Kayaks launch complaints from Villagers

Allan Luke sees an old yellow school bus on Manatee Avenue that’s used for kayak rentals and worries that something similar could be in the Longbeach Village’s future.

He has counted five vendors that launch kayak trips with as many as eight people from the town dock in the residential community.

“…They are parking on private property to load and unload the kayaks and the customers are parking on our side streets. The police department has told me that they are contacting other cities to see what they are doing about the problem. I see an old school bus renting out kayaks on Manatee Avenue and hope that this isn’t our future…,” Luke wrote in an email to the Longboat Key Town Commission. 

Police have spoken with kayak vendors and documented many of these contacts, but the vendors aren’t doing anything illegal. The vendors are using facilities that are available to any member of the public and don’t need a business license if the transaction does not occur in the town’s jurisdiction.

“The Village residents don’t appreciate it, but what they’re doing is not in opposition to our codes and ordinances,” said Longboat Key Police Chief Pete Cumming. “They conduct their business over the Internet. They’re soliciting and taking payment off the island.”

Shane Catts, owner of Happy Paddle Kayak, who occasionally launches in the Village, told police he will not even accept a tip within the town’s boundaries, according to an April 30 report.

Catts said he typically launches off of Anna Maria, although he sometimes has to change the location because of dredging on Coquina Beach, and occasionally, conditions on the water.

“When I do go from Longboat, which is very rarely, usually, it’s if there’s a strong outgoing tide, and it’s dangerous to cross the Pass to get back to Coquina Beach,” Catts said. “I don’t want to cause a fuss.”

Catts said residents have spoken to him about parking issues, and he tells customers not to park illegally in front of homes.

Still, Commissioner Pat Zunz, whose District 5 includes the Village, said she has concerns because people who use the kayaks park on the streets of the Village.

“I know people say, ‘It’s a public street,’ but it’s a residential community and there is no other residential community that is impacted in this way,” Zunz said.

Parking has been a sore spot in recent months for Village residents, who complain about congestion, particularly from vehicles that belong to diners at Mar Vista Dockside Restaurant & Pub and Moore’s Stone Crab Restaurant.

The town is currently considering suggestions for alleviating parking problems that a group of Village residents presented at the Longboat Key Town Commission’s April 21 regular workshop, including restricting Broadway parking to one side of the street for anyone who is not a resident, a resident parking-sticker system or a Village-wide program that would require restrictive parking signs throughout the neighborhood.

Zunz said she has seen cars parked near the public docks even when the restaurants are closed. She said she would like to see an ordinance that prohibits commercial parking on the Village streets.
Luke said he hopes to bring the kayak issue before the commission in the fall.

“They need a nuisance code, something where they can stop these vendors from coming in, parking on side streets and parking on lawns, and they don’t have permits,” he said.

Luke said he believes vendors should launch from Coquina Beach instead of the town dock.

“I give (the vendors) credit because they’re cutting out a niche for themselves, but there’s so much area on different boat ramps to launch from,” he said.

Contact Robin Hartill at [email protected]