Bearded Clam Owners Take County to Dispute Resolution

The owners of the Bearded Clam Waterfront Restaurant and Tiki Bar are not giving up on their quest to have live amplified bands at their establishment.

The couple won approval Tuesday, July 26, to meet with Manatee County representatives to try to mediate an agreement to lift or modify the 13-year-old restrictions on the business they bought last year.

County commissioners had little choice in alllowing staff to participate in a dispute resolution session with the Bearded Clam's owners, Terri Pulaski and Wesley Rose, after the couple filed a legal challenge to the restrictions. The vote was part of the county's consent agenda and elicited no discussion.

In a court filing, the couple claimed that the county has denied them their due process by placing additional restriction on their tiki bar business, rather than allowing them to simply comply with the county's noise ordinance.

The couple purchased the business last year, but Pulaski has said they did not realize that the county had imposed stipulations on the property more than a dozen years ago. Those restrictions prevent them from playing amplified music outdoors and require that acoustic music stop at 7 p.m.

The business, off of Tamiami Trail in southern Manatee County, is just across a narrow channel from the Whitfield neighborhood, where waterfront homes come with docks and lots of outdoor living space.

In their petition, the owners of the Bearded Clam claim that they will lose $235,000 a year if the county commission does not lift the restrictions on the business.

The couple also claims that there is no evidence that they have violated the county's noise ordinance and that live music would not violate the ordinance.

Last spring, neighbors called the county's code enforcement and the sheriff's office coming from the tiki bar. After months of calls and visits to the county commission, the neighbors won an injunction against the business.

Pulaski and Wesley then met with commissioners and county staff and agreed to sign a consent injunction, but have been working to lift the restrictions since then.

Neighbors are still opposed to lifting any of the restrictions on the business.

"The basic fundamental issue is they never had a right to do what they did," said Ron Getman, a former county commissioner who lives across a narrow span of water from the bar. "They are trying to shoehorn in a Key West-style bar in a residential neighborhood. That's what zoning is all about"

If the dispute is not settled in a meeting with county officials, the couple will then be able to appeal to the courts.