Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/235968
Sarasota News Leader January 3, 2014 advantageous at this time to go to court and seek redress …" The owners have refused to respond to county attempts to rectify the situation, he points out. On July 10, it takes less than 10 minutes to wrap up six years of legal action Siesta Key property owner Chris Brown has filed against Sarasota County over parking issues related to his businesses in Siesta Village. On a 3-1 vote — with Commissioner Nora Patterson, a Siesta resident, in the minority; and Vice Chairman Charles Hines recusing himself — the County Commission approves the vacation of a right of way along Columbus Boulevard adjacent to The Hub Baja Grill in Siesta Village. Earlier this year, Patterson opposed settlement terms for this third lawsuit Brown had filed against the county since the fall of Page 72 2007. When the commissioners voted on April 24 to approve those terms — which necessitated a public hearing before they could be finalized — Patterson said of the right of way vacation, "It's a little bit of a heartache that that is part of a lawsuit, just like [the right of way on the Ocean Boulevard side of The Hub] that we vacated. … I do have a problem with somebody settling a lawsuit and coming back for another bite at the apple." As part of the settlement of Brown's first lawsuit, the County Commission agreed to pay $35,000 and vacate a portion of its Ocean Boulevard right of way. (Brown had been accused of allowing outside tables at the restaurant to encroach on that county property.) "I'm certainly glad it's over," Brown tells The Sarasota News Leader after the board's July 10 action. The County Commission agrees to a civil suit against the owners of rental property on south Siesta Key that is in violation of county and federal building codes. File photo