Staff research at board’s request produces two primary options
Almost exactly two weeks after South Lido Key residents again addressed the issue with them, the Sarasota County commissioners on Oct. 21 are scheduled to discuss proposed new regulations regarding motorized watercraft in the vicinity of Ted Sperling Park on South Lido.
During discussion of Item No. 28 on the board’s Oct. 21 agenda, staff of the county’s Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Department (PRNR) will seek commission direction on potential restrictions and then ask the board to authorize the scheduling of a public hearing on the proposed amendments to county ordinances.
A PowerPoint presentation in the agenda packet indicates that county staff also will address possible action regarding safety in county parks, as well complaints that the commissioners and staff have received in recent years about loud music and noise emanating from Sperling Park. One slide says staff could evaluate “possible ordinance amendments associated with restrictions on amplified sound within our parks and/or beaches.”
During the regular commission meeting conducted on Oct. 8, South Lido residents Celine O’Connor and Dave Rayner once again urged the board members to take steps to improve public safety in the park and its environs, especially in regard to use of jet skis.
“It’s a very unique situation,” O’Connor noted of Sperling Park, as it is owned by the county, but it is within the Sarasota city limits. “Many, many complications,” she stressed, have resulted from that.
Noting County Commission direction to staff to research regulations regarding activities at the park that residents have cited as threats to swimmers, kayakers and the environment, O’Connor added, “This is an enormous opportunity to address years of complaints.”
Moreover, O’Connor pointed out, “Loud speakers are so loud residents can hear beach music inside condos several buildings up from the park.” A number of the speakers are situated in vehicles, she noted, while others are on the ground. Some people, O’Connor added, “actually bring their own power supplies” for the equipment, instead of connecting the speakers to county outlets.
She thanked Commissioner Mark Smith for his work to resolve the issues, and she expressed appreciation for county staff’s efforts to craft ordinance revisions to ameliorate the problems.
“Residents respectfully also ask [you] to review, expand and strengthen” the county’s interlocal agreement with the City of Sarasota in regard to handling enforcement of regulations on South Lido, O’Connor continued.
“Major gaps” in that agreement need review, she said.
Then Dave Rayner told the commissioners that he had decided to attend the meeting that day to support their efforts “to create well-defined county regulations” for the park. He referenced a “board assignment” for staff earlier this year, which resulted in an April report on potential measures to deal with the park problems.
Rayner also brought up the June 15 death of Luis Guevara, a Baltimore Orioles Minor League player, who had been operating a jet ski offshore of South Lido. “It is alleged that he rented the jet ski on Lido Key,” Rayner noted.
Witnesses told 911 operators that Guevara was alone on a jet ski while he was struck by another jet ski.
(The Sarasota City Commission also has discussed illegal jet ski rentals at city facilities, including the 10th Street Boat Ramp.)
Additionally, Rayner told the commissioners that he recently had received material in the mail from Mote Marine Laboratory, which identified the area “from mid-Siesta Key to mid-Longboat Key … as a sea turtle protection zone.”
Mote referenced boat-struck sea turtles, Rayner added.
“It’s just the ‘Wild West’ out there,” he noted of Sperling Park and the waters offshore of the facility. Yet, he reiterated, Mote Marine ‘has asked us all to go slow [in that area].” He found that “kind of a sad irony,” Rayner added.
‘Hazards to park visitors’
A county staff memo prepared for the Oct. 21 agenda item explains that Ted Sperling Park, which spans more than 150 acres, “consists of two main areas with separate entrances: Ted Sperling Nature Park and South Lido Beach (SLB). The South Lido Beach area is located at the meeting point of the waters of the Gulf, Big Sarasota Pass, Sarasota Bay and Brushy Bayou, creating a dynamic area with strong currents,” the memo points out.
“Due to the strong currents from these converging waters, SLB is not designated as a swimming or bathing area,” the memo continues. “However, the waters along the bayside of the park are very popular for motorized and non-motorized boating activities and at times, the level of watercraft and motorboat activity and anchoring or mooring in the vicinity of the park can pose hazards to park visitors and other boaters.”
Then the memo notes that, during their regular meeting on March 26, the county commissioners “requested a board assignment related to researching prohibitions and restrictions at SLB related to motorized watercraft compared to other County beaches. Staff prepared a report which included different options for an ordinance amendment and additional considerations related to the regulation of motorboats and watercraft at SLB.”
Next, the memo points out, during their regular meeting on July 8, the commissioners directed staff “to evaluate and bring forward a proposed amendment to Sarasota County Ordinance 130, to include a prohibition on anchoring or mooring motorboats within 300 feet of South Lido Beach Park unless otherwise permitted. Staff should coordinate with County Attorney’s Office to draft language to provide and recommendations to the Board for consideration.”
As a result, Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources staff “coordinated with the Office of the County Attorney (OCA) and law enforcement agencies to draft three slightly different options for amendments to Chapter 130 …”
However, the memo continues, “After further consultation with OCA,” one of those options was removed and another was amended because of the inability of law enforcement personnel to enforce anchoring issues, given Florida Statute 327.60. Moreover, the memo says, a staff determination was made that Article III, Section 130-43 of the County Code already “prohibits any person from mooring a vessel to real property owned by the County, except for active loading or unloading.”
Staff finally came up with two options for amendments to Chapter 130 for the commission’s discussion, the memo notes. It included those within the document:
If the board members wish to go ahead with the process for amending the County Code, the memo adds, “[S]taff will prepare for a public hearing in late October/early November,” the Aug. 1 report on the board assignment says.
The next County Commission meetings after the Oct. 21 session are scheduled for Nov. 5 and Nov. 18.
Further, the staff memo points out, staff has proposed minor changes to Chapter 130, as follows:
- Article II, Section 130-33 could be amended to expand the authorization of enforcement beyond the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office to include any sworn law enforcement officer certified pursuant to Florida Statute Chapter 943.
- Article III, Section 130-43 could be modified to update the hours that the park is closed, so they are “consistent with current posted hours.”
The memo also explains, “Sarasota County is one of several regulating bodies for this area … “
If the commissioners end up approving an amendment to the County Code, the memo notes, the effective date of the ordinance is expected to be Jan. 1, 2026. That timeline, the memo continues, will enable staff to begin the application and permitting process with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. “Staff will also need to submit applications and obtain approvals from the [U.S.] Army Corps of Engineers [USACE] and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection,” the report points out. The ordinance would become enforceable after the permitting process had been completed and the required regulatory signage had been procured and installed, it adds.
The Aug. 1 board further notes that obtaining the necessary permits from the state and the USACE would be expected to take up to 60 days. It also could take up to 60 days to get the new signage designed and purchased, the report adds.
Further, the report says, costs will be “associated with the installation, maintenance and monitoring of new regulatory signage and required permitting, as well as community engagement and education on possible changes.”