Letters to the Editor – February 2010
Q&A with Town Manager over breakwater solution
To: Town Manager Bruce St. Denis
Bruce, thank you and Juan Florensa (Public Works Director) for discussing where we are and what the future may hold with me and George Byl. Before I mention the results of our meeting to the owners, I would like to confirm some information. Am I correct in the following thoughts:
1. Your hope would be to manage the inlet and not have the breakwaters. It would be less expensive and make sand available more readily.
St. Denis response: This is the ideal situation. However I would favor this only if we can get a significant supply of sand on the north end in the next nine to 12 months. If not, my recommendation will be to move forward with the breakwaters next fall. I don’t think we can risk going two years without something in place.
2. To nourish our beach as we did in 05/06 with the Federal Funds due to the City from the loss of that sand is unlikely. Only about a 10% chance to get approval.
St. Denis: These funds would be FEMA reimbursements from sand losses associated with Fay, Gustav and Ike. I am confident that renourishment to offset these losses will happen eventually. What I give the low likelihood is the chance to fill the profile to what we did in 2005 within the next 9 to 12 months. This is the best possible option and we will continue to pursue vigorously.
3. There is 20,000 to 25,000 cubic yards of sand available from West Coast Navigational District that we may be able to get this year and placed from Periwinkle south to Broadway. Less sand will be placed at Periwinkle and more as it goes south. Because we lose sand from south to north, Periwinkle will continue to be nourished as the sand travels north from Broadway. (hopefully)
St. Denis: WCIND anticipates 20,000 yards available but we are asking for a permit for 7,500 to 8,000. We do not think that we could get more than that and there is no guarantee on even getting the smaller amount done. We may be able to do something in March. We may need to go across Longbeach property to place some of this sand. Will you grant us access?
4. The Breakwaters have little chance of approval and implementation in November of 2010, but a 70%+ chance of implementation in January of 2011. We did not talk about this, but are the Geo Tubes being permitted at the same time? May they be used instead of the the Breakwaters if it appears that other alternatives are possible? The Geo Tubes are less expensive and easier to implement and remove.
St. Denis: I actually gave the 70 percent for November 2010 through May 2011. We may be able to construct after May 2011 since we will not be on the beach and will be working only in daylight hours. We are looking at the feasibility of constructing the breakwaters with geotubes. Understand that I cannot imagine that your owners will be thrilled with geotubes.
5. If the Breakwaters, after a reasonable period of time, prove not to work in saving our beaches, the City of Longboat Key will remove them and institute another alternative.
St. Denis: If they are not effective we will probably be required to remove them. I cannot say that we will implement another alternative. That will depend on the Town Commission at the time.
6. You would not look positively on an Engineer of our choice attending working meetings between Longboat Key and Manatee County.
St. Denis: Agreed.
Your thought is that until the Committee comes up with a number of alternatives, the presence of outside ideas will be redundant.
St. Denis: That is not what I said.
7. CP&E as an Engineering firm works for both the City and Manatee County. They are directed to study the inlet and how it is functioning and to come up with a number of alternatives. From the alternatives presented CP&E will give pluses and minus’ and emphasize the two or three that they feel the Joint Committee and the City Councils of each community should consider. At that time, our owners and our engineer will have input.
St. Denis: I don’t know what you mean about the joint committee. However, the discussion will occur in a public forum. Your folks will have plenty of opportunity for input.
Bruce, am I correct in the above thoughts? Were there other important points that we discussed that should be brought up to our owners?
St. Denis: Not that I can recall.
Please continue to call and I will be pleased to meet with you or any and all of your owners at any time. Once again, thanks for the time and information.
Bob Appel
President, Longbeach Condo Association
Good contracting work
To: Town Manager Bruce St. Denis, Public Works Director Juan Florensa
As discussed briefly with you in the field Bruce, I am positively impressed with the work of our contractor, particularly on the Bay Isles Parkway/Bay Isles Road segment. Contractor has completed this job including dewatering, excavation, installation, backfill and cleanup with dispatch and minimum interference with public access. Please pass to all concerned.
Peter O’Connor
Commissioner, Longboat Key
To: Commissioner Peter O’Connor
I agree commissioner. We are lucky to have gotten such a good contractor. We also have a P.E. that knows the Town well and wrote an incredibly tight spec regarding phasing and clean up. You may remember Laura Andrews.
Bruce St. Denis
Town Manager, Longboat Key
Time to be cynical
To: Editor
There was no biographical data on what Tom Burgum does professionally. If I had to guess, I would say that this self-described “cynic” is either a corporate lobbyist, in which case he is well paid for his very one-sided opinions, or a corporate stooge, in which case has been seduced by the multi-million corporate ad campaigns. More likely the latter is true, and he is one of those people who wear teabags on their hats, angry at government, media, etc. and seemingly unaware that they are spouting corporate propaganda. Referring to his own “cynicism,” it reminds me of Sen. Joe Lieberman voting his “conscience” insofar as health care reform is concerned. Of course, in Lieberman’s case, conscience is spelled A-E-T-N-A.
If Burgum is to be credible as an “angry cynic” he should first get his facts straight. To say that Obama will create as much a deficit in 2 years as Bush did in 8 years is a total misrepresentation. Bush took over a $200 billillion plus surplus, and ran it up to a trillion plus deficit. It did so by unfunded tax cuts and two unfunded wars. In doing so he mortgaged our children and grandchildren’s future to pay more and more interest on his irresponsible debt. (Burgum seemed to be very comfortable with the justification for going to war in Iraq, although there were no Iraqis in the 9/11 attacks, Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction and posed no threat to the United States). Obama, who inherited the worst recession since the great depression, has no choice but to increase the deficit in order to turn the economy around. However, his proposed spending is nowhere near the $1.2 trillion plus squandering of Bush from 2001 to 2008.
Another synonym for Burgum’s “cynicism” is “science denial”. Global warming is not a theory. It is a scientific fact upheld by most knowledgeable and respected scientists, save a few that have been seduced by corporate dollars. It reminds one of the recent Asolo production of “The Life of Galileo,” in which wealthy landowners use the Church to subjugate the peasants. When Galileo’s science threatens their way of life, they use the Church to crack down on him, deny his science, and force him to recant his work. Burgum compared global warming to someone “urinating on his leg.” By the same token, I would compare his column to male bovine excrement getting all over my copy of the Longboat Key News.
Roy Diton
Longboat Key
Burgum responds
Some readers have wondered if I represented major corporations during my two decades as a lobbyist. The answer, I regret, is no, but, I can assure you it was not for a lack of trying. A representative list of clients would include, a municipal water district in California, a Parish in Louisiana, communities in Missouri, Virginia, Illinois, and North Dakota, a university on the West Coast, and several Indian tribes. I have not been anxious to admit to my lobbying activities because my relatives in North Dakota think I am playing piano in a brothel. Damn, I do hate to disappoint those folks.
Tom Burgum
Columnist, Longboat Key News
PIC should change name
To: Editor
Since the Public Interest Committee (PIC) has changed its focus from fighting development and commercialism on Longboat Key to endorsing pro-growth, I would suggest it change its name to the Commercial Interest Committee. Seems to me they no longer support the “Public Interest” and should not claim that they do!
Ray Rajewski
Longboat Key
PIC endorsements worthless
To: The voters of Longboat Key
It was certainly obnoxious reading about PIC’s endorsements of candidates for the three Commissioner’s seats coming up for election, notably the omission of Peter O’Connor. What is even more blatant of PIC’S endorsements is the fact that they never justify their position for doing so. This does not fly with me. Thank God I have never been a robot in my life. It took courage to go before PIC, this almighty board, to be interviewed. This guy has guts!
It was my good fortune to see Commissioner Peter O’Connor in action at the hearings. My immediate reaction was: this is a man you want on that commission! Why? He did not pussy foot around with the Key Club’s antics of deliberately stalling the proceedings. In fact he was the only one who took the Club to task about wasting time and especially the taxpayer’s money. If you read the transcripts of the hearings you will be amazed at his perceptive questioning of the Club’s attorneys.
To PIC I say, “Please spare me the insult of bringing my intelligence into question.” As far as I am concerned if you can’t make a comparison between candidates and justify your action, then your endorsements are worthless. There is an army on Longboat who feels as I do.
Carmel Izzo
Longboat Key
PIC attendance explained
To: Commissioner Peter O’Connor
I have become aware of your unhappiness with my attendance at the recent PIC meeting, in which candidates interested in serving on the Longboat Key Town Commission were interviewed by the PIC Board.
I am not a member of PIC, although like you, I have met with them and requested their support on various issues, including the Club’s current redevelopment application. However, the redevelopment had nothing to do with my attendance at this meeting.
As you may know, Brenda Patten is one of the Club’s attorneys and a member of PIC. The invitation from PIC did not preclude its members from inviting residents of the community as guests. I attended as her guest, for the exact reason specified on the invitation; to participate in my community.
The Club’s application is not my only responsibility or interest. I am a resident and a business person on the Island, and as much as anyone else who fits that description, I have an interest in the candidates for leadership of our town and their ideas. I can hardly pretend otherwise until the application is decided, by sticking my head in the sand. The purpose of my attendance was not to harass or influence anyone’s vote. I am sorry you had that opinion and sorrier still that you elected to announce it publicly.
Moving forward, I hope this letter will serve to clarify any misconceptions about my attendance at the meeting.
Michael Welly
General Manager
Longboat Key Club and Resort
Erosion problem solutions
To the Editor:
I have been very familiar with erosion problems in New York and New Jersey (Fire Island, NY and Long Beach Island, NJ). Groins were used in both areas, but in different ways and with different results. On Long Beach Island groins were placed at regular intervals up and down the island with great success. Every five to 10 years some sand had to be replenished but the entire length of the island maintained a good beach usable throughout the year, every year, by many people.
On Fire Island two groins were placed at the most devastated area. As a result the entire beach to the west was washed out every year and many houses were lost. Sand had to be replenished annually at various areas, but the erosion never stopped.
Conclusion: If you want to use groins, do it throughout the entire island, not just at the eroded spots.
Additional Recommendation: About 40 years ago some scientists recommended using a barge that would take the sand from one end of the island and dump it at the end where sand was being washed away. Yes, it would have to be done every day, every year. But it would stabilize the beach evenly and without groins. A useful, if not a popular, option.
Barbara Balaban
Longboat Key visitor
Strong support for Key Club
To: Town Commission
We purchased a condominium in June, 2009 at the Longboat Key Towers. We also joined the Longboat Key Club. We strongly support the development!
Amy and Barry Renninger
Longboat Key
Don’t let Longboat be passé
To: Town Commission
I am for the development. Longboat Key will be passé without it.
Gloria Kleven
Longboat Key
Don’t let Town die
To: Town Commission
Please note that my wife and I are permanent residents and support the club’s application for new hotel and other improvements. Please do not let our Town die due to shortsightedness.
Faye and Martin Rosen
Longboat Key
Key Club will change character of Key
To: Town Commission
We do not support changes to the land use for the Longboat Key Club. They would dismantle the golf driving rage, would change completely the character of the area and invite horrible traffic for years on end. We would be terribly disappointed if you vote to approve this change.
Carole & Ira Singer
Longboat Key
Club renovation can be positive for Key
To: Commissioner Peter O’Connor
I support the revised Longboat Key Club plan and thank the Commission for being thorough and diligent in the review. We understand this is an important and difficult decision. We have lived here since 1993 and have sadly watched the exodus of local business. Longboat Key needs a healthy mix of residential with commercial/service/recreational facilities to sustain property values and a prosperous future. The Club renovation can be a real positive for Longboat and I look to the Commission to sort out the best result from their proposal.
Patricia Heffron
Longboat Key
Key Club can revitalize the economy
To: Town Commission
As homesteaded taxpayers and lovers of Longboat Key we urge you to approve the revised plans of the Key Club. We feel there has been a decline in the quality of life on the Key due to the many closings of shops, restaurants and hotels/motels. We believe the plans will enhance the gateway to the Key and revitalize the economy of the island.
Gerald and Margot Robinson
Longboat Key
Vote against massive hotel
To: Town Commission
I request that you vote against the massive a 12 story Hotel (11 stories + 1 level parking) which would scar the key forever and would negate the adjustment of other building heights to 3 and 4 stories across the street from the hotel. The hotel should not be more than the same total 4 or 5 stories based on the same rationale. Thank you for zoning Longboat Key for the long term while allowing business to grow.
Brian Kelly
Longboat Key
Don’t let Longboat become irrelevant
To: Town Commission
I wrote a letter months ago in support of the Longboat Key Club expansion plans. There is no need at this time for me to repeat the numerous reasons why it should pass. I think you have heard them all — over and over. Never did I think that in mid-February, this issue would still be up for discussion and without a final “yes” vote!
I sat in on several of the P&Z hearings, often in disbelief at some of the reasoning behind IPOC’s (Islandside Property Owner’s Coalition) refusal to support a plan that would benefit Longboat Key for years to come. We need this investment by the Club and Loeb, and anyone who can’t see that is sadly shortsighted — and maybe a bit selfish. The Club has made numerous alterations to its original plan, as well as other concessions, but they always seem to be met by yet another glitch.
Now we are reduced to nitpicking over tee times for the proposed hotel. Enough is enough! As commissioners, you need to take a stand for the future of this community. We are at crucial crossroad between growth and a dangerous stagnation that could impact property values and tourism for years to come. No developer will ever dare set foot on this island if you reject the Club’s proposed plan, leaving us to become irrelevant to Florida’s growing West Coast. Please do the right thing for Longboat Key and the plan’s many, many supporters, and pass this plan now!
Roberta Brody
Longboat Key
Club plan support
We strongly support the Longboat Key Club expansion. Please vote to allow this program to go forward!
James and Luanne Wright
Longboat Key
Club has good intentions
To: Town Commission
I would like to add my support for the new plan and hope that it also meets with your approval. I am a Key Club member, and 35-year Longboat Key resident or visitor. I believe that the club has good intentions and will endeavor to make this a good situation for residents.
David Baughman
Longboat Key
Key Club will create jobs
To: Town Commission
It will be an asset to our County to approve the revised plan for Longboat Key Club. We need hotels to accommodate the influx of tourists visiting our beautiful island, and will create positions for employment, which is important for people seeking jobs.
The revenue and taxes received from this new development will be a financially supportive to the City/County of Sarasota.
Angie Campbell
Longboat Key
Key Club critical to community
To: Town Commission
I have been privileged to live on Longboat Key for just seven years but my husband, Woody, has lived here 24 years. During these times we have seen our community go from a thriving island to a community that no longer fosters sensible growth. The restaurants and commercial developments must justify staying on Longboat Key and the impact of the Longboat Key Club’s plan will greatly enhance their decisions in the future. At one time, Longboat Key was considered a destination. With the continued elimination of hotel rooms and resort services, the number of people visiting our island has diminished and our restaurants and local commercial developments have continued to suffer. For year round residents many of the restaurants close during some summer months because it is too costly to stay open.
This development will create a much needed “shot in the arm.” It will enhance our summer activity and help our commercial stores. More business people will be enamored by our island, as we are, and want to have a home here. This can only improve our property values. It will allow the Longboat Key Club to enhance the golf course and provide additional services to the visitors and members. It will improve our tax base and add a resort image to our island once again. Not only will it help Longboat Key, but it will bring small business conferences, reunions and events to Sarasota. This is something desperately needed in our cultural environment. As full time homeowners and a business operator on this island, we strongly urge for you to support and approve this development – it is critical to keep our community viable.
Woody and Sue Wolverton
Longboat Key
Elected officials need to protect citizens from blatant disregard for the code
To: Town Commission
It is quite interesting to me that so many people are discussing the tee time arrangements, who gets a day advantage, etc. Sounds like unfocused politics to me.
What you should be discussing and spending your time on is how you can protect the people that have invested heavily in this golf club — i.e., $50,000 or in my case $20,000 — and you are considering approving a proposition where you take away our driving range to put in condos and a hotel! Who in the world would invest $50,000 in a golf course that does not have a driving range? I would never have invested in Longboat Key property with this evaluation. I honestly cannot figure out how the Commission could consider an egregious disregard for the building codes that invited us to invest here! You are elected to protect us, and not sell us down the river. Where is your integrity that you would consider succumbing to such disregard for the people that trust you to keep our life style intact?
As an elected official you need to protect us from just a blatant disregard for the code. We will continue to fight for our rights no matter the cost. I hope you will defend the rights of our citizens and our golf members! God Bless America and Longboat Key!
Les Brualdi
Longboat Key
Development will mean Longboat moves forward
To: Town Commission
This e-mail is written to let the Commission know that we support the proposal of the Longboat Key Club. We are residents living behind the gates on Longboat Key Club and face the golf course. Our support is based on the following reasons:
1.This development will help provided needed improvements to Longboat Key.
2. This development represents a substantial investment in the growth of Longboat Key made during a time when few are willing to make such investment.
3. This development will mean that Longboat Key will continue to move forward rather than sliding toward further economic decline.
4. This development will bring the “right” sized conferences to this environment and encourage the use of restaurants and other services in this area.
Please vote to approve this proposal.
Dorothy O’Brien, Dick Antoine
Longboat Key
Don’t placate a few ornery misanthropes
To: Town Commission
Please start exercising some common sense and start to think about the future of Longboat Key. You must make the decision to accept the application of the club’s plans for expansion immediately. How much longer do you think that the Club will put up with your nonsense and debating? What kind of a reputation is your constant bickering and indecision making to potential businesses and residents that might consider coming to our paradise?…Not a good one. The business atmosphere on the island can be said to smell like dead fish–it stinks. The way you practice your obstructionism to satisfy a few cranky neighbors who will never be satisfied with anything the Club does in the way of scaling back or compromising does not send a friendly message. You are sacrificing the community good and welfare for the majority of the residents in an attempt to placate a few ornery misanthropes who love to wallow in their contrariness. Vote for the Club’s program now and get on with the Town’s business.
Martin Heller
Longboat Key
Do not give in to fantasy
To: Town Commission
Please keep the driving range. Golfers do not want to warm up for a round of golf by hitting in some form of hybrid facility. We want the real thing – a driving range!
Guests are not going to want to come to a golf resort destination without a real driving range and besides that the agreement was for an outdoor driving range. Please do not give in and change the rules for some ridiculous fantasy about a hotel/convention center guest wanting to play golf by having to warm up in an artificial environment. If they know the facility does not offer an outside driving range, they will not book their event there anyway.
Come on, Loeb and Welly know that, they will fail to cover that fact in their marketing pieces. They will not have repeat business for misleading people again. The biggest reason to turn down their request is because a deal is a deal and many Longboat Key residents bought and live here based on the facts as they were presented when we bought here. Please vote to uphold the existing agreement and rules.
Arthur Harreld
Longboat Key
Area needs to be world class
To: Town Commission
I wish to express complete support for the Key Club’s plan. The area needs to continue to be world-class. The Key Club has done an amazing job over the years for me and my family. So much so we had to purchase our own piece of the island. We have invested a significant amount of money to completely gutting our condo and updating to 2010. The town should think the same. It is an investment in the future. Standing still is going backwards.
I feel their approach and designs to the new hotel, spa, and condos are absolutely commensurate with that of global destinations…and I have traveled the world to see. John Ringing had it right it 1926. We should continue that vision. Again, thanks for your dedicated service to the town of Longboat Key and support for this project.
Thomas Muller
Longboat Key
Final act of betrayal
To: Commissioner Hal Lenobel
Turning the driving range into commercial property completely violates the town codes and the town’s obligation to those of us who bought property here. This is the final act of betrayal and is unacceptable to us who had faith in the town governors.
Carole Feiger
Longboat Key
Supporting the renovations
Please be advised that we support the proposed Longboat Key Club expansion/renovations.
Bill & Monica Brecka
Longboat Key
Key Club renovation best interest of residents
To: Town Commission
After a number of hearings and deliberation, and constructive compromise between the Longboat Key Club and the town, my wife and I would encourage you to now move forward and approve the Longboat Key Club’s expansion. We believe it to be in the best interest of all Longboat Key residents as a positive move for the key that will encourage economic development in general and enhance the image of the key. As the consultant’s study concluded, “to keep Longboat Key, Longboat Key does not mean no change, it means constructive change” to maintain the lifestyle we all love. The final version of the Key Club’s expansion plans are an example of such constructive change.
Thank you for all your efforts on this issue and thank you in advance for approving it now.
Gabriel & Bettina Rosica
Longboat Key
Without renovation, Longboat Key will sink into oblivion
To: Town Commission
Please approve the Key Club proposal. If you do not. Longboat Key will continue to sink into oblivion and drag St. Armands Key and other surrounding areas with it into oblivion.
Rudy Pariser
Longboat Key
Do not pass the two amendments
To: Town Commission
Please vote against the two amendments requested by the Key Club. If these amendments are adopted, then there is no area of this key safe from over development in the future. No buyer can rely on the restrictions, which protect homeowners (such as my wife and me) from such invasive actions.
Charles and Heloisa Jennings
Longboat Key
Town needs a facelift
To: Town Commission
I have been a member of Longboat Club for about 10 years. I am a seasonal resident. I have watched the key gradually decay as the commercial activities were replaced with condos that are vacant most of the year – myself included. Longboat has always been the resort key, but it needs a facelift. The Club is proposing a lot of condo units, but also a much need commercial facility. This will help revive the key. Please keep this in mind as you consider this opportunity for our key.
Tim Radigan
Longboat Key
Rebirth of the key
To: Town Commission
We reside on Gulf of Mexico Drive and are in full support of the Longboat Club project. We have been residents for over thirty years and over the past several years have watched in dismay the decline of the key. We desperately need an injection of new businesses and the club project will surely be a major step in the rebirth of the key. Like it or not, the Key Club is the only facility that can provide the key with the much needed new vitality.
We urge you to accept their revised plan.
Edward and Vivian Rabin
Longboat Key
Support the modified plans
To: Town Commission
My wife and I purchased our condo on Longboat Key three years ago and are making it our primary home. We moved to Longboat Key for the beauty, culture and friendliness of the people. We believe very strongly that the island needs a shot in the arm which can be provided through revitalization of the Longboat Key Club (and the Colony, we hope someday) in order to attract more people who’d like to retire here full time or spend their winters here. We have attended several P&Z hearings and Commission hearings and have heard both sides of the issues raised. We hope you’ll support the modified plan in order to allow the development of a first rate facility. Thank you for your consideration.
Alan and Nancy Milbauer
Longboat Key
We need Key Club renovation
To: Town Commission
As a property owner (Grand Bay Condominiums) and part time resident I plead with you to approve the Longboat Key Club’s Expansion. While nothing is perfect for everyone, it is my strong belief that our once vibrant town is dying a slow death. The number of business closures and store vacancies is deplorable.
My very first visit to Longboat Key was a weekend at the Longboat Key Club. I believe that the job they do is second to none.
We not only should approve this, but we need this. It will help businesses. It will save businesses. It will bring new businesses. It will bring more jobs. It will increase real estate values. I am willing to deal with a few more people and a few more cars.
In closing, this is not a plea for the Longboat Key Club, it is a plea for Longboat Key.
Kerry Helinger
Longboat Key
Stuck in the past
To: Town Commission
I believe that you — and we — now stand at the crossroads, and the opportunity is yours. You can send a message that will affect the future of our island for many years to come. You can let the world know either that our community is progressive and wants to move forward carefully but aggressively into a better future, or that we will remain stuck in the past until Longboat Key finally turns into a decrepit ghost town and a graveyard for dinosaurs. Moving forward may be risky while standing still implies no risk: it just carries the certainty of a slow communal death. We need progress.
Richard Estrin
Longboat Key
The eighth commissioner
To: Town Commission
If I was the eighth commissioner, here’s what I would say to the Key Club:
“Longboat would like a new hotel. Just not this one. The one thing the public hearings have done is give us all a feel for what the voting public wants. Come back when you have a firm site plan and financing lined up and we’ll look at the new application. When you re-apply with a new plan, here’s the three criteria you should be shooting for:
1.Doubling the size of the existing hotel. Go for a more limited expansion – perhaps doubling your current number of units including condos – no more. How can you complain that a doubling isn’t enough? And please make those buildings look like they are a part of the Key Club resort that we all know and love, no more than the four stories and have them comply with current zoning codes.
2. Keep all the new buildings on the South Parcel. Why? First off, the driving range is part of the golf course and inviolate in our minds. And secondly, you don’t own the road and the pedestrian and traffic issues trouble us greatly. Tweaking the location of the gatehouse is simply not enough. And third, we want to maintain the feel of the GPD with all the buildings located on the perimeter like all the other developments. Tell you what, If you want to refurbish the golf clubhouse on the north parcel, we’ll listen to that but it has to meet town codes for height and everything else.
3. No convention center. Longboat Key is not interested in having one on the scale you have proposed. If you need bigger meeting rooms make them part of the hotel – or buy out the Charthouse and refurbish that space. But we don’t want those big events and everything that comes with them. Multi-story parking garages 50 feet from Gulf of Mexico Drive were never in the vision for Longboat Key.
Don’t complain. This is a gift from the town and it’s a big one. You don’t have development rights to what is now recreational land and if we turn the codes upside down and give you a gift you are not entitled to, we have to balance that against the fact that the current property owners at Islandside relied on the town’s zoning laws as well as the fact that the GPD was totally built-out when they bought their homes.
Marc Fors
Longboat Key
Annual fees may go up
To: Commissioner Hal Lenobel
I understand that the tee-time procedures in the new agreement may provide some protection for current golf members of the Club. However, what prevents the Key Club from increasing the up-front fee and the annual fees without limit, thereby discouraging member growth or retention?
It seems that once a new agreement is in place allowing new hotel members and the unknown number of ‘rental pool’ owners of the new condos, then it is a small matter for the Key Club to increase prices to the average golf member until those numbers are squeezed down and it becomes a commercial facility with a handful of members rather than predominantly a membership club with occasional hotel play. The prices are already stratospheric and not competitive with other courses in the area.
Marc Fors
Longboat Key
Plan is too dense
To: Town Commission
Please Vote No on the Longboat Key Club Proposal because it goes against the zoning and planning concept that was approved by the Town of Longboat Key, The current plan is too dense and changes the character of Longboat Key to look like Miami Beach. Please focus on the current situation at The Colony, which is deteriorating and is becoming a blight on the beauty and vitality of Longboat Key.
Thank you for the many hours you have spent on evaluating the Key Club proposal and for moving this to a vote. Please Vote no.
Jack and Sheila Marks
Longboat Key
Don’t allow monstrous development
To: Town Commission
I am an owner and part time resident of the Sanctuary. Up to now I have remained silent regarding the proposed hotel etc., of Key Club Associates as I felt it was so outlandish that the powers to be would never consider it. However it now seems you are seriously considering their proposal so I must speak out now. I beg you please don’t ruin our much loved Longboat Key living by letting this monstrous development take place. Make Key Club Associates live by the existing rules.
Donald Will
Longboat Key
Please do not destroy our island
To: Town Commission
I have been an owner on Longboat Key for over 30 years. I love “our” Island because of the tranquility and beauty, its not a fish town, or a massive conglomerate of condos. I have followed all of the debates going back and forth between the island and the Key Club.
My most impressive thing I have learned over the years is the “strength and character of the commissioners,” in the past of upholding the laws and protection in effect for restrictive density and quality of life.
I am appalled and very frankly disgusted by the fact that you are considering this contractual obligation from the Key Club.
This island is our home, with all of the beautiful surroundings “Please do not destroy it.”
Commissioners, the Key Club is a great asset to the island but not to be controlling dictator their interest is of course the “money” to be made. If you approve this, and after completion and they sell out.
We, the owners, are left with our destroyed island of density, and they are gone. Please let your conscious be your guide.
Sal Campisi
Longboat Key
Duty is to residents of the key
To: Town Commission
My name is Bill Centers. My wife and I reside at The Sanctuary on Longboat. We have been residents for 18 years. We bought into the Sanctuary with the understanding that our investment in this property would be protected by contracts and covenants present at the time of purchase. To say that we are upset by the proposed changes before you tomorrow does not begin to describe the emotions involved. To vote in favor of the overturning of this 30-year old agreement to preserve the driving range would be the height of betrayal to all the residents of Longboat Key. The pandering to the blatant commercial interests of supporters of this proposal (the great majority of which do not live here) and to the Loeb interests, who will just flip the project to some other developer once it is approved, is beyond comprehension. Your duty is to the residents of Longboat Key, not the commercial interests of a group of people who do not even live here. There is majority support on Longboat to kill this proposal. Failure to heed the people of Longboat will result in many changes in the future elections.
Bill Centers
Longboat Key
Greed trumps need
To: Town Commission
My husband and I purchased our first property on Longboat Key in 1980 and we are still here thirty years later. We had come to Longboat in 1974 and were charmed by this beautiful island, open green spaces, a golf course, low rise condo developments and the absence of seedy commercial properties so prevalent in east coast communities.
The knowledge that Longboat possessed a diligent town commission committed to initiating and regulating zoning laws which would ensure that the unique character of our beautiful key would be retained was the major consideration behind our decision to buy. Now you are considering disregarding those original principles and submitting to the demands of a company which has no interest in the welfare of the residents but only in its bottom line. Greed trumps need.
I am outraged by the tactics employed by Loeb and the Longboat Key Club with reference to its entire development proposal. I am outraged that Longboat Key Town Commission would even entertain the idea of breaking an agreement regarding the driving range and attendant green space. Please carefully consider the impact of such a decision on the residents of our beautiful island.
Patricia Killaly
Longboat Key
Maintain existing contract
To: Town Commission
We urge you to maintain the existing contract between Longboat Key Club and the town to keep the driving range free of commercial development. We have been residents of Islandside for 20 years, and the change proposed would change the character of this area to its detriment. Thank you.
Carol and Arthur Brock
Longboat Key
Stealing our paradise
To: Town Commission
What the Longboat Key Club is attempting to do is no better than stealing from the current Islandside residents. It is stealing our rights as buyers in good faith and as homeowners. It is stealing our property value. It is stealing our peace of mind. It is stealing any sanity from our retirement. And, it is stealing our “paradise”. This past year of ridiculous actions on the part of the Key Club, and their previous actions with the Marina and Restaurant should be evidence enough. The Longboat Ket Club Ownership and Management have no ethics. They have demonstrated that they cannot be trusted. They have demonstrated that they have no interest in the community; other than greedily filching their rights, value, and sanity.
Those brought from the outside to support them are no better…to trade support for a free lunch. The Key Club obviously must have in mind that if you can’t get the law changed, pay enough people off who have either no stake or only a commercial stake (i.e. they will profit from the malfeasance)…and the quality of those folks’ ethics can be seen by what a free breakfast and lunch can do for the votes and outward support. And as one of the primary candidates expressed to me outside the polls in January, “I’m not taking sides. I just want to mediate.” There is nothing to mediate. The Longboat Key Club has maintained “all or nothing.” They deserve nothing. Certainly, they do not deserve to be voted a gift of public land for private profit (greed). And she got the “no” vote that she deserved from me.
Now I know that the Longboat Key Commissioners are way above that and that you all understand that our rights as residents are being “poached” by the “greedy carpetbaggers.”
That is why, as a resident of Longboat Key, I respectfully request that each of you formally vote against amendments to both the 1979 Agreement and 1992 Stipulated Final Judgement. Thank you for your support and consideration of the residents of Longboat Key.
J. M. Sinnett
Longboat Key
Future of Longboat Key
To: Editor:
On a recent Sunday afternoon, returning home to Longboat Key from a cultural event in Sarasota, we came face to face with the future. The traffic leaving the key was backed up, at a standstill, from US 41 all the way to the key! It is quite unimaginable what the road conditions would be if the Longboat Club proposed development is permitted to go forward. Living on Longboat Key would become dangerous in the extreme. Evacuating the key in an emergency would be the mother of all disasters. How many residents – and visitors – would have to perish in the ensuing panic for the politicians to take notice of this reality? The proposed development epitomizes everything that has gone wrong in America in the last few decades: the greedy, blind pursued of money and profits at all cost – nay, regardless of cost – is destroying the fabric of our society and denying our children and grandchildren a chance to taste a civilized lifestyle. Most of us became residents of the key because of its physical beauty and relaxed quality of life. The proposed development is sure to put a coda to that.
Fred and Phyllis Ross
Longboat Key
North end needs immediate solution
To: Town Manager Bruce St. Denis
Bruce, would you please provide me with the Coastal Planning and Engineering (CPE) beach study that was used as the basis for the last sand placement. I am particularly interested in their assessment of the north end beaches and the need for dark sand.
I am also interested in CPE’s analysis of the projected life of the sand placement, particularly at the north end. I also want to know if CPE anticipated the rapid sand loss from the north end beaches, and if they warned us that we would be facing our present disastrous situation using their much heralded models. If not, I would like to know why not, as you are currently, once again, entrusting the taxpayer’s money and our beaches to CPE, in spite of the beach failure at North Shore Road and at the Longbeach Condominiums. If CPE is unable to reliably predict the outcome of their actions even a year or two into the future, why are we moving forward?
Lastly, I campaigned that I would champion the taxpayers and seek to find ways to bring accountability back to town government. For that reason I would like to know why the dangerous situation at the north end beaches was not contemplated, and why the town did not begin a conservative approach to preventive beach maintenance that might have averted what will now be very costly to correct, and may cause property owners at both 360 North and Longbeach Condominiums millions of dollars of aggregate losses, and more importantly their beloved homes by what was once the most beautiful beach on the island.
I feel that if the richest island on the gulf coast is unable to protect its resident’s property, what does that say about attracting future residents. Who will want to purchase expensive homes on the beach if they are insecure about the safety of their investment?
Bruce, I hope you will join all the homeowners on the north end in an effort to save the homes at 360 North and Longbeach. For my part, I will be devoting a majority of my efforts attempting to cut through the red tape and bureaucracy and find an immediate solution to the pending loss of several beautiful condo units.
Gene Jaleski
Commissioner, Longboat Key
Response to need for immediate solution
To: Commissioner Gene Jaleski
I have asked staff and CPE to locate the material that you requested. I will get it to you as soon as I receive it.
Gene, you ask for information and then follow it with a statement/accusation that indicates that you have already reached a conclusion. You also make statements in the framing of your questions that would imply my agreement if I were to provide an answer.
For that reason I will not endeavor to respond but will get you the information requested. Once you have read it you may or may not change your conclusions.
I am also asking in advance that you let me know who you speak to at the various regulatory agencies that you will be contacting so that when I am asked why Longboat is making multiple inquiries of individuals at various levels of their organization I will be able to differentiate between your efforts and those of this administration.
Finally, both the Town Commission and I have been taking steps to address the hot spot at the north end for several years. It is a complex problem in that the nature and location of the impacted area has changed periodically. I think that it is unfortunate that some are overly simplifying the situation and intentionally giving the impression that the town is not taking action to protecting our residents by implying that the condition was created by incompetence and that there is there is some magic bullet that will result in a quick fix that we are unable or unwilling to work to uncover.
The town has multiple projects in the works to address the situation. We are using formal and informal channels to find ways to expedite the timeframe for implementation of these solutions. As always we are also looking at developing additional options.
Bruce St. Denis
Town Manager, Longboat Key
Accountability in government
To: Town Manager Bruce St. Denis
The town has failed to provide adequate protection for beachfront properties along a considerable stretch of beach at the north end.
I will try to coordinate with you concerning seeking help from various agencies. However, I feel compelled to try to protect taxpayer’s property.
When I called Chuck Listowski at WCIND last week, I was glad to discover that WCIND had a possible twenty thousand yards of sand at the flood shoal of Longboat Pass and Chuck was willing to help us get the permits. I then requested that Chuck call you about this possible good news for the north shore residents.
Bruce, would you please have Juan or Coastal Planning and Engineering (CPE) tell us how many cubic yards of sand we usually (averaged) received from the Corp of Engineers dredging of Longboat Pass and the number of cubic yards placed on the north end beach by CPE as part of the last sand placement. I am wondering why we ended up with no beach and no beach protection in so few years after the last sand placement, and if the quantity of sand placed on the beach by CPE was a contributing factor.
I remember that several residents commented shortly after the last sand placement four years ago that a major portion of the sand had moved off the beaches within a few weeks of the renourishment. I believe these same people predicted what has come to pass at the north end.
In response to your statement that erosion areas can move periodically, I have looked at the Hummiston and Moore study (Figure 3.17. Longboat Pass Beer Can Island Hot Spot (1991, 1995, 1997, 2006) that identifies a particular hotspot at North Shore Drive as far back as 1991. The identified hotspot does not appear to shift location over a span of twenty years. If the hotspot was well understood, I am wondering why measures were not taken to compensate for the situation that had existed over a period of two decades.
Did CPE run an erosion model for this hotspot and place a commensurate amount of sand on the beach to compensate for the predicted rate of sand loss?
“It is…possible to approximate erosion rates as constant values for limited periods of time at a given location”…. Emmett R. Foster, P.E.Florida Department of Environmental Protection Bureau of Beaches and Coastal Systems.
Gene Jaleski
Commissioner, Longboat Key
Dissatisfied with breakwaters
To: Mayor Lee Rothenberg
Lee, there are several if not many who are dissatisfied with detached breakwaters at the north end. I am one of them. I was not yet a commissioner when the breakwater project was approved by the commission. The final application was submitted to the state in May of 2009. I recently read the application and I, too, find some of the logic used to justify the application, and the added expense to the taxpayers of two plus million dollars, surprising.
I am sure you and perhaps other commissioners are weary of my persistent efforts to look at all available options for maintaining our beaches over the years – http://www.lbkbeaches.com. Yet I am unable to feel comfortable about missing any opportunity to do things right because we lacked the will to approach town challenges with an open and questioning mind and the determination to make the effort necessary to reach an informed solution.
I feel it is essential that the commission take an active role in monitoring the inlet management study to assure that the study is conducted with all possible speed. The residents at 360 North and Longbeach to not have years. If there is any possibility of a better remedy than the unpopular breakwaters we should not allow a less that optimally executed inlet study to prevent that from happening.
I am happy that the commission specifically instructed the town manager and staff to proceed with all haste on several alternative approaches to beach maintenance. Now I feel it is our obligation to closely monitor the town’s efforts in these various projects.
Gene Jaleski
Commissioner, Longboat Key
Breakwater concerns
To: Gene Jaleski
Thanks for this information. I want to first state that I am not acting on behalf of any other owner in the Periwinkle building. My comments are my own and no one else’s. Here is a view of the town’s intended breakwater plan that I found in the attachments.
In attachment 7, the town of Longboat Key clearly states that the reason for the use of a breakwater field is to “…support the livelihood of the upland owners who depend on the tourist use of the beach.” What is that all about? Are we being subjected to the breakwaters because of the Whitney Beach mall and other businesses? If so, wouldn’t we have economic recourse against them for the loss in views and property values?
I note that no where in the attachments do they address the impact on property values, nor the adverse affect aesthetically of the breakwaters. I suppose that we are responsible for mentioning those and for requiring appropriate plans that alleviate the impact. No where else on this key has the town attempted to implement breakwaters, so we are the first to have to protect ourselves. Are we doing enough of that?
Most important to all of us, is that there are several other approaches to our erosion problem, ones that do not include breakwaters, and that help all of our owners and our friends in 360 North, but the town apparently does not believe that they will generate the future cost savings that the breakwaters will. Is it the job of our town representatives to lower costs at the expense of residents and taxpayers?
The most obvious alternative is to address the inlet with a long breakwater on the Longboat side, parallel to the breakwater on the Anna Maria side. This will arrest sand movement from Beer Can/Greer Island into the inlet. This will then build up the beach in front of both 360 North then us, and stop the loss of sand into the inlet. Being a boater, I’ve noticed that The water current coming into our inlet, then through the bay and out the inlet near the Chart House at the south end of the key, (New Pass), has increased dramatically after the dredging of new pass. And this in large part is why our inlet is pulling in so much sand and water (see the new sand extending to the bridge at the east end of Beer Can). We shouldn’t have to suffer the consequences due to the effects of the dredging at the south end.
The view of the breakwater locations and sizes (above), clearly places not one but two breakwaters directly in the view from Periwinkle, whereas most other buildings either have no view of them, or, they blend with the meadow and pool to be of minor significance. Ironically, the building that has the most exposure to the erosion, Coquina, will have no direct view of a breakwater! Even the 360 North condos are not impacted like Periwinkle. Most of their condos have no view of a breakwater, while the others have a partial to full view of only one breakwater, yet replenishing and protecting the public beach there forms the basis of the town’s overall breakwater project! Clearly owners in Periwinkle and Coral are the loser in this entire project. We need vigilant representation.
I am still dismayed that our Board has taken the position that they had to approve the easement for the breakwater plan despite the impact of this program on the owners in the Periwinkle/Coral building. It’s as though we are being selfish and should just absorb the loss of our views and values for everyone
else’s benefit. Very convenient, but not very neighborly. I believe we could have issued an easement that prohibited breakwaters, and that the town would have followed a different path to the benefit of everyone.
As a result, it appears that those Periwinkle owners who object to the plan are not being taken seriously in so far as our concerns are involved. On the other hand, perhaps our Board and 360 North are preparing a proposal to recognize the impact on Periwinkle/Coral.
Lastly, I still have concerns about the affect of the breakwaters beyond my preoccupation with views of the gulf and anticipated declining value of our property, these include:
- Loss of wave sound, a natural attraction of our building.
- Signage and more blinking lights that will trash up the view 24/7.
- Providing a lengthy “still water” channel for jet skis and boats, creating noise and danger for swimmers nearest the beach.
- Providing “still water” that will attract public beach people with small children and the attendant tents, coolers, noise, etc… right in front of our property, and on the very beach we were replenishing.
- Potential for conflicts with predators attracted to the fish around the breakwaters.
- Concern for the breakwater design, when they say four feet above the water line, is that low or high tide? Do they have to be as long, as wide, as high as the drawings show? Can they be temporary or reposition-able during vacation season?
I hope that our Board is committed to promoting other avenues of beach renourishment to the town, and to being vigilant in its defense of the impact on our property. Time will tell.
David Baughman
Executive Vice President
Plastomer Corporation
Longboat Key
Renourishment project was not a success
To: David Baughman, Commissioner Gene Jaleski
Attached below is the link to the Florida DEP Bureau of Beaches and Coastal Systems Longboat Key North End Breakwater Permit Application. Since I don’t have their contact information I would appreciate you forwarding this to both the Longbeach and 360 North Condo Associations. I think they need to be involved in every step of the application and approval process. I would be happy to help in any other way I can.
Not too long ago I recall seeing the yearly CPE report in the Longboat Observer, indicating how successful the most recent nourishment project was. This assessment was based on the total volume of sand placed versus how much remained. The problem is that it never mentioned that most of the sand placed in the three hot spot areas is gone. Put more simply it was a failure not a success.
Paul Zipper
Longboat Key
No one told Buchanan
To: Town Manager and Commissioners
We were at the Town Hall Meeting with Vern Buchanan. We were very disappointed that our congressman did not seem to be aware of the major problem concerning the loss of beach and danger to Longbeach Condominiums and 360 North. He said do you mean Anna Maria when I told him about the beach and the inlet. Even when this subject was brought up by me, there was not one commissioner (at least six were present) nor the town manager who asked for his help. Not even a word from you about the inlet and the US Corps of Engineers which is an area he might be able to help us with. Are any of you trying to work with the county, state or national to get help? We are ready and willing to get behind you.
Richard and Barbara Wood
Longboat Key
Number one tourist destination
To: Town Commission
My husband and I have lived in the Bay Isles neighborhood of Longboat Key for five years. I am an interior designer for an architecture firm, specializing in Hospitality Design. Therefore, I am very plugged into the resort community throughout our United States as well as internationally. With its unique location, gorgeous beaches, and desirable weather, Longboat Key is naturally a destination for many tourists. As the number one industry in Florida tourism plays an important role in our town, the city of Sarasota, and the state. It allows us to have no state income tax and provides an important source of jobs and incomes for our residents. However, I assure you, there is increasingly great competition throughout our state and our country to “steal” our number one source of income.
We cannot let this happen. Due to the age of The Longboat Key Club, it is no longer as sought after a destination as it once was. With its existing building appearance, its aging golf facilities, and its limited service capabilities, it just can’t compete with the newer resorts that are cropping up throughout our state and our country. We have the ideal location and one of the most sought after beaches, but we are losing critical income because of our inability to update our facilities. To preserve our lifestyle and our property values, we must move forward and approve the proposed improvements that have been proposed for the Longboat Key Club.
Beverly & Michael St. Hilaire
Longboat Key
Bright and shiny outweighs no change
To: Town Commission
As property owners, taxpayers and concerned citizens of our great little island, we would like to voice our approval of the redevelopment plan by Longboat Key Club, in it’s most recent reduced status.
I firmly believe that a revitalization of our area is in desperate need and this is the way to obtain it. Businesses continue to close and property values will continue to go down, regardless of the economy. We live in a time when “bright and shiny” outweighs the “I want no change” attitude.
This expansion will be a benefit to all concerned. Visitors will fall in love and buy homes, will eat at our restaurants and bring lodging tax dollars to the community. I compare this issue to those who fought so hard (and spent so much) to keep the new Ringling Bridge from being built. It is beautiful and has brought runners, walkers, bikers to St Armands that would otherwise have never come. It is inviting. Much like the new Longboat Key Club development will be.
Please don’t let “the way it is” stand in the way of true progress. Vote yes for this project. To do otherwise would be a missed opportunity to improve our community, not seen again.
Ray and JoAnn Laird
Longboat Key
Get started soon
To: Town Commission
This letter is to support the renovation of The Longboat Key Club. My wife and I bought a Condo at The Sanctuary over three years ago and we joined The Key Club immediately after closing. We learned very soon after joining that upgrades are going to be needed for people like us that are in there early 50’s. If this upgrade does not get started soon; residents and buyers are going to move on.
J.M. Pete & Mary Salpietra
Longboat Key
Abide by codes
To: Mayor Lee Rothenberg
I have a question. How come the key club is making a big deal that the people behind the gates are the ones complaining about the expansion? Aren’t we most affected? And if they were a good neighbor wouldn’t they want our support? I am excited about progress, but we bought based on certain codes and have abided by them. In my case it has cost me 30,000 to move my dock closer to the shore less than a foot. I was ok with that as I appreciated Monica and her department. We have lots of options on the Island longterm.
Paul Holland
Longboat Key
Support Club investment
To: Town Commission
I bought a home on Longboat Key two years ago. I have since retired and Longboat Key is now my home.I spent considerable time investigating towns and cities in warmerclimates across the country to find a place that would provide the amenities and lifestyle that best suited my interests.The final decision to buy a home on this beautiful island was due inlarge measure to the presence of the Longboat Key Club and Resort. The golfcourses, restaurants, marina and availability of guest rooms for visitors all available in such proximity to my home were overwhelmingly convincing.
I am certain that a significant number of our residents came to the same conclusion about Longboat Key as I did. This situation is very unique for such a small community and we should embrace the commitment that the Loeb Partners are offering to keepthis world class location, for visitors and for people like myself seeking a premier local to live in, up to date and competitive.
If we don’t enthusiastically support this new investment I foresee significant loss of potential new residents to other communities. I respectfully request you approve the redevelopment plan for the benefit of all citizens of Longboat Key.
R F Gervais
Longboat Key
Don’t miss this opportunity
To: Town Commissioners
I am writing to express my strong support of the development project at the Longboat Key Club. This development is essential to progressive sustainability of the Key. Without the development and a rejuvenation of the facilities and the golf course we will not be able to attract new visitors and new residents to the Key and it will over time wither and die. In these economic times we should be honored that Loeb Corporation is committed to improving this property when they would have several options as to where to spend their resources. Let’s not miss this opportunity for continued improvement on the Key.
I am resident of the Key, in the Seagate building and a member of the club.
Janet Love
Longboat Key
Dangerous precedent
To: Mayor Lee Rothenberg
We strongly urge you not to allow the current proposal to pass. We hope the zoning codes will be upheld. We are especially concerned about allowing condominiums to be constructed on the golf course. This will set a dangerous precedent for future development. Please share this with the other members of the Commission.
Carol and Arthur Brock
Longboat Key
Endorse the Key Club plan
To: Town Commission
We have been owners of a villa in Bay Isles for the past eight years. During that time, we have enjoyed spending time on LBK with our family and friends, and have witnessed both the development of several commercial and residential properties and, regrettably, the demise of numerous services. We are social members of the Longboat Key Club and wish to record our full support for the $400 million proposal to update and expand the housing and other amenity options contained in the revised proposal now under consideration by the Town Commission. Although we could not be present for the open hearings because of schedule conflicts, we were heartened to learn of the Planning Committee’s support of this proposed redevelopment and urge each of you as Commissioners to endorse this plan to ensure a positive future for Longboat Key and for those who live and/or vacation on this beautiful island.
Ruth and Fred Obea
Longboat Key
No change in 20 years
To: Town Commission
I am a 25 year resident of Sarasota County, and I moved to Longboat in 2007. From the east side of Sarasota Bay, we watched as the skyline of Longboat changed from only a few mid rise buildings to the skyline of today. And each of those projects brought new homeowners to Sarasota and Manatee Counties, increasing the tax bases and providing construction jobs and other opportunities for full time residents.
Now we have the demise of the Holiday Inn and the Colony. Hundreds lost their jobs. Hotels bring visitors year round, providing job opportunities for the full time residents who work in the hotel industry and the retail and restaurant businesses. And there is a plan before you to revitalize the island, to modernize it, since there really has been no change in almost 20 years.
I can walk the beaches on the south end of the key on a Sunday morning in the summer and see no one. The condo owners who are complaining the loudest are not here in the summer, and fail to realize that we really should not have a six-month economy. And it is up to you, the elected members of the Town Commission, to make sure that this town has a year round economy. If you create an atmosphere of no growth by voting against the Key Club’s expansion, or if you make it impossible for them to comply with your requirements, we will be faced with cutting services and seeing the erosion not only of our beaches, but also of the town’s infrastructure. There are realities of today’s economy that you must confront head on. The Key Club’s employees put money in the county coffers through their purchasing power. This island does not exist just by itself. It is part of a larger community that has relied on the tourist industry.
We need to build more hotel rooms. The town and counties need the revenues from the bed tax. Local stores need to have a continuous influx of tourists. If you vote against the Club’s projects, what will you propose that will help the local economy? More condos that are occupied three months of the year? I will ask you again after your vote has been cast.
Audrey Bear
Longboat Key
To: Mayor Lee Rothenberg
I am a resident of Longboat Key, having moved from Siesta Key in 2005. I am not a golfer, and not a member of the club. I have watched several of the proceedings of the Town Commission and the Zoning Board with regard to the application of the Loeb organization for a substantial expansion and need for zoning changes, and changes to the Comprehensive plan, if approved. There are several issues, which seem to fail the test of logic as it relates to the need for 176 condos to generate funds to invest in the club and golf course.
Why has the club membership declined over the years? Is it because they failed to maintain a high standard expected by the membership of a club that charges world class dues? Don’t most clubs, even “for profit clubs”, maintain their facilities with some of the profits generated from initiation fees and dues without the need for a massive residential building project?
When membership declines, is there an analysis as to why? Is miss-management a possibility? Perhaps failure to reinvest on a timely basis? Or perhaps the fees are too high?
Shouldn’t the club be sustained by club membership and perhaps revenue from a hotel that would attract guests because of the world-class facilities? Why should it be linked to a building project, convention space, and parking garage which removes important open space?
I always tell my children, if it sounds too good to be true, maybe it isn’t.
If the island is experiencing significant excess inventory of condos for sale, and decreasing values, how can a new condo help reduce the excess inventory, and increase the values?
If a development of condos provides a profit, why would the developers put that profit into a hotel and golf course instead of returning the profit to investors? What portion of the expected profit are they actually going to invest in the other facilities? Why won’t they share their financial figures from the past, present, and expectations from this project in the future? Aren’t the condos really a separate investment from the hotel and if so can we really expect a hotel?
If the argument of it helping the tax base, retail shops, and so forth is valid for approval, why not change all the rules so we can have massive development throughout the island? We could have high-rise condos at Avenue of the Flowers with shops below, including Publix. We could develop the Islandside golf course. Maybe we don’t need those 18 holes at all. It would surely bring more tax revenue and shoppers, if that is what Longboat Key is all about. There are probably plenty of areas where high-rise condos could be built for the sake of adding people, shoppers, and real estate taxes.
Will they actually spend 400 million dollars? Will they actually start construction and improvements before the recession is over? I hope we (the Town of Longboat Key) are not about taxes, but lifestyle. I agree that we can’t maintain a status quo and be healthy in the future. Maintaining and improving existing property throughout the island is vital to the health of the island, not changing the rules that ignore the rights of residents. The Colony Beach is but one example or result of failure to reinvest.
In this case, the residents behind the gate, while not a majority of voters but still citizens with rights, will be most impacted by the massive project not only while under construction over a long period of time, but foreve
Donald H. Bernstein
Longboat Key
Skeptical of follow through
To: Town Commission
I have been a member at the Club for 25 years and have watched it go steadily downhill. The present owners could be the worst. They have taken away things like rangers and a halfway house for drinks etc. They can’t even manage well what they have today so what makes them think they can undertake such a massive project without making their members even more disgruntled. Right now, unfortunately The Key Club is the only “Port in the storm.”
I also don’t understand oking a project like this with no money behind it. All it does is make it more saleable to another developer.
Thank you for your time and effort
Vicki Kriser
Longboat Key
What is the problem?
To: Town Commission
I am a north end resident (since 1966), a Longboat Key Club tennis member since 1975 and a Realtor. I guess that’s three strikes against me! I feel that the expansion of the Longboat Key Club is necessary for growth (another bad word) of the Key. The Longboat Key Club pre-dated the L’Ambiance, Lighthouse Point, the Sanctuary, the Pierre. I would not be surprised if most of the opponents vacationed at the Longboat Key Club prior to buying their properties. They knew they were buying into a resort /residential community. They were elated to be “behind the gates” and tell friends that they lived at the “Longboat Key Club”…. So what’s their problem now? We all lived with the dust, trucks, and construction noise etc. while their condos were being built—why do they feel so entitled now? They have the “let them eat cake” attitude of entitlement. Wrong, wrong, wrong!
Bobbie Banan
Longboat Key
Yes to oil drilling
To: Town Manager
In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with the USA drilling in the Tampa-Sarasota arch as long as reasonable care is taken with the platform, drilling procedures, etc. and the distance from the shore line is sufficient to reasonably protect our beaches. We must not allow any foreign drilling of any kind in the Gulf of Mexico.
Ted Eisch
Longboat Key
Plan would violate rights as owners
To: Mayor Lee Rothenberg and Town Commission
On Jan. 14 we wrote expressing our opposition to the outrageous development plan proposed by the Longboat Key Club. We now have the benefit of several days of hearings on this subject. While we believe the purported benefits of the proposed development are largely fanciful, and are clearly outweighed by its assured detrimental impact, there is now absolute clarity as to the total and complete violation of the existing zoning law and regulation envisioned by the developers.
