Manasota Key residents try to clean up overlay code, with unintended consequences

Eager to hold on to a unique island ambience, residents and members of an advisory committee tried to clean up the local zoning ordinance.

In its place, they crafted one that would free the area of noisy construction pile driving, among other things.  But what began as an effort to reorganize existing codes has turned into a substantially changed ordinance that goes against the will of the people, members of the Manasota and Sandpiper Key Advisory Committee agreed Wednesday.

More than two dozen in attendance voiced frustration when two Charlotte County attorneys, scheduled to offer guidance in drafting a more usable, enforceable ordinance, failed to show up due to a conflict.  Two other county employees, Roxann Read and Inga Williams with the county's growth management department, attended the meeting.

At issue were three versions of the overlay code: the existing one; a new one submitted by the committee on July 15 as a recommended final draft and a draft by the county staff and attorneys, dated Aug. 28.

Committee members and residents were particularly galled by one omission to the attorney's draft in which allowances for setting pilings simply disappeared.  In the resident-recommended ordinance, pilings must be augured into the ground in a manner that reduces noise and vibration.  The traditional practice of driving pilings into the ground is prohibited, unless they are installed on submerged lands. 

The county-generated version, which omitted pile-driving, had no regard for the thoughts and feelings of residents hoping to preserve the uniqueness of the islands, said committee member Randy Dahl.  "The deletions and changes were a diss for the residents and homeowners on Manasota Key," Dahl said.   "The elimination made it almost easier for builders and developers to attack Manasota Key."

Some called the pilings issue a noise-ordinance issue.  Others said it was a quality-of-life issue.  Based on their experience living on the key, all agreed the pounding associated with pile driving damages neighboring
buildings.  Auguring, a quieter, less-vibratory option, involves drilling into the ground, then filling the hole with cement.

"We have tourists.  We have residents.  When people have to put up with the pounding, they won't come back," said committee secretary Betty Sue Carroll, referring to the pilings. 

"It'll drive you bananas."  Committee Chair B.J. Galberaith identified pile driving as the most important issue facing residents.  "We need an ordinance," Galberaith said. "We need to change our code so it is an ordinance.  We have a document that is read by builders and developers and county staff. If it's not written in our overlay, then no one is going to abide by it."

Roxann Read, a planner who acts as liaison between the county's growth management department and the committee, said some of the issues the committee is dealing with, including pile driving, are not really zoning matters but building code issues which don't belong in overlay code.  And Florida building codes cannot be changed.  "From a legal standpoint, this is something unenforceable in a zoning code," Read said.  "Where can we put it so it's in the right place?"

Apparently, only the lawyers know.

Percy Angelo, who is running for the Charlotte County Commission District 3 seat, worked on a recent waterfront ordinance dubbed the Coastal Compromise.  The underlying problem on the overlay code, she said, is lack of guidance.  "Where is the direction coming from?" she asked.  "You have to recognize that a lot of things are just opinions.  It doesn't mean it's the final word.  I don't think the county should be changing direction on you."

Another committee meeting is scheduled for Oct. 1 with the county lawyers.

By Dana Sanchez, Englewood Assistant Editor