County to purchase one of two disputed Beach Road properties

In a partial end to the more than 20-year dispute over property on Siesta Key's Beach Road on Siesta Key, the county voted to buy one of the two parcels in question.

The owners of the 162 Beach Road parcel agreed to the county’s $1.4 million offer for the property, which covers less than a quarter of an acre and sits beyond the Gulf Beach Setback Line.

The property owners offered the land to the county in 2015, after the County Commission denied three separate coastal setback variances that would have allowed the owners to build a single-family home behind the Gulf Beach Setback Line.

Earlier this year, the County Commission offered $1.4 million for the property, but the owners returned and asked for several hundred-thousand dollars more. Commissioners decided to counter with the original offer, and the owners agreed in October.

Once the sale goes through, the property will belong to the county as a Neighborhood Parkland Site, and will likely be used as additional beach access.

Vice Commission Chair Nancy Detert voted against the purchase, arguing that the county would face the same issues the owners did if it tried to build something else on the site.

“My concern is that we’re paying over $1 million and we’re giving them a private beach,” Detert said.

Other commissioners disagreed, and the sale was approved with a 4-1 vote. $1.4 million was approved for the purchase of the land, and approximately $60,000 was approved for site improvement, vegetation removal and public access improvements. Funding comes from the Neighborhood Parkland Acquisition Program, which is part of the Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources budget.

Owners of the next-door property at 168 Beach Road have submitted two counteroffers to the county after receiving the original offer for $1.45 million again, but a county spokesperson said neither of those counteroffers were acceptable.