Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/273295
"I had constant complaints [about that rental business]," Patterson replied, noting she served on the City Commission after the jet ski usage was allowed. Then Patterson asked whether it would be necessary to reduce the Siesta swim zone by the full, suggested 130 feet for paddleboard- ers. Perhaps 30 feet would be sufficient, she suggested. "We can further evaluate that," Brown told her. "That's a lot to take up a whole beach access for one sport, essentially," Patterson added. When Chairman Charles Hines asked how many boards would be allowed for rental at the concession — "Ten? Twenty? A hundred?" — Brown told him that that would be one ele- ment for negotiation in an RFP. Hines pointed out that while he had heard concerns voiced about hundreds of paddle- boarders taking advantage of the rentals, the reality is that anyone staying in a hotel or condo can walk to the beach with a board and use it as long as the person stays out of the swim zone. Commissioner Joe Barbetta concurred. Alfieri's proposal, he noted, was to provide another amenity at the concession, which is located near the Siesta Public Beach pavilion. When Barbetta questioned why LaBonte could not be allowed to rent paddleboards, Brown explained that she had checked with the Office of the County Attorney and the Procurement Department staff. Their response, she said, was that the concession contract would have to be put out for bid again if it were amended. A section of a staff memo to the County Commission explains lifeguards' opposition to allowing paddleboarders in the designated swim zone at Siesta Public Beach. Image courtesy Sarasota County Sarasota News Leader March 7, 2014 Page 64