October 29th , 2023
Sarasota county government,
We wanted to reach out in appreciation for your delay in action on the proposed amendment to chapter ninety article two of your county code. We appreciate the comments from the commission, parks director and the county admin on this nuanced issue.
While we are disappointed our board member Charlie Howell, who was in attendance and filled out a card, was unable to actually speak due to some familial commitments that pulled him away. He was able to talk with some fellow captains and folks in attendance and get more insight and info to bring back to our board. It was great to have a recording of the meeting we could all watch and review as well.
We are keenly aware of Commissioner Nuender and Chairman Cutsinger’s opinions of operating a commercial business from county property and how it currently is considered non-permissible. However, we appreciated the discussion on how becoming compliant completely with an abutting lease in the marine park district is nearly impossible and would cut ‘90% of your captains out of business’ per commissioner Rainford.
We feel that this presents a big issue in the county, and we feel there are three necessary steps forward to address:
- Amending county code Section 90-33 to allow for permitted uses by the county without the requirement for an abutting lease agreement to operate legally in the marine park district
- Set up a permitting or license program to allow for operations in county areas with proper information provided and permitting properly completed by operators
- You can set a control date to ensure your staff can identify current operators and then use them as the test case.
- This will increase revenue and allow the county to collect the TDTs brought up by Commissioner Nuender & staff.
- This allows for a path forward in cooperation of all the commissioner’s concerns and legal concerns from county staff.
- The county then should work towards identifying, procuring, and building more water way access and preserving what is currently available.
Sincerely,
Capt Dylan Hubbard
President
