SARASOTA, Fla. — It's a growing problem in our area with watercraft operators taking up space at public parks and some doing business there illegally.
That's why the city of Sarasota is sounding a warning and cracking down on JetSki and Wave Runner rentals operating out of city parks.
Legitimate operators who are abiding by city policy said this move is a welcome development that is aimed at keeping tourists safe.
"How can you assume that these people even take care of their equipment? Do you want to be out in the middle of the golf somewhere and have your jet ski breakdown? Do you want to be the person that caused harm or injury or death to somebody else because you didn't know what you were doing none of that nobody wants that," Jason Ross of SunWorld Watersports said.
Ross, whose operation is licensed, said "fly-by-night operators" booking tourists through online platforms like Facebook Marketplace and conducting transactions at city parks are putting people in danger.
He said the illegal operators skirt the rules to get around insurance and permit requirements to operate more vessels putting revenue over people.
"If they're not going to tell you how to do emergency procedures in case something does go wrong. If they're not going to tell you about local characteristics and how to respect other boaters. If they're not going to tell you, particularly how to avoid contributing to the negative stigma that most JetSkis have. Then they are not somebody you should be renting your JetSki from," said Ross.
Aside from meeting with clients, which itself isn't illegal, some of the operators are conducting business transactions at public parks.
"I have no problem or no shame saying it, those guys have made our lives very difficult because they make the world out there much less safe for other people and we don't condone it," he said.
The city of Sarasota isn't condoning it anymore either. They have now launched code enforcement teams to patrol city boat ramps and parks in search of violators.
"A lot of of them aren't aware that you can't do monetary transactions, so really, this truly is about educating everybody that comes through the boat ramp not just potential violators but everybody," Diane Kennedy, a code compliance manager, said.
The code compliance team has started an education campaign by handing out fliers to boat ramp users. So far they have distributed around 400 fliers in two weeks.
The fliers contain a reminder that transacting business, including the swiping of credit cards or exchanging money in public recreation areas, constitutes a city code violation.
"Dropping off and picking up or meeting your people is fine. It's where you take the transactions on this site that we're concerned about," Kennedy said.
"Our business model is very strictly structured to the fact that you must book online. We don't even do paperwork here. All waivers and contracts and everything are all done digitally and over the internet. The only thing that we do here is meet the people tell them how to be safe and put them in the water," Ross said.
"It's bad and the fact that they are doing something to weed these bad actors out, I am 100% for it," he added.
In addition to code enforcement visibility, vehicles with boat trailers that take up multiple parking spaces, especially at the nearby lot for the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, will start seeing parking citations being enforced. Those citations can cost anything from $35 to $140 for repeat offenders.
Meanwhile, there is a related development for those operating businesses out of county-owned public parks.
The Sarasota County Board of Commissioners is expected to name the five members of the task force to look into solutions for charter boat and watercraft operations at their meeting next week.
Once the members have been chosen and schedules set up, they will hold regular meetings throughout the summer.