ayne Kimberly Iafolla, who own property at 12108 Gulf Drive and 207 Coconut Avenue; Carol A. Roaldi, who owns property at 11 Palm Ave. and 220 Chilson Ave.; Salouh, LLC, which owns property at 106 Los Cedros Drive; Rysal Enterprises, LLC, which owns property at 812 North Shore Drive and is closing on two properties at 843 North Shore Drive and 113 Park Avenue; Seven Emeralds, LLC, located at 803 North Shore Drive and owns rentals at 780 Jacaranda Road, and 404 Alamanda Road.; Island Real Estate; and Anna Maria Island Vacation Property Association, a group of rental managers that banded together to protect their rights to do business.

The plaintiffs are challenging the city’s new vacation rental ordinance on the grounds that it sets restrictions on homes used for vacation rentals in violation of a state statute that makes it illegal for cities or counties to treat rental properties different than owner-occupied properties.

The suit states that the ordinance contains a number of “burdensome and expensive requirements on owners and agents.” The suit asks for a declaratory judgment for equal protection of rental property owners and managers.

Mayor Dan Murphy had no comment on the suit because it is pending.

ANNA MARIA – Mayor Dan Murphy is making use of volunteers to help make decisions on how best to implement change.

Dusty Crane, who served on the City Pier Park Committee, will be asked to come up with recommendations on paid parking. Her husband, Jonathon Crane, is the chair of the Planning and Zoning Committee.

The committee studied whether to keep the land or sell it and opted to keep it since it is adjacent to the Anna Maria City Pier entrance. They drew up plans for the park but recommended a bare bones look for the six city lots and left the city commission with a list of ideas that came from people they interviewed that could be implemented over time. The commission approved the plan unanimously.

In other action, the commission approved a development permit for the Anna Maria Island Community Center, listing the City of Anna Maria as the owner, which it is. The permit describes the work to be done as taking down rooms in the first floor and replacing them with a larger children’s area and administrative offices. The work to be done was estimated at $3,500 and Beach to Bay Construction, owned by builder and Community Center Board Member Shawn Kaleta, would do the work.

The commission approved it.

They also approved a request from the mayor to purchase an electric golf cart for code enforcement with the funds coming from the money paid by the builder of the cell phone tower. He said they would repay that money from code enforcement fines. The vehicle he chose costs $14,124.

Murphy said he has chosen more part-time code enforcement officers to take care of infractions on weekends and during holidays.

“I have 13 people to do the job and nine of them are city employees who know the territory and they could use comp time when they work on enforcement,” Murphy said. “The other four are residents of the Island and two live in Anna Maria. They will be trained and certified by Wednesday, (June 3) and we’ll have some boots on the ground by the weekend.”

The city is looking to collect more money on traffic tickets, but the rate of fines paid has been low.

“I have revised the warnings that the city sends to drivers who don’t pay their parking ticket fines,” he said. “I made the language stronger and I am looking for a new, more aggressive collection agency.”

Murphy is also looking to get some of the matching funds the Tourist Development Council set aside for the Pier Park project.

Finally, they held a work session after the formal meeting to discuss the vacation rental ordinance, which was approved April 9. They want to limit the number of guests to eight per property, and drop the two person per bedroom limit.

Commissioner Carol Carter wants to set standards for bungalows to encourage people to keep their older homes. Commission Chair Chuck Webb is concerned about more people in the bungalows. Commissioner Doug Copeland said the limit should apply to lots. Webb wants to apply parking limits first, then number of tenants. They are expected to discuss it further at another work session.

BRADENTON – Elissa Alvarez was freed from jail on Wednesday, May 27, after being sentenced to time served, $100 in court costs and $200 in costs to the Bradenton Beach Police Department in the “sex on the beach” case that occurred July 20, 2014, on Cortez Beach. She will also be classified as a sex offender and will have to register with the program whenever she moves.

After hearing testimony from witnesses and people who had children who saw the act, a jury found Alvarez, 20, and Jose Caballero, 40, guilty of having intercourse in front of children, including a three-year-old.