We acquired our home on Longboat Key in reliance on existing law and regulation. We believe that the character of the Island risks destruction if the new development were to go forward as proposed. And we believe that there can be no doubt that the development would totally violate our legitimate rights and expectations as property owners. We ask that, as Commissioners, you respect our rights and protect our investment and not permit development, which will be destructive of the character of our Island and its property values to proceed.
Richard J. and Margaret Conn Himelfarb
Longboat Key
Beach inlet management
To: Town Manager
This is what a typical sand bypass managed inlet might look like. The Canaveral project includes offshore sand traps as well as periodic inlet dredging. Offshore sand traps are used at many inlets along the US coastline. Offshore sand traps are a means of collecting the sand that leaves the beach and might be otherwise lost to the system. Inlet management usually leads to more efficient and less costly sand resource control. I would like to see an RFP put out for our inlet management study. Given the condition of our beaches and the ever-escalating costs, I feel it is time we seek input from other coastal engineering companies.
Gene Jaleski
Commissioner, Longboat Key
No confidence in Town’s engineering firm
To: Longbeach Condominium, Town Manager Bruce St. Denis
It is my understanding that the town manager has retained CP&E using a perhaps unadvisable loophole in the state law to retain Coastal Planning & Engineering and other consultants who were retained prior to 1998. I am uncomfortable with this apparent skirting of state regulations especially with the failed performance by CP&E.
A “continuing contract” is a contract for professional services entered into in accordance with all the procedures of this act between an agency and a firm whereby the firm provides professional services to the agency for projects in which construction costs do not exceed $1 million, for study activity when the fee for such professional service does not exceed $50,000, or for work of a specified nature as outlined in the contract required by the agency, with no time limitation except that the contract must provide a termination clause. Firms providing professional services under continuing contracts shall not be required to bid against one another.
CP&E has received in excess of one million dollars just for looking for sand. CP&E has received tens of millions of dollars from the town over the past decade.
Seeing the complete beach failure and now probable loss of at least two condominium buildings at Longbeach, I no longer have confidence in CP&E. We tax our residents for two erosion control districts that are purported to prevent what is now occurring at the north end. “A stitch in time” now resounds in the expectations of the property owners at Longbeach and still CP&E, along with the town manager, are strong-arming the property owners to grant an easement for some future detached breakwaters project that will be a year or two, or never, late and perhaps two structures short.
I feel this is unacceptable and the town manager should immediately engage a different coastal management engineering company. Clearly CP&E has failed this island.
It is the commission’s duty to instruct the town manager to immediately take whatever actions are necessary to prevent loss of property. If the town can spend millions to build groins at the Islander, the town needs to spend adequate funds to rectify its laissez-faire attitude towards the mounting north end beach disaster.
It is undeniable that the town manager and CP&E had ample time to apply for permits and complete projects that would have prevented the disaster at the north end beaches. People approached the town, four years ago both during and just after the last beach maintenance, warning the town that the north end renourishment had been done improperly and would result in a fast loss of sand. Neither the town manager nor our highly paid consultants did anything to be ready for the eventuality we are now experiencing. Perhaps now might be a good time for the town commission to stand up for the residents of the north end and instruct the town manager to seek the advice of a new and hopefully more successful engineering company. I believe we need to act now at the north end.
Gene Jaleski
Commissioner, Longboat Key
Past the time to act on north end beach erosion
To: Town Manager
I took these pictures at Longbeach Condominiums this afternoon. Residents told me that ten feet of what little beach remains was lost in a single day. Another week could very well see the loss of another ten feet of protection. The Periwinkle unit now appears to be in greater jeopardy than the Coquina unit because the Periwinkle building has no seawall to protect it from the advancing waters. I feel that we are past the time to act and that it is imperative to decide to take action at the Thursday workshop.
The residents of Longbeach are very concerned about what is happening and the lack of any action by the town on their behalf. I spent the day talking with people at WCIND, FDEP, Corp of Engineers and Humiston and Moore among others.
Gene Jaleski
Commissioner, Longboat Key
Reasons for using Town’s engineering firm
To: Commissioner Gene Jaleski
The following is offered in response to your attached email.
1. The town is in compliance with the State of Florida Consultant’s Competitive Negotiation Act (CCNA) as it relates to continuing contracts. The town requested that special counsel review this subject and this conclusion has been verified.
2. As Town Manager I have made the decision to continue using Coastal Planning and Engineering as the Town’s beach management consultant for the following reasons:
a. They are an excellent firm that has served and continues to serve the Town well.
b. Over the past several years the Town has been in the position of requiring continuous service in order to move our adopted beach program forward. Project examples include:
- Islander Groins
- Annual beach surveys
- Sand search for next beach project
- Design for upcoming beach project and to position the town to be able to move forward with interim beach nourishment projects by having a permit in hand.
- North end erosion resolution
- Consulting on the Port Dolphin issue
c. It is not possible for the Town to select a new beach consultant at this time and be able to get the sand out of borrow areas F-2 and B-3 prior to the May 2012 deadline imposed by the FDEP/Port Dolphin MOA. If Port Dolphin moves forward with their proposed 2012 construction schedule the Town could potentially lose the use of sand that could exceed 1 million cubic yards. Because the next viable borrow area is at least 4 miles away the cost of sand would increase at least $1 million.
d. It is not possible for the town to select a new beach consultant at this time and be able to take advantage of the up to $5 million in reimbursement from Port Dolphin as outlined in the FDEP/Port Dolphin MOA which potentially reimburses the town for sand removed from F-2 and B-3 prior to May 2012.
e. There are advantages and efficiencies the town derives by having CP&E continue the Town’s projects because of the continuity of personnel on our project team and the fact that CP&E has already completed designs for past projects and in many cases created computer models that would take time and money for another firm to either get up to speed or replicate.
f. CP&E is also the engineer of record for the adjoining beach communities. This advantage is most notable in a proposal for a joint project with Manatee County for an Inlet Management Plan (IMP) study that the Town Commission will consider at the January 21 workshop. A benefit the town derives from the cooperative relationship with Manatee is a 50/50 cost share and an increased possibility for state grant funding because of the regional approach to the issue. This arrangement would not be possible if both entities used different consultants.
3. The Town Commission and this administration have been addressing beach issues including the problems at the north end well before you came onto the commission.
a. After the completion of the permitting and just prior to the initiation of construction of the most recent beach project the north end experienced high losses. Town staff, with the support of the sitting commission took steps to get key individuals at FDEP to visit the north end. This effort resulted in a permit modification was accelerated partly thanks to FDEP intervention with Federal agencies so the north end could be nourished as part of the project. This effort resulted in the north end receiving several hundred thousand yards of sand. We also implemented a dual layered beach, which was not popular but resulted in extending the life of the beach in that area.
b. We have initiated the unusual step to get a town wide permit that would allow interim nourishments if required. Securing this permit will require the town to identify sand sources. This process was disrupted as we worked through the Port Dolphin issue.
c. After an analysis by our beach consultant in conjunction with meetings with FDEP the Town Commission authorized the breakwater project in fall of 2008. This permitting process is on temporary hiatus while Longbeach decides if they want to participate, which will require the granting of an easement. Implementation of any solution that includes structures will receive considerable scrutiny and will take an extended time to permit and can usually only be constructed during turtle season.
4. The Town Manager is not “strong-arming” anyone to get him or her to sign an easement. I have been proactive in providing information to Longbeach from the beginning of the process. The permitting of the breakwaters has been ongoing and the possibility that Longbeach might not sign an easement is a recent development. The reason for the Town imposing a deadline is because the Town and 360 North are ready to move forward with the breakwaters to protect their properties. For this to happen the Town must move forward in obtaining permits so the construction might start around Nov 2010 so it can be completed by May 2011. Longbeach may decide to opt out of the project but they need to do so in a timeframe that would allow the other participants to complete the project on a timely basis.
5. I strongly disagree with your determination that the Town is experiencing what you call “a complete beach failure.” There will always be hot spots including the north end and the town has been pro-active in addressing them. Permitting for these projects takes a considerable amount of time and construction can only occur during certain months of the year.
The balance of the beach is performing very well.
6. The Longbeach property owners can request assistance from their engineers regarding steps that they can take to protect their buildings if they feel the need. In all likelihood this effort will require permitting through FDEP as well as other state and federal agencies. If it is their intention to take these steps I recommend that they start the process immediately.
In my opinion the Town (at every level) always has and continues to act in the best interests of all Longboat Key residents.
Bruce St. Denis
Town Manager, Longboat Key
Periwinkle building needs protection from erosion
To: Bob Appel
Previously unexposed revetment in front of the Periwinkle building. There is only twenty feet of grass and dirt that now protects the units. In your Jan. 17 email you ask if there is anything else that can be done to address the north end beach conditions.
The town is in the process of trying to get both the breakwaters and total beach project permitted.
The breakwaters would need to be permitted in late spring for construction in Nov. 2010. That is not certain. The breakwater permitting process in on a brief hiatus until we get an answer from Longbeach.
The beach project will not be undertaken until Nov 2011. Without some sort of structure that sand will most likely last only a few years.
We are putting what little sand we can (600 cubic yards) to protect Northshore Rd. We can only do that to protect our infrastructure at Northshore. That option does not appear to be available to us in front of Longbeach or 360 North at this time.
