A year later, Belleair Shore again extends an olive branch to Belleair Beach

BELLEAIR BEACH — Belleair Shore Vice Mayor Daniel Storie came before the City Council Oct. 5 with an olive branch and a familiar message: The two long-quarreling communities need to start working together again.

The refrain was much the same as one he delivered almost exactly a year earlier.

And, like then, the disputes remain.

The neighboring communities have been at odds on and off for more than 30 years over locked gates controlling Belleair Beach residents’ access to the beach through lots in Belleair Shore, as well as beach umbrellas and a coastal boundary that the town is trying to remove.

Those disputes were detailed last week in a Pinellas Current story, Anatomy of a Feud, which described how two municipalities that share part of a name and a shoreline became bitter beachfront neighbors.

On Oct. 6, 2025, Storie appeared before the council and called for continued cooperation and communication between the localities, saying he was willing to meet with Mayor Dave Gattis to seek a resolution, according to meeting minutes.

At that time, the council unanimously authorized Gattis to work with Storie and attorneys for both municipalities on an agreement governing the three beach access lots, minutes show.

Gattis said he welcomed Storie’s latest appearance and viewed it as “a positive step” toward reopening talks between the two communities.

“If Belleair Shore is interested in returning to the table in good faith, I believe Belleair Beach should be willing to have that conversation as well,” the mayor said.

Gattis also agreed with Storie that repeated threats of litigation have made it more difficult for the communities to reach a compromise. He said those threats have come from a relatively small group of Belleair Beach residents and do not reflect the community as a whole.

“At some point, we have to be willing to look forward,” he said.

Storie suggested one problem could be resolved fairly easily.

“I don’t think the gates should be locked,” he said. “I think that was a holdover from the storm.”

Storie said he believed the gates were ordered locked by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office during and after the 2024 hurricanes “because of damage to the accesses.”

He also said efforts to negotiate a new interlocal agreement over beach access have been stymied by infighting and threats of litigation.

“It’s really difficult to negotiate an interlocal agreement or try to reestablish a relationship under the constant threat of lawsuits,” he said.

As for the town’s legal fight against the state to remove the so-called erosion control line, or ECL, Storie downplayed its importance and potential impact.

The line marks the boundary between privately owned beachfront and state-owned land after a publicly funded beach nourishment project. The town contends the boundary was improperly recorded in 1997 and is seeking to restore its residents’ beachfront property rights.

“Whether the ECL stays or not doesn’t have a big effect on me,” Storie said. “I truly don’t believe it adversely affects Belleair Beach.”

Storie also pointed to remarks by resident Bill Lusk, who was seated behind him and had made his own plea for reconciliation at the Sept. 9 council meeting.

Lusk had urged the two municipalities to move past years of conflict and consider rebuilding their relationship once the ECL dispute is resolved — while acknowledging that “maybe there’s been too much damage.”

In a lengthy prepared statement, he called for a return to civility, saying disagreements over the ECL, beach access, umbrellas and other issues had become too personal and adversarial.

“I watched last month’s meeting and agree 100 percent with Bill Lusk,” said Storie, adding that he did not know him personally.

At one point, Storie made an apparent veiled reference to attorney and former Belleair Beach Mayor Joseph Manzo.

At the Sept. 9 council meeting, Manzo publicly warned that he would obtain an injunction against the town if it continued to keep the beach access gates locked during times when they should be open.

Manzo also recently appeared before the Belleair Shore Town Commission and warned that he would file a federal lawsuit against the town over its umbrella ban. Manzo sued the town in 2020 over the same ordinance before the town paid him $5,000 to settle the case about three years later.

“That same person is the only person that’s benefited financially to this point, and the only person being paid because there’s a dispute between the two communities,” Storie said.

Manzo, who was not in attendance, said he was unavailable to respond immediately to Storie’s remarks but planned to do so later.

Council member Frank Bankard defended Manzo during council comments near the end of the meeting.

Bankard said the threats of litigation followed Belleair Shore not amending its ordinance against “temporary shade structures” despite being approached by Manzo to do so at least twice this year.

“All the money he made on the umbrella issue, I think there was about $5,000 for about 500 hours worth of work,” Bankard said. “He didn't make no money off it. I believe he probably spent about $2,500 or $3,000. There was no cash cow.”

Bankard said he planned to join any lawsuit as a litigant, saying, “It infringes on my rights. And it infringes on everybody’s rights who use those beaches.”

By then, Storie had already left the meeting.

“I appreciate all of you guys and hopefully, moving forward, we can try to find some way of working back together again,” he said in concluding remarks, which drew mild applause from some in the audience.

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