County Commission approved Coastal Setback Variance for 168 Beach Road in 2023 after hearing comments from applicant
In November 2023, the Sarasota County Commission voted 3-1 to approve a Coastal Setback Variance for construction of a home on the parcel located at 168 Beach Road on Siesta Key.
Prior boards had denied such petitions, a staff report noted at the time.
Yet, former Florida Senate President Bill Galvano, an attorney with the Grimes Galvano firm in Bradenton, emphasized that the beach had been accreting at a rate of about 18 feet a year since 2001 in the affected area. The property owner’s intent was to build a two-story home over parking that would be about 500 feet landward of the Mean High Water Line, as Galvano noted.
Further, a former Sarasota County environmental division staff member who was part of the applicant’s team — Weiqi Lin, who heads up a Sarasota firm called Port and Coastal Consultants — told the board members, “This parcel has never been submerged in water ever since it was platted in [the 1920s].”
Yet, Howard Berna, manager of the county’s Environmental Permitting Division, showed the commissioners slides dating back to 1948 to illustrate one of the primary points he had made during his remarks to them during the hearing: “There’s been dynamic changes in this part of the beach. Sands come; sands go. There’s no crystal ball that I [can use to] assure you that there will be sands here in the future.”
Then-Commissioner Neil Rainford ended up making the motion to approve the variance, and then-Commissioner Mike Moran seconded it.
Commissioner Ron Cutsinger joined them in the majority. Commissioner Joe Neunder was absent from the hearing.
Commissioner Mark Smith, a long-time Siesta Key architect and resident, cast the “No” vote. Referring to county environmental policies, with which the county’s Environmental Permitting staff said the proposal for construction on the property would be in conflict, Smith added, “The entire site is in a dune habitat.”
If the parcel were designated 100% wetlands, Smith contended, the commissioners would not allow a person to construct a home there. In this case, he added, the applicant will “basically destroy several thousand square feet of dune habitat.”
However, the owner of the property, Rebecca Keiver, had told the commissioners, “I’m hoping I can create a trend in our neighborhood” by encouraging the owners of adjacent structures that are decades old and, therefore, more vulnerable to storm damage, to replace them with modern building code-compliant structures.
Her undertaking, Keiver added, also might encourage other homeowners to keep their parcels instead of selling them to companies interested only in constructing what she called “hotel houses.”
On Nov. 5, a speaker during another hearing on a petition for a Coastal Setback Variance — Mary Smarelli — provided more recent history about the property located at 168 Beach Road.
She was doing so, she told the commissioners, to highlight the potential unintended consequences of their agreeing to the variance that they were considering that day. (It was a facet of a settlement of a federal lawsuit over property rights, which Siesta property owner and businessman Michael Holderness had filed against the county.)
Smarelli explained that she was present for the November 2023 hearing on the petition for the Coastal Setback Variance needed for construction of the home at 168 Beach Road.
“At that meeting, I heard the property owner at the time imploring the commission to approve her variance request under the guise of building a smaller, single-family home, which — presumably — would be more friendly to the environment and to the surrounding natural habitat,” Smarelli said.
“[The owner’s] plea also included the idea that she would hope to encourage other homeowners to keep their parcels instead of selling them to companies interested only in constructing what she referred to as ‘hotel houses,’ ” Smarelli continued.
“Well, fast-forward to now,” Smarelli said: “That owner never commenced building of that house but instead sold the property for three times what she paid for it just a few short years ago. The new owner of that property is Siesta Village Beach Properties LLC, which is part of a much larger organization called Casto Vacation Properties, which is related to a number of other entities, including Unique Vacations, whose signs I’m sure you’ve seen posted on numerous properties in and around Siesta Key.
“Their website boasts of large, high-end vacation rentals catering to large groups of people, including five- to eight-bedroom properties,” Smarelli pointed out. “This is not what I think most people would consider ‘user-friendly’ to the environment and the surrounding eco-system.”
Holderness’ petition, also could lead to unintended consequences, she said. “After all, the petitioner is in the hotel business and, in all likelihood, with your concurrence, might follow the same footsteps as his neighbor.”
Holderness is a partner in the group that owns Siesta Key Beach Resort and Suites in Siesta Village. His company, Siesta Beach Lots LLC, manages a number of vacation rental properties on the barrier island.
Coincidentally, attorney Galvano also represented Holderness during the Nov. 5 hearing.
More than one Siesta sale by Keiver to Casto
On May 20, Siesta Beach Village Properties LLC purchased three parcels on Siesta Key, the records maintained by Sarasota County Property Appraiser Bill Furst and his staff show.
Formally, 168 Beach Road LLC sold its property — for which the County Commission approved the variance in 2023 — to the other limited liability company for $4.5 million. The Florida Division of Corporations shows that Rebecca Keiver was the registered agent for 168 Beach Road LLC and its manager.
As Smarelli had reported, Keiver bought the Beach Road parcel for $1.5 million; that transaction occurred in December 2019, as shown in the Property Appraiser’s Office records.
On Oct. 18, 2025, 168 Beach Road LLC filed papers to declare its voluntary dissolution, the Florida Division of Corporations says.
In response to the form’s line asking for “[a] description of occurrence that resulted in the … dissolution,” the document said, “Underlying asset sold May 2025.”
Keiver signed that document electronically.
When the News Leader looked up Siesta Village Beach Properties LLC in the Division of Corporations’ records, it found that the principal address of that limited liability company is 1144 Tallevast Road in Sarasota. The manager of that company was identified as CVP SRQ LLC, with the same Tallevast Road address.
Next, the News Leader found through the division’s records that the CVP SRQ LLC filing lists Casto Vacation Properties LLC as the manager — again, with the 1144 Tallevast Road address.
Casto’s Florida website lists its address as 5391 Lakewood Ranch Blvd., Suite 100.
The homepage says, “Casto is a multi-faceted real estate organization that provides leasing, commercial acquisitions, commercial dispositions, commercial & residential development, and commercial & residential property management through our Florida real estate office.”
The 168 Beach Road parcel is not the only property that Siesta Village Beach Properties owns, the News Leader learned. Property Appraiser Furst’s website shows two others that it acquired in May, as well:
- 145 Beach Road, which was purchased for $3 million from 145 Beach Road LLC.
- 146 Avenida Veneccia, which the company bought for $1,650,000 from 146 Avenida Veneccia LLC.
Rebecca Keiver also was the manager of 145 Beach Road LLC and 146 Avenida Veneccia LLC, the Florida Division of Corporations says. As with the property located at 168 Beach Road, she dissolved those limited liability companies after she sold the parcels.
With each, the Articles of Dissolution explained, “Underlying asset sold 5/2025,” just like the Articles of Dissolution for 168 Beach Road LLC.
In all three of the documents, Keiver’s address was listed in Tampa. Her LinkedIn account identifies her as the owner of Claims Questions LLC, also known as ROL Insurance Consulting. She has been president of the latter company since January 2000, the account adds.
Further, the News Leader learned from the Division of Corporations that Casto owns a number of other properties on Siesta Key for which it paid more than $1 million in most cases. The following is a partial list:
- 62 Avenida Veneccia.
- 105 Columbus Blvd.
- 329 Beach Road.
- 459 Beach Road.
- 655 Beach Road.
- 5409 Plaza Des Las Palmas.
- 5507 Calle Del Invierno.
- 6525 Sabal Drive.