Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/301152
It took about 30 minutes less than a two- and-a-half hour public hearing in January 2013, but the result this week was the same: On a unanimous vote, the Sarasota County Commission denied an Osprey couple's peti- tion to construct a two-story house on Siesta Key's Beach Road that would stand 176.5 feet seaward of the Gulf Beach Setback Line (GBSL). The action came despite a threat from the couple's agent, a Sarasota attorney, that they would file a lawsuit against the county for a "taking" of the land if their latest request were turned down. Commissioner Nora Patterson, who lives on Siesta, made the motion, pointing out that she had "literally been standing at the street when the two next-door prop- erties … really stood fully in the water." Patterson added, "And while there's lots of beach there [now], and it's really tempting [to approve the request], I don't believe [the beach] will stay that way." The lot at 162 Beach Road (left) was flooded by Tropical Storm Debby in June 2012. Photo courtesy Sarasota County IN SPITE OF A THREAT OF A LAWSUIT, THE COUNTY COMMISSION HOLDS FAST ON REFUSING TO LET A COUPLE BUILD A HOUSE SEAWARD OF THE GULF BEACH SETBACK LINE By Rachel Brown Hackney Editor Sarasota News Leader April 25, 2014 Page 49