The conviction carried a penalty of up to 15 years in prison, but at a hearing to set a sentencing date Wednesday, Alvarez’ new attorney Greg Hagopian said she would accept the State Attorney’s office recommendation of time served and expenses. She was returned to the jail where she packed and went home.

Hagopian said Alvarez had been living a nightmare since their arrest.

“She’s a 20-year-old lady who made some poor choices,” he said. “She never intended for this to hurt anybody, for any children to be involved and now she has to live with this the rest of her life.”

Hagopian said they would look into appealing her sex offender status in the future.

Caballero, who spent four years in prison for drug trafficking, will be sentenced at a hearing July 6. He is expected to get some jail time although the State Attorney’s Office is recommending no more that 2 1/2 years. Caballero would also be added to the sex offender list, according to Assistant State Attorney Anthony DeFonseca.

HOLMES BEACH – Mayor Bob Johnson and Building Official Jim McGuinness gave a progress report on the building department as requested several times recently by commissioners and constituents. Johnson displayed charts showing major construction activity over the last 10 years, as well as numbers of permits and inspections in the past year. He said from 2005 to 2011 the city averaged 34 major construction projects but since then the average has jumped to 52. At the same time, the number of permits and inspections has increased greatly.

“That change occurred at the same time there was instability in the department,” he pointed out. “Jim joined us 65 days ago, and I’d like him to report on what he has uncovered and the actions to take.”

Four critical areas

McGuinness said he identified four critical areas for improvement.

• Procedure – The staff needs additional education and training as to the Florida Building Code, Chapter One, Administration.

He said, “Procedural errors have occurred in permit processing and plans review process resulting in confusion and a perception of department inconsistency for both the contracting community and the inquiring public.”

The solution is to train staff “in the correct procedure and required criteria for the processing of building permit applications and plans reviews per the Florida Building Code.”

• Documentation – Lack of documentation in the permitting and plans review process is a significant deficiency in the department and a liability to the city. He stressed that no more verbal comments would be allowed.

The solution is to “train staff in the proper and timely handling of permit applications and subsequent submittals/revisions” and “the preparation of professional written plan review comments.”

• Staffing and technical expertise/licensure – There is insufficient staff to support the growing work load and the lack of state licensure in the building inspection and plans examiner categories;

The solution is to hire state licensed building inspectors and plans examiners.

• Excessive plans review/application review time periods – Plans review and permit application turnaround is not timely and takes far too long.

The solution is to create timeline spreadsheets for tracking major and minor building permits and plans in review.

Long-term commitment

“Many of the above conditions are a result of a historical lack of committed long-term leadership in the department,” he concluded. “When I took this job, I made a long term commitment to this city.

“I reaffirm this commitment and have begun and will continue to put in place the procedures and policies to raise the levels of service and professionalism of the building department to that which the citizens of Holmes Beach deserve.”

HOLMES BEACH – With a title that takes up an entire page, the city’s pool ordinance is ready for first reading at the city commission meeting on Tuesday, June 9.

The ordinance is the result of a city-wide moratorium approved in March on swimming pools with less than 10-foot side and rear yard setbacks, with waterfront rear and side yards excluded. The debate later included the questions of whether pools are pervious or impervious surfaces and what types of pools to regulate.

The ordinance now includes all types of pools as well as hot tubs/spas and recreational water features; declares pools as impervious surfaces; and allows for a special exception for legally non-conforming lots in the R-2 and R-4 zoning districts that can’t meet an increased setback.

Prior to the discussion, City Planner Bill Brisson gave commissioners a list of seven regulatory alternatives and the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Commissioner Jean Peelen thanked Brisson for a “clear, concise, well written document,” but said she had some confusion on which sections included all pools and which ones included pools for resort housing. Brisson said he would try to clarify those sections.

Commission questions

Chair Judy Titsworth asked if a homeowner installed a hot tub in violation of the ordinance after the house received a CO (certificate of occupancy), could the city make the owner remove it. She was speaking of the provision that states, “No recreational water features shall be located anywhere except on the ground floor.”

