Bradenton Beach town hall meeting to focus on resident concerns over 'party houses'
Bradenton Beach town hall meeting to focus on resident concerns over 'large houses'
BRADENTON BEACH -- The Bradenton Beach Commission will host a town hall meeting at 6 p.m. June 7 at the Annie Silver Community Center to address concerns by some citizens over large houses being constructed in residential neighborhoods.
Some residents call them "party houses" -- a term used to describe weekly vacation rentals.
"The mayor and commission invites all interested citizens to participate in a town hall meeting to engage in further discussion regarding large houses," a public notice reads. "Public input is encouraged. So that individual concerns can be heard."
The meeting was requested by longtime resident Priscilla Von Ahnen, who is behind a citizens initiative against the proliferation of weekly vacation rentals in residential neighborhoods. The committee has been working for some time to place the moratorium on the ballot this fall.
"Since the commissioners never seem to talk to their constituents, I thought it was time we got them together and talk about the issue," the 66-year-old Von Ahnen said Thursday. "They're still not in favor of the moratorium and they don't want to talk about the moratorium but we will talk about possible alternatives."
Bradenton Beach Mayor William Shearon said Thursday most city commissioners have not wanted to address the moratorium issue with the exception of Commissioner Jan Vosburgh and himself.
"I can't make a motion or a second. I've always been in favor of the moratorium as a timeout -- not as a changing of the law," he told a Herald reporter Thursday. "From my perspective, it needs to go to the planning and zoning board and it would give us some time to check and see if everybody's on the same page for what we want our city to be."
Plans for a building moratorium in Bradenton Beach were axed in September when officials voted 4-1 to move forward with a quality of life ordinance to address issues such as noise ordinances, business tax receipts and making sure renters are known and held accountable.
Last month, Von Ahnen and nearly 20 fellow residents sat at long wooden tables inside the Annie Silver Community Center for a special meeting on the steps necessary to bring a moratorium before the Bradenton Beach Commission. They discussed wanting a six-month building moratorium in two residential districts to halt new permit applications for the construction of duplex structures and any buildings with more than four bedrooms in the city.
Von Ahnen said the little cottages in residential neighborhoods are being overshadowed by these large houses.
"This is a residence, and it's just being overwhelmed by transient people," she said. "Not that we don't like a vacation rental. ... They just don't belong in residential neighborhoods."
Amaris Castillo, law enforcement/island reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7051. Follow her on Twitter@AmarisCastillo.
This story was originally published May 5, 2016 at 8:02 PM with the headline "Bradenton Beach town hall meeting to focus on resident concerns over 'party houses' ."