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making other changes, to bring the house up to local and federal codes. However, Code Enforcement officers are investigating a new series of violations at his properties, so it looks as though the cycle is beginning again. YET ANOTHER CASE A more recent example began in late 2013 when Bob's Boathouse reopened on the for- mer site of Royal Oldsmobile/GMC Trucks along the banks of Phillippi Creek on South Tamiami Trail. Through staff administra- tive errors, Bob's Boathouse was given a Temporary Certificate of Occupancy, or TCO, despite its owing tens of thousands of dollars for utility fees. Worse, upon opening, the restaurant offered daily musical entertainment, the volume of which proved disruptive to residents in adja- cent neighborhoods. Neighbors have said they pleaded with the management of Bob's Boathouse to lower the sound, as many of them were unable to sleep at night because of the incessant noise. But those pleas fell on deaf ears. In desperation, residents then turned to the County Commission, pointing out that the county's noise ordinance made enforcement difficult and that the noise levels it allowed were much higher than those in neighbor- ing counties. After discussion and a public hearing, the County Commission amended the ordinance to make enforcement parameters clearer, and it lowered maximum allowable noise levels to those already adopted in counties from Hillsborough down to Collier. Confronted with the more restrictive noise ordinance, one would have thought the own- ers of Bob's Boathouse would have moved quickly to reduce the volume of live enter- tainment … and one would have been wrong. Almost immediately, the nightclub was being cited for noise violations. Then the same prob- lem seen in the Siegel case reared its head. Bob's Boathouse simply ignored the citations and continued allowing musical entertain- ment to exceed sound limits. Because there are almost 40 times more Sarasota County Sheriff's deputies than Code Enforcement officers in Sarasota County (something, incidentally, that the County Commission desperately needs to address), it usually fell to deputies responding to noise complaints to issue citations at Bob's Boathouse when noise readings showed a clear violation of the ordinance. After issuing several citations that were ignored, the deputies took a sterner tack: They arrested the manager on duty, charging that person with a misdemeanor violation of county noise ordinances. To date, two man- agers have been charged, and their cases are pending in the courts. Throughout this ordeal, county staff has been fighting a steady battle with Bob's Boathouse to bring the establishment into compliance with existing building and site regulations OPINION Sarasota News Leader May 30, 2014 Page 83