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complaints about noise began to pour into county email accounts from residents in the adjoining neighborhoods. With live music until the late-night hours, Bob's Boathouse was keeping its neighbors awake. Even during the day, most could not relax outside their homes as the musical entertain- ment disrupted their afternoons as well. As The Sarasota News Leader has revealed in its extensive cov- erage of the problems over the past several months, Bob's Boathouse had an unsavory history before it ever opened in an abandoned car dealership on Tamiami Trail. And it was in conflict with county officials within weeks of its latest opening. Originally, Bob's Boathouse was located on Little Sarasota Bay, off Stickney Point Road just east of Siesta Key. From its first days in 1997, the nightspot generated complaints from residents on Siesta Key and the area east of Little Sarasota Bay. Fortunately for those residents, the owners of Bob's closed the restaurant to convert the land on which it was sited into condominiums. Then the owners leased their current loca- tion in 2013, which had been the former site of Royal Oldsmobile GMC Trucks. The county issued a Temporary Certificate of Occupancy (TCO) on Oct. 31, 2013, allowing the establishment to open for business while completing improvements required by county Code Enforcement. Then Bob's asked for an extension of that TCO in late November, which the county granted. The new expiration date would be Dec. 30. Yet an investigation ordered by the County Commission in the wake of the numer- ous complaints from neighbors revealed that Bob's owed the c o u n t y m o r e t h a n $77,000 for water and sewer capacity fees, which normally must be paid before a TCO can be issued. When the owners of Bob's were told they had to pay these past due fees, their response was to file suit against the county to avoid turn- ing over the money until a final Certificate of Occupancy was granted. When Dec. 30 came and went without full compliance with the terms of their TCO, the owners of Bob's also asked for another exten- sion. The county refused that on Jan. 30, allowing the TCO to expire at the end of that day. Thereafter, Bob's continued operations without completion of agreed upon items on a county Building Department "punch list," putting the establishment in violation of the county building code. With live music until the late-night hours, Bob's Boathouse was keeping its neighbors awake. Even during the day, most could not relax outside their homes as the musical entertainment disrupted their afternoons as well. OPINION Sarasota News Leader February 21, 2014 Page 91