Siesta Key Association Board Meeting Minutes

September 4, 2008
St. Boniface Meeting Room “F”

CALL TO ORDER: Lourdes Ramirez called the meeting to order.

MINUTES – Joyce Kouba: August minutes were not available.

TREASURER'S REPORT – Bob Tripp: The Treasurer's Report was accepted for audit.

SHERIFF'S REPORT – Sgt. Osborne: Smeed's Pizza's windows were smashed, possibly due to a dispute between 2 businesses. Vehicle burglaries occurred at beach accesses; a car was stolen at beach access 7. The noise level is down in the village. Sheriff is checking every night and levels are in compliance. Parking complaints have been addressed. Beaches took a big hit from storms, especially Beach Rd. access 3 area and Turtle Beach. At Turtle Beach/Blind Pass Rd. soft sand is down to 8 ft. and access is a problem.

LIFEGUARD REPORT – JR Ayers: The month of August saw a decrease in attendance on all of our beaches, increased temperatures, and long hot days. All beaches and Lifeguards were extremely busy Labor Day weekend due to the storm passing through the Gulf of Mexico.

GUEST SPEAKER – Rick Shriner, Save Our Sands:

Big Pass Inlet Management Plan. Three separate scientists are independently reviewing the report due in November/December to the BCC. Robert Dean, eminent scientist in Florida, is one of reviewers. SOS asks SKA to work with them to protect beaches and sand. They have collected reams of data and will share with us.

PUBLIC/AUDIENCE COMMENT: None.

AD HOC COMMITTEE REPORTS:

Midnight Pass – Bob Waechter: Permit application deemed officially complete today by state DEP. They have 90 days starting today to make a decision.

Turtle Beach – Ron Flynn: Severe erosion (25 to 35 yds.) at main beach park from storms that were far out in Gulf. Old Solomon house site has severe beach erosion south of Turtle Beach Park. The dunes are scalloped and poles washed into Gulf. Poles should be removed now to avoid damage. 6 ft. poles are only 2 ft. in ground and the dunes don't need pole protection anymore. North Casey Key sand erosion was severe after storm. Ed Sherman, Turtle Beach resident, spoke again for removal of poles. Sherman said that state representative agreed with him and told the County to remove poles, but State has no authority to enforce.

Inlet Management – Peter van Roekens: All markers are in place in Big Pass. Recommendation is to reduce the width of the marked channel. http://www.sarasotayachtclub.org/fw/main/Big_Pass_Information-405.html Truitt Study and peer review have been completed and will be announced to BCC in November.

Noise – Peter van Roekens: The sheriffs have been doing extensive late night patrols, which has bar owners promising to comply. Non-compliance will be warned again and cited. You know when one bar owner complains about another, it is much too loud. As President of Terrace East, I get complaints from those in the building when noise gets out of hand. These people do not want their names to be listed in the sheriffs' records, as they want to remain anonymous, which often does not happen.

Our sound ordinance was negotiated with the bar owners and although it was over twice as high as recommended by the sound expert that worked on the Blue ribbon panel for the city, it is our law. But enforcement is the key. When the ordinance says 80 decibels for a given business and they are playing at 90 decibels that is 2 times as loud as is legal and 4 times what the experts recommended. Anything over 80-85 decibels is considered dangerous; permanent hearing loss can occur depending on the intensity and duration of exposure. This is not a case of strains of music wafting pleasantly into residents' consciousness. It is a deep thumping bass that goes through their bodies and prevents sleep although windows are shut and curtains are drawn.

Code Enforcement – Gayle Wardner: No report.

Parking – Bob Schennum: Angled parking proposed for rental area around village, not on Ocean Blvd. The current ordinance allows 1 parking space per 250 sq. ft. of customer area. The proposed ordinance change is 1 space per 3 dining seats. Village merchants are most concerned about how many spaces will be required. M. Smith measured area restaurants and found 250 sq. ft. houses an average of 24 seats, so 8 spaces would be required for 250 sq. ft. They are trying to find a compromise for far less than 8.

STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS:

Nominating/Board Development – Paul van Deventer: No report.

Zoning – Lourdes Ramirez:

Coastal Code GBSL – next meeting 10/28, 9am at RL Anderson in Venice. The next draft of the Coastal Code is available (ftp://ftp.scgov.net/Pub/ResourceProtection/Coastal_Setback).

Siesta Key Parking – Planning Commission review postponed until October; to BCC in November. The County will give the Village merchants time to make their recommendations. The County will also give SKA an opportunity to comment.

Zoning Code update – Will be heard at the BCC on Tuesday, Sept 9. Comments already submitted today. SKA concerned about habitable space over garages, street vendors and temporary use permits, density transfer between districts proposed by developer, commercial truck sizes permitted in neighborhoods.

Hyatt – The County is looking into their beach concerts. The County thought there were only private parties but anything that involves the public may need a temporary use permit plus be limited to 4 events per year. Regarding Cantina and Bar- letter from their attorney says they do NOT plan to do it but they are still advertising it.

Also the County is looking at the advertised Cantina and tiki bar. None are in the plans so it will just be monitored.

Hub – no update yet.

Membership – Deet Jonker: No report.

OLD BUSINESS: None.

NEW BUSINESS: 1) New 2009 SKA member survey will be submitted to directors for comments. 2) Open House Sept. 16, 5:00 to 7:00 at St. Boniface for County Beach Drainage Project. 3) Coastal Clean-up – Sept. 20, Sat. Call 861-5000 for details.

ADJOURN – The meeting was adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,
Joyce Kouba
Secretary, Siesta Key Association

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Previous Board Minutes (August 2008)
Next Board Minutes (October 2008)

For more information, please contact us
phone 941/364-4880
email info@siestakeyassociation.com