Mayor aims to curtail growth

Anna Maria Mayor SueLynn delivered an unusual message to marketing officials who helped turn the Manatee County island city into one of the Gulf Coast's brightest tourism spots: Thanks, but no thanks.

SueLynn told the Manatee County Tourist Development Council at a recent meeting that Anna Maria has been forced into an unattainable cycle. She says more tourists, especially people who come for a day, means more money from a local resort tax, which means more funds for tourism marketing. That, in turn, means more Anna Maria visitors.

“The (council) did its job, and they did it well,” SueLynn tells Coffee Talk. “But their success has created problems for us.”

Many Gulf Coast hospitality executives would salivate over a “problem” like that. Some tourism officials and chamber honchos, further, would likely be celebrated for that kind of success.

SueLynn, though, says the issue is real and approaching crisis level. She concedes the tourism increase is great for local businesses, many of which are independently owned shops. But the surge, she says, has brought along a rowdier crowd, which has destroyed the neighborhoods. “Unless you live here and are a year-round resident, it's hard to understand what's going on,” SueLynn says. “People, the day-trippers, leave behind trash and pee in people's yards.”

SueLynn says Anna Maria officials plan to do more than just vent at local meetings. A proposal to charge for parking, for instance, is in the works, which SueLynn hopes will fend off more congestion. “We've never done that before,” says SueLynn, “but we need to do something.”