County administrator said on Nov. 18 that it likely would be conducted in January
Although Sarasota County Administrator Jonathan Lewis said last month that it likely would be January before he could schedule a County Commission hearing on an “Idle Speed, No Wake” zone encompassing 300 feet offshore of Ted Sperling Park on South Lido Key, that hearing has been set for the commission’s regular meeting on Dec. 16.
The Sarasota News Leader learned this week that the hearing is item No. 61 on the agenda, the next-to-last business matter of that session.
As the News Leader has reported, on Oct. 21, the commissioners unanimously indicated that they were prepared to implement a 300-foot-wide motorboat exclusion zone around the boundary of Ted Sperling Park, in an effort to reduce the potential for accidents that could result in injuries or deaths. South Lido residents have pleaded for county action for years, in an effort to control what they have described as the reckless and dangerous behavior of jet ski operators. As those vessels are classified as motorboats by state law, the exclusion zone would have applied to them.
However, during the board meeting on Nov. 5, Commissioner Tom Knight, the former three-term county sheriff, asked Nicole Rissler, director of the county’s Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Department (PRNR), to research whether the agencies that would have to enforce the exclusion zone would be willing to do so. As it turned out, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) indicated that its preference would be the Idle Speed, No Wake measure.
During the Nov. 18 public hearing on the exclusion zone, Rissler talked about the FWC letter that staff had received.
Further, during that hearing, the executive director of the West Coast Inland Navigation District (WCIND), which is headquartered in Venice, urged the commissioners not to approve the exclusion zone.
Justin McBride told the commissioners that his board members understand the safety issues at Sperling Park. Yet, he added, “My office has received calls from concerned boaters,” some of whom had talked about generations of their families enjoying boating at that location. “It’s a traditional and historic place for boating,” McBride pointed out of Ted Sperling Park.
It likely would be easier for the county to get the necessary permits for an Idle Speed, No Wake zone, he said, and it would be more appropriate, in WCIND’s view.
Of the other agencies — including the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office — only the Sarasota Police Department made clear that it readily would enforce the exclusion zone, Rissler of PRNR told the commissioners on Nov. 18, referencing the communications that she and her staff had received after conducting the outreach that Knight had requested.
Only Commissioner Mark Smith continued to support the plan for the motorboat exclusion zone.
Since the Nov. 18 hearing was advertised as dealing just with that proposed zone, Rissler explained to the commissioners that a new hearing would have to be advertised on the Idle Speed, No Wake zone. She had consulted with the Office of the County Attorney on the issue, she said.
A South Lido resident who has appeared before the commissioners multiple times to express concerns about the jet ski problems at Sperling Park told the News Leader this week that a number of island homeowners on the island plan to be present for the Dec. 16 hearing, even though, she said, residents were caught by surprise by the scheduling of it.
The new, proposed ordinance
Formally, the ordinance drafted for the hearing next week would amend Articles II and III of Chapter 130 of the County Code.
Revised Section 2(k)(3) would read, “No Person shall Operate any Motorboat in excess of idle speed within 300 feet of Ted Sperling Park at South Lido Beach, except for the following: (1) emergency vessels; (2) law enforcement vessels; (3) any government vessel operating for public purpose such as but not limited to beach renourishment, code enforcement, or scientific study; or (4) any vessel operating under a temporary use permit issued pursuant to Section 124-52 of the Unified Development Code.”
A graphic is included in the ordinance to depict the Idle Speed, No Wake zone.
As Rissler of Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources has noted, the ordinance’s definition of “Motorboat” says that it “means any boat or vessel propelled or powered by machinery, including personal Watercraft such as, but not limited to, jet skis, WaveRunners, WaveJammers and other similar one- or two-Person vessels propelled or powered by machinery, and airboats.”
The penalty section reads as follows; underlining indicates new language; strikethroughs of existing language in the County Code are included:
A slide prepared for the hearing calls for the commissioners to consider two other amendments related to the problems reported at the park. Staff has proposed that Article II, Section 130-33 of the County Code 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.”
Additionally, the draft ordinance would amend Section 130-43 of the County Code as follows:
If approved on Dec. 16, the ordinance would take effect on Jan. 1, 2026, it says, “following filing with the office of the Florida Secretary of State.” That filing is a state requirement.
Rissler has pointed out to the commissioners that county staff would need to work with the county’s Communications Department to educate the public about any changes in motor vessel regulations for Ted Sperling Park.
Moreover, she has emphasized that it will take months to get permits from all of the relevant agencies — including FWC and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — for implementation of the Idle Speed, No Wake zone.
Another slide prepared for the Dec. 16 hearing, as shown in the agenda packet, points out the following:
