{"id":149935,"date":"2026-02-10T08:32:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T08:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/149935\/"},"modified":"2026-02-10T08:32:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T08:32:10","slug":"rally-set-to-oppose-cruise-port","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/149935\/","title":{"rendered":"Rally set to oppose cruise port"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>       <a href=\"\" class=\"thickbox\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"thumb image\" class=\"wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/port-Terra-Ceia-sign-TOP2-021126-ra-768x1024.jpg\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>A sign opposing a proposed cruise ship terminal is posted in Terra Ceia Bay near Paradise Island. Islander Photo: Courtesy Bob Bustle<\/p>\n<p>Opponents of a proposed cruise ship terminal south of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge plan a rally Feb. 14 in Terra Ceia as public scrutiny intensifies and Manatee County officials emphasize that the project remains in an early stage of review.<\/p>\n<p>The Save the Bay rally will be 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at Seabreeze Park, 55 Horseshoe Loop, Terra Ceia.<\/p>\n<p>Organizers described the event as an informational and organizing gathering.<\/p>\n<p>A promotional poster for the event advertised a \u201cRally to Stop the Cruise Port Development.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Geoff Click, a Terra Ceia resident and administrator of the People Protecting Terra Ceia Aquatic Preserve page on Facebook, said in a Feb. 5 interview that the gathering is intended to connect residents with environmental, legal and planning expertise and help them understand how to participate in the public process.<\/p>\n<p>Click said the goal is to bring together people with shared concerns and coordinate the next steps in opposition to the proposed terminal, including outreach to elected officials and preparation for public hearings.<\/p>\n<p>The cruise terminal proposal is centered on the 328-acre Knott-Cowen tract near Terra Ceia and Rattlesnake Key. Developers submitted to Manatee County a pre-application request, which allows county staff to provide preliminary feedback but does not authorize construction.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Public debate<\/p>\n<p>Concerns about the tone of public discourse over the port project were raised during public comment at a Feb. 5 county planning commission meeting, where people urged the board to uphold land-use protections while rejecting harassment or intimidation.<\/p>\n<p>The harassment issue surfaced after county administrator Charlie Bishop issued a letter Feb. 4 condemning threats directed at county employees and their families.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe certainly hope that nobody would ever threaten any kind of harassment or violence against anybody that\u2019s a county employee, an elected official, or certainly a family member,\u201d Click said. \u201cThat\u2019s not something that we condone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to the planning commission, Click said reports of threats \u201care not condoned or supported\u201d and do not reflect the Terra Ceia community.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does represent this community is lawful, persistent participation and a reasonable expectation that adopted plans and protections will be respected and upheld,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Others at the meeting focused on environmental and planning matters.<\/p>\n<p>George Smith, who lives in nearby Palmetto Point, said dredging and ship traffic could worsen water quality vulnerable to nutrient pollution.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe prop wash from ships and the dredging will stir up phosphorus in the soil,\u201d Smith said. \u201cWhen nitrogen and phosphorus are combined, it creates algae growth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Elaine Johnson, a Palmetto resident, said a cruise terminal should not be treated as a routine zoning matter. \u201cA cruise port is a high-impact, industrial use,\u201d she said. \u201cIt would fundamentally alter the character and livability of the entire community.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Following public comment, Matt Bower, the commission\u2019s third vice chair, urged people to remain engaged and civil.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStaff has a job. Whether they like it or not, they must proceed in accordance with their job rules, ordinances, state laws,\u201d Bower said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis planning commission and your board of county commissioners cannot state for or against a scenario,\u201d he added, warning that \u201cany evidence of bias gives an applicant a basis for potentially overturning decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>More from The Islander:\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A sign opposing a proposed cruise ship terminal is posted in Terra Ceia Bay near Paradise Island. Islander&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":149936,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[72469,502,10001,115,202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-149935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-02-11-2026","tag-community","tag-feature","tag-news","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=149935"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149935\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/149936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}