Prior structure had six boat slips
With no presentation made — and no comments from the public — the Sarasota County Commission voted unanimously on Dec. 18, 2024 to approve the installation of a multi-family dock with nine finger piers at the Turtle Cove condominium complex, which stands at 9000 Midnight Pass Road on Siesta Key.
Formally, the vote was in favor of what county regulations call a Major Work Permit.
The applicant was the homeowners association for Turtle Cove, staff materials showed.
Commissioner Mark Smith made the motion for approval, and Commissioner Ron Cutsinger seconded it.
The item was listed on the agenda as a Presentation Upon Request, a category for board business that is not anticipated to be controversial. No presentation is provided by the applicant or county staff unless a commissioner requests one. However, any members of the public who wish to address the issue typically are allowed the usual time to do so, which is 5 minutes.
The county staff report explained the following details about the proposal:
- “The site had six authorized slips when the community dock facility was removed in 2023 to accommodate a seawall repair …” The homeowners association was seeking to reconfigure the piers, so the total would be seven slips. A “maximum of five slips is allowable under a staff-administered Minor Work Permit.”
- The proposed multi-family dock would comprise 4,292 square feet, while a maximum of 1,970 square feet is allowable under a staff-administered Minor Work Permit. The previous permit allowed for 3,252 square feet.
- The proposed plans for seven slips are consistent with the Manatee Protection Plan “in that it is considered an existing facility …” Manatee protection stipulations were included in the resolution that the commissioners approved.
- No docks have been on the property since 2023.
The staff report pointed out that the original multi-family dock located at 9000 Midnight Pass road was constructed before 1985, after county staff in 1982 issued a Minor Work Permit for the project. The facility had six boat slips, the report noted.
“Between 1995 and 2001,” the report continued, one pier was removed. “After the most recent seawall repair in 2023,” the report added, the remaining dock was in disrepair, so it was removed.
The Turtle Cove Condominium Association shoreline is approximately 197 feet long, entirely comprising a concrete bulkhead that faces Blind Pass Lagoon, the report said. “No native shoreline vegetation or nuisance vegetation is present,” the report noted.
The finger piers will extend 25 feet into Blind Pass Lagoon, the report pointed out, with four additional mooring pilings planned 29 feet into the lagoon. “The prior dock finger piers extended 25.6 feet [into the lagoon],” the report said, “and the remaining mooring pilings extended 31.6 feet from the seawall.”
Blind Pass Park, which is on the opposite shoreline, has two public boat ramps and four associated docks, the report noted.
More than 200 feet “of open water allows for navigation between the proposed multi-family dock facility” and the public boat ramps at Blind Pass Park, the report said. “Staff determined water depths within the proposed mooring areas to be sufficient for the use of motorized vessels with lengths not exceeding 25 feet,” the report continued. Vessel draft should be limited to a maximum of 2 feet, to maintain the required 1-foot clearance over the submerged bottom, the report pointed out.
The condominium complex has seven units and a swimming pool, the report added.