"As it stands today, we can build six without any vote," Ben ten Haaf told the Anna Maria Island Sun on a walk across his empty Gulf-front lot at 2902 Avenue E. "By doing this, you're going to get the lesser density."
Holmes Beach voters get one city referendum on the Nov. 3, 2026 ballot, and that quote sums up why it's unusual. Most fights over land on the island follow a familiar pattern, with a developer asking for more and neighbors asking for less. In this one, the owner asking for a yes vote says it would cut the number of homes on the site by two-thirds. The real disagreement is narrower and older. It's about whether a strip of city land should go to a private owner when nothing in the ballot language says what the city would get back.
What's actually on the ballot
The Manatee County Supervisor of Elections sample ballot prints the question this way:
"Shall the City vacate an unused and inaccessible ten-foot-wide alleyway bisecting the coastal residential property at 2902 Avenue East from north to south, where such alleyway shall be vacated in favor of the property owner for that property, where such alleyway is not directly connected to any public right-of-way, prior rights of way have already been vacated, and the City Commission approved such vacation by supermajority vote at public hearings?"
A yes vote approves the vacation and a no vote denies it. This is on the ballot at all because the Holmes Beach City Charter says any vacation of city-owned land needs a majority vote of the city's registered voters. The commission can recommend one, but it can't approve it alone.
The wording covers access, prior vacations and the commission's supermajority. It says nothing about how many houses would be built. That number comes only from the owner's own statements, and it's the center of the case for a yes vote.
A leftover from 1959
According to the city staff report, the alley is 10 feet wide and 150 feet long, which works out to 1,500 square feet. It runs between parent parcels that total 34,000 square feet. The property was platted as six lots, three on each side of the alley, and most of them measure about 50 by 100 feet. The alley runs parallel to the Gulf shoreline, so it puts three lots on the beach side and three on the Avenue E side.
Ten Haaf says in his letter to voters that the strip is an accident of paperwork. Here's how he and the city describe it:
- 1959. By resolution, Holmes Beach vacated the stretch of alley to the north. The 150-foot dead-end piece stayed in city hands.
- 1988. A survey showed the whole alley as vacated.
- 2024. Ten Haaf bought the property in January and later tore down the hurricane-damaged house on it. That same year, the surveyor behind the 1988 survey went looking for the resolution covering the middle stretch and couldn't find one.
- 2025. City commissioners voted unanimously at two public hearings to approve Ordinance 25-10, which backs the vacation, subject to conditions being met.
- June 23, 2026. With Commissioner Dan Diggins absent, the commission voted 4-0 to adopt Resolution 26-06, which put the question on the November ballot.
Attorney Garret Barnes, who represents ten Haaf and Blowfish Island Inc., told the commission that the alleys on either side were already vacated when the lots were bought. "We don't know why it wasn't vacated," he said. Part of the old alley still works. It crosses 30th Street a block or so north of the property.
Why fewer houses needs the alley gone
If the alley were simply blocking construction, this would be a story about an owner trying to build more. It doesn't block construction. MuniPlan consultant Monica Simpson, who is working with ten Haaf, said that because these are platted lots, "there could be six houses there with the alley still in place." The Sun reported that current zoning on the Gulf-front property would allow six residential structures.
What the alley rules out is a design that runs from the Avenue E side all the way to the beach. With the alley in place, houses have to sit on one side of it or the other. "The only way to use the property right now is to build houses back here and houses up here," ten Haaf said. His plan is to "split it right down the middle and just have two houses," each with a Gulf view. He said they would likely be offered as vacation rentals and would be capped at four bedrooms each, eight in total. He compares that to what the land allows today: "It's zoned and platted for 24 bedrooms."
The number of homes in the proposal has dropped over time. In an April 2025 letter to the city, Barnes offered to build on three of the six lots "as an accommodation to the city." He later told the city the owner now plans two.
| If the vacation passes | If it fails | |
|---|---|---|
| Who owns the alley | The property owner at 2902 Avenue E | The City of Holmes Beach |
| Lot layout | Alley gone, so the land can be split down the middle into two Gulf-to-street parcels | Six platted lots, three on each side of the alley |
| What the owner says he'll build | Two homes, four bedrooms each, likely vacation rentals | Zoning allows up to six residential structures |
| Compensation to the city | Not specified in the ballot language | Not applicable |
The question raised at City Hall
Only two sets of doubts made the public record, and neither was about density. At the June 23 meeting, Commissioner Jessica Patel asked whether vacating the alley meant the city would be giving the land away and getting nothing back. City Attorney Randy Mora called it a housekeeping action. He said the alley helps the neighboring owner and does nothing for the city, and he noted the commission had already decided the city didn't need the property.
Public comment raised concerns about precious Island land and the significant financial gain the strip could bring the recipient. An earlier deal involving the Cooper property, where Holmes Beach got land in exchange for vacating city property, raised the question of what the city would get this time.
The staff report answers the practical concerns but not the payment question. Staff found no public utilities or emergency-access need in the alley. They called it inaccessible to the public and not reasonably expected to serve the public, and they noted that the lots will still be reached from Avenue E, an improved street. The report also says there's an existing public beach access right next to the property on the south side, so the alley isn't how anyone gets to the sand. It says the city doesn't know what the adjacent owners think.
Avenue E has been through this before. In 2009, The Islander reported on a different alley-vacation request on the same street, where several commissioners objected to giving away public beachfront property. That article doesn't record how the request turned out.
For voters, the choice comes down to two things. One is a promise of two homes instead of a by-right six. The other is a 1,500-square-foot strip of public land that the city's own staff can find no public use for, going to the owner under ballot wording that doesn't mention compensation.
Who else is on the Holmes Beach ballot
The alley is the only city referendum. There's no Holmes Beach charter amendment this year. Voters will also elect a mayor and fill two commission seats, all for two-year terms starting Nov. 14, 2026. Mayor Judy Titsworth holds the mayor's seat now, and Daniel Diggins and Carol Whitmore hold the two commission seats.
- Mayor: Dan Diggins and David L. Zaccagnino
- City Commission, two seats: John J. Azzata, Mark Hebden and Carol Whitmore
The AMI Sun held a candidates forum at City Hall on Oct. 1, and it posted video of the forum on amisun.com.
When and where to vote
Dates and locations from the City of Holmes Beach election page and Vote Manatee:
- Vote-by-mail request deadline: 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026. Completed mail ballots are due by 7 p.m. on Election Day.
- Early voting: Monday, Oct. 19 through Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, at any early-voting center in the county. When this was written, the county had not posted a full list of November center addresses, so check Vote Manatee before you go.
- Election Day: Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., at the Manatee County Island Branch Library, 5701 Marina Drive, Holmes Beach.
Island lot lines often hold history like this, where one missing resolution from 1959 can decide what gets built on a Gulf-front parcel decades later. If you own property in Holmes Beach and want to know how platting, old rights-of-way or zoning affect what your land can hold and what it's worth, Renne' Rupp can walk through it with you. Request a Free Home Valuation and we'll start with your parcel's actual record.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
