CORTEZ — Manatee County Commissioners will receive a staff update next week concerning the plans for the “Cortez Marina” redevelopment project. A community group of Cortez residents is urging county leaders to reject any plan that includes adding a public boat ramp.
The redevelopment project is planned along Cortez Road, where the former locally beloved Seafood Shack Restaurant and Annie’s Bait and Tackle once stood.
After a record-breaking hurricane season left the waterfront landmark severely damaged, Manatee County purchased the site for $13 million at the close of 2024.
Located just before the Cortez Road Bridge leading to Anna Maria Island, the site had been a cultural staple of the historic Cortez Fishing Village.
Following the acquisition, commissioners directed county staff to explore all options to preserve any of the existing structures at the site, particularly Annie’s Bait and Tackle, if possible, and to design a plan for the site’s redevelopment that would incorporate public boat ramps with other potential public facilities compatible with the site’s history.
However, after finding the hurricane damage was too severe to be saved, the Seafood Shack Restaurant and Annie’s Bait and Tackle were demolished in April 2025.
Staff provided preliminary concepts for the site’s redevelopment, but some residents of the surrounding communities expressed concern over the proposed inclusion of public boat ramps.
This summer, Manatee County began collecting broader public input on the Cortez Marina proposal. An online survey was conducted, and public input open house events were hosted by county staff and the county’s contracted design and planning firm, Kimley-Horn.
During the upcoming BOCC meeting on Dec. 16, staff will present the survey findings and open house results to commissioners and provide the board with the proposed development approach based on the collected data.
According to the attached presentation PDF for next week’s agenda, the county’s data show that developing a public boat launch was the top choice among roughly 960 survey respondents and open house attendees, receiving over 50% public support. The development of amenities providing a waterfront experience for non-boaters was the only other proposal to receive over 50% favorability.
But a Cortez resident group that conducted its own survey collected contradictory data regarding the proposed boat ramp, and homeowners in the immediate area of the site are asking the commissioners to carefully consider the redevelopment plan.
“The Concerned Citizens of Cortez Coalition (CCCC), a local community group, is calling for a thoughtful and forward-looking approach to waterfront planning that enhances the beauty, safety, and long-term vitality of Cortez, while urging county leaders to reject the placement of proposed boat ramps in the area,” the group declared in a press release this week.
The group’s website states that the organization is a “community-led initiative” of area residents and businesses focused on encouraging government officials to develop the old Seafood Shack in a manner that “improves long-term livability, supports economic vitality, and maintains the quality of life our communities deserve.”
In its Dec. 9 press release, the Cortez Coalition claimed that, after surveying more than 300 homeowners in residential areas surrounding the site, 96% opposed the development of public boat ramps—a significant deviation from the county-conducted survey results.
The coalition said respondents' objections to a boat ramp were largely “due to safety, traffic congestion, noise, and environmental concerns.”
“Respondents also expressed strong support for balanced community-enhancing development,” read the release, “including amenities like waterfront dining, a bait and tackle shop, a marina with marine fueling, and a passive recreational area.”
“We want to be clear: our goal is not to stop progress, but to guide it with input from the people who live here and are invested in the long-term livability and economic growth of our area. Cortez deserves waterfront improvements that make our area more beautiful, more accessible, and more enjoyable—not development that introduces major burdens without meaningful, widespread community benefit,” wrote the group.
The group is encouraging residents and business owners to lend their voices as key decisions are made about the waterfront's future.
“Public input will be essential in shaping a plan that reflects the values and needs of the entire community,” the release concluded.
Representatives of the group plan to attend the Dec. 16 BOCC meeting to present their survey data and to provide feedback on the redevelopment plan for the site.
Several videos are available on the Cortez Coalition's website, including the one below that summarizes the group’s concerns about the potential development of public boat ramps where Annie’s Bait and Tackle once stood.
The upcoming meeting will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, at 9:00 a.m., in the Honorable Pat Glass Chambers in the downtown Manatee County Administration Building.
To preview Manatee County BOCC upcoming meeting agendas, visit: agendaonline.mymanatee.org/OnBaseAgendaOnline
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willwebshop
Can you imagine a truck with a boat trailer trying to make a left turn out of there on even a moderately busy time of day? It's going to be a nightmare. I haven't even looked at the video yet.
Saturday, December 13, 2025 Report this
andreart
There have been plans to put a boat ramp in that area for over 20 years. The intent was to place one where Preston Fruit Farms operated its retail flower business. The Prestons are developing a planned development. The County worked with them to allow us to buy land and build a public boat ramp. The prices ended up around 20ish million or more. Seafood shack came on the market, and it was 1/2 of the other property. Taxpayer monies saved..... This is a perfect site for a boat ramp, as there is already one there. I cannot believe the Cortez fisherman would not want this. The use is perfect and much needed, with approximately. 470,000 living in our County now. Boat trailers have been pulling out on Cortez for as long as I can remember. There is a road that takes you to the street light at 119th, where most pull out of the Seafood shack.
Please do not let this continue, what has been, for years, a functioning boat ramp among other uses. The very ones complaining are the ones asking for another boat ramp.
Carol Whitmore, Holmes Beach
Sunday, December 14, 2025 Report this