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rise, she questioned just how far it could be extended from the shore, especially in a low-lying coastal community. "Technically, you could apply it just about anywhere [in Sarasota County]," she added. Charlie D. Bailey III of the Williams Parker law firm in Sarasota, who was representing the Siesta property owners making the Feb. 12 request, told the commissioners the west- erly end of the Shell Road right of way at the heart of the discussion is slightly more than 80 feet from the Mean High Water Line. THE REQUEST According to a Feb. 12 staff memo provided to the commissioners, the request was "to vacate, abandon, discontinue, and close the County's interest" in a portion of an improved 50-foot-wide platted public right of way known as South Shell Road — which was platted as Cedar Street — and a portion of an unimproved 40-foot-wide platted public right of way known as Shell Road. The latter was platted as Gulf Avenue, the memo says. The petitioners were Ronald and Phyllis McSwain and Donald and Susan Stelfox. The staff memo says the South Shell Road right of way serves only as a driveway for the couples, adding, "It does not provide a connection or link to any other roadway, and it does not extend to the shoreline." Diane Kennedy, a title agent in the Real Property Division of the county's Public Works Department, pointed out that the only pedes- trian easement staff could find was a 3-foot one reserved for the McSwains and Stelfoxes, A photo shows the view looking north toward Higel Avenue from South Shell Road on Siesta Key. Image courtesy Sarasota County Sarasota News Leader February 21, 2014 Page 58