- April 21, 2026
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In a turn of events, Sarasota County commissioners — who, with one exception, authorized the acquisition of 2.04 acres on Stickney Point Road in February — postponed voting on a $20.77 million loan request Tuesday, citing the need for more information about plans for the property.
Calling it a “significant purchase,” Commission Chair Ron Cutsinger said he would like to have “staff bring back an update” on the due diligence process, which runs through May 20. He also requested preliminary designs or a concept plan for the project. Other commissioners sought clarity around whether businesses at the location could remain.
The property the county plans to purchase at 1500 Stickney Point Road, known as the Boatyard, contains 21 individual parcels consisting of commercial condominiums painted red, orange, yellow, green and blue, on the mainland near the South Bridge to Siesta Key. It also includes about 700 feet of bay frontage; 390 feet of canal/boat basin access; more than 5,000 square feet of docks, boardwalks and decks; and 72 parking spaces, Interim Director of Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Shawn Yeager said previously.
Commissioners voted 4-1 on Feb. 10 to acquire the property for $18.1 million as part of a $21.36 million project to create a public park with waterfront access.
Potential amenities could include a fishing pier, kayak launch, docks, picnic shelters, concessions, restrooms and parking, Yeager said, and the property could “serve as a hub for the ... charter boat and tour operator program” the county recently approved.
“I want to be very clear: I support prioritizing water access,” Cutsinger said at the April 21 commission meeting. “This does present a great opportunity, but I think it does merit a little deeper dive.”
Cutsinger’s fellow commissioners agreed on delaying the vote on the loan to finance the project so they could see plans for the project and get more information about supporting tenant Siesta Key Watersports, which offers parasailing, wave runners and boating activities from the property.
“I think it is prudent to ... pause a little bit [and] come back with a little further discussion on the matter,” Commissioner Joe Neunder said. About a month ago, the commissioner said, he asked the county’s legal team as well as parks and recreation staff about the potential for what he called a “win-win situation” for Siesta Key Watersports.
Siesta Key Watersports has been operating for 20 years in the area. It is housed in a yellow building that looks like a lighthouse on Stickney Point Road. Co-owner Shawn Fontana, speaking during the public comment portion of the April 21 commission meeting, asked whether the business could have rights to continue operating there, saying that one in every 60 visitors to Sarasota County comes to Siesta Key Watersports.
“If operations stop in mid-May right as demand is peaking,” Fontana said, then his business, its 20 employees and its clientele would have “nowhere to go.”
The property is substantial enough to support multiple activities, Fontana said, adding: “We are fully willing to reconfigure our vessels within the waterfront” in a way the county outlines.
“Anytime that the government can help the private sector out," Neunder said, "I think that's something … we should be obligated to try and do."
When Sarasota County set out to purchase the Stickney Point property from owner Big Main Street LLC (which is registered to Sarasota property investor and restaurant owner Chris Brown), one of the conditions it established for the seller was that it wanted a clean title.
In a February video about the Stickney Point acquisition, Yeager said the county would “not absorb any … current leases or agreements.”
Despite that, multiple commissioners expressed interest at their April 21 meeting in finding ways to give existing businesses a chance to operate at the property.
“A discussion needs to be had about what is current practice versus what our options” are, Commissioner Teresa Mast said, including but not limited to Siesta Key Watersports.
Fellow tenant Waves Boat & Social Club was ordered to vacate the premises by April 15, in a letter days after commissioners authorized the acquisition.
“Waves Boat & Social Club has successfully transitioned operations from our longtime Stickney Point headquarters, where we had been based for over 17 years,” Waves President Carissa Dressel said in an April 21 email.
The business had 12 boats based there that had to be moved to some of its other locations; it has operations in Venice, Englewood and Phillippi Creek and is adding another location at Bradenton Beach Marina.
“We’ve relocated boats to Phillippi Creek Marina and Venice, secured dockage in a very tight waterfront market, and are excited about our new headquarters at 7628 S. Tamiami Trail,” Dressel said.
“The process was extremely difficult,” Dressel said of moving out of Stickney Point.
While Waves has moved its headquarters elsewhere, Siesta Key Watersports remains at the Boatyard, a location that co-owner Fontana previously told commissioners was essential to his business.
“After exhausting all possible options to relocate, there is simply no viable alternative location, meaning closure would be unavoidable,” Fontana said at the Feb. 10 commission meeting.
Siesta Key Watersports has about 45,000 visitors annually and contributes more than $100,000 in sales tax each year, he said.
“I hate the idea that this purchase is putting people out of business,” Commissioner Tom Knight said at the April 21 meeting.
Knight was the sole opponent of the acquisition in February, voicing concerns over the cost, operational funding and lack of clarity around the plans. “There was really no presentation from staff about what would be done with it,” he said of the property.
Since that decision, Knight added, he has heard an additional concern from constituents that the acquisition is a “$20 million purchase to resolve one issue,” which is finding a location for the county’s charter boat program.
“When the staff comes back, that would be something I would be curious about,” Knight said. “How much of this [property] is going to be for that program?” He questioned how it would be fair to businesses already operational at Stickney Point Road to displace them for the sake of the program.
Commissioner Mark Smith, who was elected in 2022, said that it would be important to “recap” the recommendations from the county’s commercial fishing task force for commissioners who were not on the board at the time “to understand where we’re coming from.”
The commissioners’ request to see plans for the property was coming early in the process, added Smith, who is an architect.
“Ordinarily, folks don't do a preliminary plan until they own the property, and we don't own the property yet, so we've got a little bit of the cart before the horse,” Smith said.
Commissioners agreed to postpone the vote until May 5 so they could hear more about the plans and decided to have the resolution on the $20.77 million loan categorized as a discussion item. It had previously been listed on the April 21 agenda as a consent item and was moved to discussion at the beginning of the meeting.
County Administrator Jonathan Lewis tried to prepare commissioners for what they may see at their upcoming meeting.
“I just want to be clear on expectations on preliminary design,” Lewis said. The plan will be “like a bubble diagram” that is “very conceptual,” with potential uses and concepts. He noted it would not be binding.
According to the contract that commissioners approved in February, due diligence at the property must be completed by May 21, and closing should occur on or before July 10.
