The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has challenged the city of Venice over ownership of some land adjacent to the South Jetty.

The 50-foot-wide strip of land along the Intracoastal Waterway just happens to houses Anita's Sandcastle Snack Bar and adjacent public restrooms.

Corps Chief of Management and Disposal Sharon Conklin sent a letter to City Engineer Nancy Woodley in November that claims the land is right of way that belongs to and must be controlled by the federal government.

But in a brief response last week, City Attorney Bob Anderson stated that the city disagrees with the Corps' claim of ownership.

She said

Attached to Conklin's letter was a drawing of the South Jetty area, which she described as "the easement to the United States, that gives the government the perpetual right to enter upon the land in question for the construction, maintenance or enlargement of the Federal project."

According to Conklin, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers must maintain at least a 50-foot-wide strip of land along the Intracoastal in order to perform any future major construction that may be necessary there.

"Therefore," Conklin stated, "this ... strip of land must be free of the existing encroachments ... . (T)he city of Venice must remove the concession stand/restroom facilities, together with all utilities, from this strip of land."

Conklin did express the willingness of the Corps to allow the concession stand to remain in place for up to six months while negotiating a suitable place elsewhere on the easement to relocate it. She concluded by recommending that representatives of the two parties meet to discuss such alternatives.

He said

Anderson's letter took exception to the Corps' request, based on his opinion that the land belongs to the city. He included deeds that show that the strip of land in question was included in a parcel "conveyed to the city by Sarasota County, Florida." Then he briefly stated the city's response to Conklin's letter:

"It is the city's position that the subject improvements are located on land owned by the city of Venice, and that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the West Coast Inland Navigation District consented to construction of the subject improvements, that no encroachment exists, and that removal of the improvements is not required. In light of the city's position, the city of Venice declines your offer ... to meet and discuss alternate locations ... ."

Before Anita's Sandcastle was built in 2003, the city of Venice got the approval of both the Corps and WCIND for an exact location upon which they had all agreed. So the letter from Conklin surprised everyone at the city, as well as concession owner Anita Deans, who leases from the city.

What now?

The city attorney's response puts the ball squarely back in the Corps' court. After comparing and analyzing the apparently conflicting deeds, it will have to decide which is legal and enforceable, and whether it wants to pursue its challenge further.

Anderson indicated he hoped this will be just a routine matter of the Corps finding out it was incorrect about the ownership issue.

"However," he said, "if they still disagree for some reason, we will always be willing to sit down with them to find out on what grounds they are taking that position. At this point we have no reason to think our paperwork is not in order on this matter."

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