Manatee County watchdog investigating complaints about Myakka land tied to Sarasota official

The Manatee County inspector general’s office is investigating how the county’s code enforcement department handled complaints about construction on property in Myakka City owned by the son of a Sarasota County government official, Manatee Commissioner Vanessa Baugh said Wednesday.

The property, located off State Road 70, is being turned into a new home for Sarasota Medieval Fair, even though the owner has not obtained needed permits or filed a site plan. A Manatee County code enforcement officer has charged that her bosses ordered her to drop her investigation of the work being done on the property after they learned that the owner, Jeremy Croteau, is the son of Sarasota Building Official Kathy Croteau.

The property is in Manatee Commissioner Vanessa Baugh’s district. She said she is on a “fact-finding mission” to determine who knew what and when did they know it.

“Back in December a resident called the 311 line and complained and it was forwarded to me,” Baugh said. “I, in turn forwarded it to (Code Enforcement Chief) Jeff Bowman and he responded that he put (inspector) Tanya Shaw on the case and it would be taken care of. I didn’t give it anymore thought because I never heard anything else.”

Shaw recently came forward with claims that she tried to halt construction on the property because no permits had been filed. Shaw said her efforts were thwarted by her supervisors when it became clear who owns the property.

Shaw alleges that her department supervisors are showing favoritism to Jeremy Croteau, who also is president of the Medieval Fair, because of his mother’s status as a colleague in another county.

Baugh said she received some additional emails recently and began looking into it again.

“I emailed (Building Director and code enforcement department head) John Barnott and we had had a conversation. He said there is no way the fair was going there and then the article in the Bradenton Herald came out. I looked on the fair’s website and it’s pretty clear to me that they are advertising for that property.”

Baugh said she plans to meet with Barnott and others to start asking her own questions.

Baugh said she reached out to the county’s Inspector General’s Office, which is overseen by Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller Angelina “Angel” Colonneso, asking them to look into it as well, “and heard happily that they are already on it.

The clerk’s Division of Inspector General regularly is charged with reviewing Manatee County government operations, including allegations of fraud, waste, abuse and misconduct.

“Obviously this should be taken very seriously,” Baugh said. “This is concerning because this has been going on since December and how did no one in the county know about it? I have a lot of questions.”

Lawyer demands county act

Sarasota attorney Robert Lincoln, who specializes in land use law, is demanding Manatee County code enforcement immediately put a stop to the work on 50 acres at 29641 SR 70 in Myakka City.

In a late Tuesday night email to county officials, Lincoln said, “Your duty is clear: stop rewarding this bad behavior.”

Lincoln represents Russell Ireland, a neighbor who says the construction is causing his property to flood when it rains.

Commissioner Baugh said the drainage issues “will have to be rectified. This is a mess.”

Lincoln wrote in his email, “I am writing in an attempt to address and correct the inexpiable and unacceptable failure of the Building & Development Services Department to require proper permits for development activities on the Mallaranny site.”

Mallaranny LLC is the registered corporation that owns the site. Code enforcement was initially going to take action until code enforcement supervisor Tommy Wooten discovered that Croteau was the owner, according to Shaw.

Lincoln said the construction will have, “significant adverse impacts in the future,” on his client’s property.

“The action I am demanding is simple: red tag the property until it makes a proper, after-the-fact application for a major earth moving permit through the special permit process, revoke the improper ‘non-residential farm building’ exemption granted for a ‘barn’, and put Mallaranny on notice that it will require special permit approval – and that temporary use approval cannot be granted because the activities cannot meet the definition or requirements ... for temporary uses,” Lincoln wrote.

The fair has been advertising its new home even before construction intensified in November. Shaw and neighbors say Croteau initially told them that his intention was to revitalize an old nursery on the property and perhaps host two or three weddings a year.

Croteau ultimately admitted his intention to host the fair, according to Ireland, in November and that’s when he contacted code enforcement. Shaw was put on the case and immediately found no permits on file.

Shaw said she was pulled from the case, after Wooten discovered Croteau was the owner. Shaw was replaced by code enforcement officer Chet Brown, who closed it with no violations. Brown was subsequently promoted to supervisor within days of closing the file.

Brown subsequently closed out several more complaints that were filed by neighbors at the direction of Code Enforcement Chief Bowman, according to Shaw.

Shaw sent pages of photographs depicting major development activity and continued to press the issue through March of this year. Her efforts were met with emails from Brown and Wooten reminding her that it wasn’t her case anymore.

Baugh said she has requested those emails but code enforcement staff have yet to respond. However, Baugh said she has seen the photos and acknowledges that it certainly looks like a major development to her.

Lincoln said Wooten’s decision to close multiple complaints filed by residents “is simply inexcusable. Any reasonable investigation of the activities on the property and the documents provided to the staff makes it obvious that Mallaranny is not improving the property for agricultural purposes, has exceeded the work limits for any exemption, and has, in fact undertaken major earthmoving.”

Lincoln said Mallaranny failed to apply for permits, provide a required topographic survey as part of a required site plan and provide an engineered drawing for the drainage alterations.

“The county’s inaction has entirely encouraged Mallaranny – and who knows how many other landowners – to adopt the principle that ‘it’s better to ask for forgiveness than for permission.’” Lincoln said.

Though Shaw started investigating the case in November, Barnott said the details and internal battle between Shaw and her supervisors had only come to his desk, “a few days ago.”

Barnott pledged to investigate the matter, but Baugh questions how Barnott could not have known sooner as code enforcement department head.

“That is one of many questions I intend to ask,” Baugh said.

On Wednesday, Barnott did not respond for comment about Lincoln’s letter.

This story was originally published March 31, 2021 at 3:07 PM.