Print

Email story

Comment

Letter to the editor

Judge refuses pier owner's plea to reopen

By SHEILA MULLANE ESTRADA, Times Correspondent
Published September 20, 2007

Paul Nelson, 55, looks through his tackle on the Redington Long Pier while fishing with friend Rod Beckett, 43. County and Redington Shores attorneys want the pier owner to prove that all required repairs have been done.
	[EDMUND D. FOUNTAIN | Times]

Legal wrangling continued this week over when the Redington Long Pier will be certified safe to completely reopen to the public.

"You want to turn this into a political circus. I don't want to hear it," said Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge W. Douglas Baird, obviously impatient after sitting through nearly four hours of testimony in two hearings this week.

Baird rejected a request Friday by pier owner Tony Antonious to allow him to reopen the entire pier even though repair work is not completed and a final inspection has not been made.

The judge told Antonious he was "a little anxious" and that repairs could be completed within a week.

He also told attorneys for the town and the county that he would not tolerate any "foot-dragging" in performing inspections at the pier.

Antonious insisted during a preliminary hearing Wednesday that town and county officials are "harassing" him by refusing to sign off on pier repairs.

Both the county and town attorneys, however, want Antonious to provide a certified engineer's report that all the required repairs have been completed.

"We just want to make sure it is safe for the public," said County Attorney Jewel White Cole.

The legal battle began more than a year ago when the 50-year-old fishing pier was closed first by the town and then by the county over possible safety issues.

Last June, surf and tides driven by Tropical Storm Alberto washed to shore what appeared to be pilings and cross-bracings supporting the pier. The next day the pier was ordered closed by the town's building official, Steve Andrews.

Then the county got involved when David Walker, environmental program manager for the county's Water and Navigation Control Authority, declared the pier structure "dilapidated" and also ordered its closure.

Walker said the pier could not be reopened unless certified safe by a structural engineer. The closure order also required Antonious to obtain a permit from the county Water and Navigation Control Authority before beginning any needed repairs.

Antonious hired an engineer and marine divers to check the pier pilings and decking. He also began repairs recommended by the engineer, who ironically said there was "no new storm damage."

The pilings and cross-bracings washed up on the beach were old supports long since replaced by newer pilings, according to Reuben Clarson Consulting. The engineering report did cite, however, several pilings, as well as decking and handrails needing immediate replacing, as well as a long list of other repairs to be performed during regular maintenance.

Antonious triggered the court battle when he declared that "90 percent" of the required repairs were complete and reopened the pier to the public.

After both town and county officials insisted that the pier was unsafe, Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Brandt C. Downey III ordered that only the first 500 feet of the 1,021-foot landmark fishing pier could be reopened and that no more than 333 people could be on the aging wooden structure at any one time.

Downey, who is now retired, later amended that order to open up several hundred feet more of the pier to the public, but reduced the number of people fishing to 150 at a time.

The net result was that the remainder of the pier was closed "indefinitely" - or until sufficient repairs are made to satisfy the court. The case is now in the hands of Judge Baird.

Over the following months, several more court hearings were held as the parties disputed the kinds of repairs needed to satisfy the court order.

During the past year, Antonious has made a series of repairs to the pier's surface structure, including replacement of decking, railings and some hardware.

Last month, after the pier was completely closed for major repairs, a construction crane working on the pier collapsed and fell off its barge into the Gulf of Mexico, slightly injuring its operator.

Repairs were to include 23 new wood pilings, 17 new piling caps, replacement of 17 sets of cross bracing, and replacement of all existing bolts on the original pier, according to Redington Shores officials.

Antonious says the planned $165,000 in repairs brings total spending on the pier during the last year to about $500,000.

Meanwhile, Antonious recently withdrew a request that the town change the pier property's zoning and land use designation to allow construction of a seven-story condo-hotel at the base of the pier. The project would operate like a time-share or condo rentals.

The property is currently zoned open outdoor recreation/public open space and is similarly designated in both the town's and the county's land use plan.

A change in land use must also be approved by the state's Department of Community Affairs.

[Last modified September 19, 2007, 22:56:34]