Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/239386
Sarasota News Leader January 10, 2014 Kenney told the board, "Unless there are some changes to the way they are going to do business — and we're not even saying it's the same ownership; we haven't determined that yet — it's just a 'Hey, this may be coming down the road.'" Flash forward to the present, and Knight's and Kenney's statements have proven prescient: The commissioners once again are facing a barrage of complaints about Bob's Boathouse. Page 21 Curt Preisser explained to The Sarasota News Leader this week. Unless a petition is filed for a zoning change or a special exception, for example, all applications for new businesses are handled by staff. Further he pointed out, "It's that fine line that we always need to remember." The staff works for the administrator, not the commissioners. Only the administrator and the county attorney work for the County Commission. The board just provides direction for operations, Preisser noted. Therefore, it would be up to a county Building Department official to issue a Temporary Certificate of Occupancy (TCO) or Certificate of Occupancy (CO) to a business. Between April 2011 and November 2013 — when new complaints began rolling in after the business reopened on Nov. 3 at its new location — the county has seen not only changes on the commission but in the county administrator's office. Almost exactly a month after the 2011 workThe commissioners themselves would have shop, Administrator Jim Ley was gone — a had no say in whether Bob's Boathouse victim of a Procurement Department scancould reopen its doors, county spokesman dal. He was followed in the position by Terry An April 2011 aerial photo shows the site of the new Bob's Boathouse on property previously occupied by a car dealership. Image courtesy Sheriff's Office