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In Manatee County, Florida, officials are calling for respectful discourse as resistance mounts against a proposed cruise terminal near the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.
Recently, a petition opposing the development has garnered over 17,000 signatures, and concerned community members have been attending county meetings to express their disapproval.
Currently, SSA Marine or Slip Knott LLC has not formally submitted an application to the county for the project.
Deputy County Administrator Courtney De Pol emphasized the importance of maintaining civility, noting, “The feedback we’ve received has become increasingly worrisome, and we felt it necessary to take a precautionary approach as tensions rise, reminding the public to treat staff with respect.”
“The public comment that we have received has just become increasingly concerning and we just wanted to make sure that we took a little bit of a precautionary stance as things have gotten a little bit more heated to remind the public to just be respectful of staff,” said De Pol.
De Pol said some county employees’ children were harassed at school over the proposal.
“No formal application has been made yet, so you can understand our concern if this gets increasingly more aggressive, it is going to get much much more difficult for our staff. Right now, they have only done a pre-application meeting,” said De Pol.
The sheriff’s office said that it hasn’t received any reports of threats from the county related to the proposal.
Residents near the proposed site are keeping a close eye on the plans. Many who live near the site say the project, if approved, would permanently alter Terra Ceia.
The roughly 300-acre plot of land that could be developed sits only a couple of hundred yards from their homes, in an area that right now is packed with mangroves and mainly untouched.
“What is that stake is, if this gets backfilled and dredged in order to accommodate these big ships, we are going to lose all of this natural habitat. It is something that can’t be replaced, it is something that doesn’t exist anywhere else in the area,” said resident Geoff Click. “There is just so much to lose. I’ve got a six-year-old, I’ve got a 14-year-old and they love it here. We get out, we kayak, we fish and just the idea that that could be taken away so we could have a 24-hour port with big lights and sounds and security just, it is just kind of disgusting.”
He and others in his community plan to stay engaged and voice their opposition if plans move forward.
“I can understand people getting irritated, however, we are not going to be threatening anybody and I haven’t seen anybody do that. I think if that is happening, I think it should be pursued and investigated. I think anybody that is doing that is completely out of line and there is a right way and a wrong way, and we are going to fight it the right way,” said Click.
County leaders stress SSA Marine has not submitted a formal application and say there will be multiple opportunities for public input if the project advances.
The Manatee County Board of County Commissioners will have the final say if the project moves forward.