Redneck Yacht Club future in question after deadly incident

CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla.- After a Memorial Day tragedy at Redneck Yacht Club, some are saying ‘enough is enough.’

Twenty-year-old Nicholas Kirk died in an ATV accident. Many say the place is so dangerous that it needs to be shut down.

“There isn’t anything that isn’t allowed there. The girls run around on ATVs with no clothes on. You see people having sex on top of a truck. I’m not kidding,” said Dawn Erickson, who used to work at Redneck Yacht Club and lives nearby the attraction.

She tells WINK News exclusively that she’s seen what goes on inside the gates and won’t ever allow her teenage sons to go back.

“When I was collecting the money, I was wondering how they even drove here that’s how intoxicated there are,” said Erickson.

With little regulation from the county, a bring your own alcohol policy and events that center around driving– people say it’s a dangerous and hazardous environment.

We took the concerns to Charlotte County officials.

“It’s just a matter of how far can we go, how far are they willing to go. Once you start trying to go back to a project that’s been in existence for more than a decade and putting new restrictions you can have legal issues and things like that,” said Shaun Cullinan, a planning and zoning official with Charlotte County.

He says the county didn’t really understand what it was getting into when approving the permit.

“True, we didn’t know what it was. There are pros and cons to everything with the newest one, Tracks and Trails, we did learn from some of the issues that have occurred in are still occurring with Redneck Yacht Club,” said Cullinan.

Redneck Yacht Club tells WINK News they have partnered with the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, added new security guards and meet with county leaders consistently to make it a safe attraction.

Management, county officials and the sheriff’s office plan to meet soon to talk about the circumstances surrounding the deadly incident.