Brisson said it could, and City Attorney Patricia Petruff added, “If we have a code that prohibits those types of accessories from being on any floor but the ground floor, I think it’s enforceable, but it may be problematic to find them.”

Titsworth said banning diving boards and water slides hurts residents and asked if they could put a prohibition on rental certificates. Petruff said no, but they could leave the current provision that states slides must be 6 feet or less.

Titsworth asked if pools were counted in the impervious coverage calculations, would it make some properties unable to have pools?

“It’s a perfect storm that you would have an existing house on a conforming lot of record that has used up its entire 40 percent coverage capacity,” Petruff replied. “I’m not sure we have that many of those.

“The existing houses that have been here for a long time were not built anywhere close to their 40 percent coverage. The new houses that have been built in the last decade, I’m going to guess that 95 percent of them put in a pool when they were reconstructed.”

Brisson said he could write a special exception to address that situation.

Petruff asked for some clarification on language to ensure that if hot tubs are on the ground floor they must be inside the building. Building Official Jim McGuinness suggested adding, “with the exception of interior water features located within the building envelope.”

“It’s really sad,” Titsworth remarked. “We’re becoming a condo association. No slides, no hot tubs.”

HOLMES BEACH – With two on the fence and one absent, city commissioners made no decision on whether to allow one or two pools on duplex lots.

The issue has been under discussion since the board approved a moratorium on two pools on duplex lots to be effective from April 14 to July 31.

Two residents again spoke against allowing two pools. Marge Motzer said the current duplex lots that have units being identified and sold as single-family units are creating land, density and quality of life issues.

“It is a density issue because a pool is now being allowed on approximately 4,300 square feet instead of 7,500 square feet (the size of a single-family lot),” she said.

“It is quality of life issue, partially because you cannot address the issue of pools today without consideration for the associated slides, hot tubs, fountains, pool tables, ping pong tables and so on.”

She asked commissioners to “reinforce the one pool per lot concept” in order to “help maintain the intended character of our city as outlined in our comprehensive plan.”

Kim Rash sent a statement to be read into the record and said that the homes being built on duplex lots are “mini motels with no common ground as the duplex that I own requires.

“We don’t need two pools per duplex lot. The people who want them just want to continue the party house theme. One pool per lot. Is that our code now? Then what is the discussion about? A duplex is one lot.”

Sharing views

City Planner Bill Brisson said he is trying to determine how many duplexes in the city have two pools, but he doesn’t have that number yet.

“If you walk around, you know there’s two pools per lot on every rental you can pick,” Commissioner Carol Soustek stressed. “A lot of them are very small.

“You’re not building an atmosphere for families to come and relax by the pool in a neighborhood. You’re building it because the resort industry demands this accessory for their rentals.”

Chair Judy Titsworth said she is concerned owners might build one large pool and asked, “Are two tiny pools with proper landscaping better? A family with small kids probably doesn’t want to share a pool. I’m still on the fence.”

Commissioner Jean Peelen said, “I’m also on the fence. I have a lot of sympathy with residents in traditional places that have been waiting to put in a pool. I also have a lot of sympathy with people who say there’s a lot more noise with a rental pool.”

Brisson pointed out that if they limit the number of bedrooms in a vacation rental, they won’t have the same problem and added, “You won’t have 16 people on a side anymore; you’ll have six to eight.”

Splitting duplex lots

Soustek asked Petruff how the practice of splitting duplex lots started.

Petruff said in the late 1980s and 1990s, a number of real estate agents began selling half of unified duplexes because there was no prohibition against it. However, when the city learned of the practice, it was stopped.

“Then many of these lots have been put in condominium ownership and sold, but unfortunately many of those have not kept up with their responsibilities as condominiums,” Petruff continued.

“The mayor and I have been discussing a procedure to try to deal with that. If you have a condo, you should follow the regulations for condos.”

She said condo ownership is a form of ownership and has nothing to do with zoning regulations.

Titsworth said the owners of the large lot next to her “didn’t have enough frontage to legally divide the lot, but they had enough square feet, so they made a land condo and put two single family homes on it.”

Petruff said the city allows more than one house on a lot if the lot is large enough and said they could take that language out of the code.