It is possible that we could put in 25,000 cubic yards of sand only in Nov. 2010 but it will be expensive, would not last long at all and could only be considered if we have the breakwater permits at that time.
At this point I think that these are the options available to the town.
Long-term the Town Commission will consider an Inlet Management Plan study. The benefits from the study will not be seen for at least 4 to 5 years.
In the meantime I would recommend that Longbeach make sure that the seawall in front of Coquina is properly maintained and that any washouts behind or damage to the seawall be repaired immediately. I also recommend that Longbeach contact your engineers to determine what if anything can be done on your property to protect Coquina.
Bruce St. Denis
Town Manager, Longboat Key
In support of Key Club
To: Town Commission
I strongly support the proposed renovation! Please stop the nonsense and vote for this!!!
Trish Sugalski
Longboat Key
What can be done
To: Bruce St Denis
Bruce, I did pick up the info. It should be helpful. Thank you for having it in time for our owners’ forum. I am going to talk to Juan in the morning and tell him that we have lost a substantial amount of additional beach over the weekend. What can we do in the meanwhile? Before the breakwaters? Before the planned sand renourishment in 2012?
Bob Appel
Longboat Key
Vision Plan report request
To: Town Manager Bruce St. Denis
Bruce, would you please send me the Humiston and Moore information from the commission workshop on or around April 14, 2008.
I believe there was a hardcopy set of H&M recommendations that was subsequently entered into the records for that workshop. I would like this in electronic PDF format.
I would also like the DVD from that workshop.
Gene Jaleski
Commissioner, Longboat Key
To: Commissioner Gene Jaleski
The H&M report is attached in PDF format. MIS is currently in the process of duplicating the DVD for that meeting date.
I will contact you when it is available for pick-up, or if you prefer, we can bring it to the Temple tomorrow morning.
Trish Granger
Town Clerk, Longboat Key
Support redevelopment plan
To: Town Commission
I am not going to comment on the intricacies and nuances of the zoning code; since the Commissioners have the authority to amend the code for the benefit of the citizens of Longboat Key, current provisions become irrelevant, even if applicable. Similarly, I am not going to assert that the scope and scale of the current proposed redevelopment plan should not be subject to adjustment; there is always room for rational, “good-faith” negotiations in connection with large development projects.
However, I am going to strongly assert that approval of a reasonably sized, but economically-viable redevelopment plan for the Longboat Key Club is absolutely crucial to maintain the vitality, desirability, and economic health of Longboat Key, and to preserve and enhance the value of the Key’s residential properties.
As a condo owner in her 70s, I know I will not live forever; at some point in the future, my beautiful condo at the Water Club will have to be sold by my executors. If wealthy, high-class visitors do not come to Longboat Key—to discover what it’s like to live in our version of “Paradise”—there will be no suitable buyers available to buy our condos. And what will bring such wealthy, high-class potential buyers to Longboat Key? A first-class destination resort, with meeting facilities and beautiful accommodations, as well as a top-quality tennis complex and golf courses. In fact, we view the handsome new tennis complex as the example, par excellence, of what the Club will look like when the redevelopment is completed.
Yes, there will undoubtedly be some near-term inconvenience, and, conceivably, some increased traffic in high season. However, we view these inconveniences as necessary for achieving a much greater goal: the continued desirability of Longboat Key as a place where upscale people from all across the country will want to buy elegant homes and spend their retirement years. In our opinion, the best way to get these people here in the first place is to redevelop the Longboat Key Club into a world-class resort that wins awards and attracts the kind of people who will appreciate what Longboat Key has to offer. I have never heard any member of the opposition suggest an alternative plan for attracting the visitors that will keep our beautiful island vital and prosperous.
Rosalie Goldberg
Longboat Key
City planner gives outline for Key Club plan
To: Editor and Town Commission
As a city planner with over 30 years of experience I offer the following in consideration of the Longboat Key Club Proposal.
Policy Precedes Proposal
1. The purpose of planning is to establish land use, development, economic, social, environmental and transportation policies, goals and objectives for the preservation and betterment of a community.
2. These policies are embodied in a Comprehensive Plan, which is based on analysis and on a public approval process, which provides a roadmap for achieving these policies. The Zoning Ordinance and Capital Improvements Program are tools to implement the land use and development policies contained in the Comp Plan. Comp Plans are updated regularly (under State mandates) based on changed demographic, economic, physical conditions or changed circumstances generally. Blight and deterioration affecting the community or the completion of a major piece infrastructure such as a highway or transit or subway line, which would permit higher density of development, would be examples of changed circumstances.
3.A Comp Plan will usually identify those areas of the community, which are to be preserved, and those areas where development or redevelopment is desired. These designations allow the public to know where development is to encourage and where neighborhoods are to be protected from the incursions of redevelopment and from the impacts of development on sites where development is to be encouraged.
4. A Planned Unit Development District is applied to residential development sites where flexibility is provided to preserve critical open space and natural habitat. This is done by the clustering of residential development away from these critical areas and by providing flexibility to the developer to waive conventional subdivision regulations which might require development to spread out over the entire site thereby losing critical open space and habitat.
5.A Planned Mixed Use Development Area is intended to allow a mix of residential and commercial uses for the purpose of a more intensely developed area that encourages 24 hour seven day a week activity on a site, accommodates more of the daily needs of daytime and evening users which mitigates traffic demand, provides for a more diverse economic base and provides living, shopping, working and recreational opportunities for the community. These areas are designed to be internally coordinated and harmonious in the arrangement of diverse land uses and to be compatible with the whole community.
6.Planned Development areas eschew conventional zoning regulations and is focused on a set of flexible development guidelines, which expressly lay out what public objectives are to be achieved without actually engineering the site. The approval process entails a developer submitting a concept plan that demonstrates compliance with the guidelines through staff and public review. It is only when the concept plan is deemed compliant with the Comp Plan and the guidelines that the developer is allowed to submit phased engineered site plans for the project. Exceptions and departures from these guidelines are not acceptable since flexibility is provided and there is no presumed hardship. What doesn’t comply with the guidelines doesn’t comply with the Comp Plan and unless the Comp Plan is changed then the proposal cannot be approved. For example, if the guideline states that a variety of building heights are to be provided with building heights near existing residential to be compatible in scale with those nearby residences then a one hundred and two foot building abutting one and two story buildings may be deemed noncompliant with the guideline although the guideline didn’t say that buildings at this height are to be prohibited. This departure from the guideline could not be approved as a hardship since the developer would have well known that his/her proposal to construct high-rise buildings next to small-scaled residences was inconsistent with the guideline.
7. In consideration of the above the Longboat Key Club Proposal, however attractive the project conceptually, doesn’t pass muster, neither does the Town’s Comp Plan and development regulations as applied to this proposal. The Comp Plan doesn’t designate the Longboat Key Club Islandside property as a redevelopment site and doesn’t discuss changed circumstances, which would warrant consideration of this site for redevelopment such as blight or deterioration. The property is fully developed and there are no parcels within the property that were designated for future development or redevelopment. The proposal to redevelop existing open space and recreational facilities is a major departure from the Comp Plan and no reasonable member of the public least of all Islandside residents could have expected a redevelopment proposal being considered for this property based on the existing Comp Plan.
8. The Gulf Planned Development and Land Use Intensity schedule does not call for a mix of uses on this site and there is not a rationale provided in the Plan for doing so. The only density guideline or rule is 5.05 du’s per acre and the zone doesn’t address guidelines for the permitting or intensity of other non-residential uses on the site. The zoning for this site would be poorly designed if it didn’t state what was intended or how the land uses were to be executed in a development scheme vis a vis the Longboat Key proposal. The GPD is well designed for what it produced which is what we see now. There are no residual units to be clustered to be transferred or to be built. Zoning can’t allow what the Plan doesn’t permit.
9. If the Longboat Key Club proposal is a departure from the Comp Plan then the departures cited by the Planning Director’s report are irrelevant. As noted above Planned Development areas such as the Islandside site are about flexibility not the creation of self-induced hardships. The only relevant question is whether the Town has designated the Islandside site for redevelopment. Well, it hasn’t so why is this proposal before them for consideration?
10. Proposal Precedes Policy – The Town Planning Board and Commission have spent an inordinate amount of time and expense in reacting to the developer’s proposal rather than addressing whether the Town had the policy in place to even consider this project for approval. There has been much discussion about amending the Comp Plan to provide a stronger basis for considering this project as compliant with the Plan. I believe that doing so would be highly suspect if in amending the Plan the Commission was merely blessing the proposal. The Town could update the Comp Plan and state that Longboat Key needed to diversify its economy, promote more transient housing or upgrade its commercial base. These may be worthy objectives that could be achieved on several sites on the Island. In other words, the revisiting of the Comp plan to recognize changed circumstances like economic deterioration would have to be comprehensive in its consideration of how this need could be met. This analysis would avoid the conflict of interest in the Commission amending the plan to approve the project while it was purportedly objectively reviewing the project in the public interest. The analysis may show that the only site where redevelopment is feasible without harming the adjacent areas is the Islandside site and the Town could make its case accordingly. Comp Plans are meant to be changed and updated- they are neither immutable nor intended to be written in stone. However, the process of doing so needs to be exacting and objective and command the public’s trust in the fairness of the process. Right now this proposal is not supported by public policy and the process for considering this project is suspect in my opinion.
Larry Grossman
Longboat Key
What if Key Club cannot stay competitive?
To: Town Commission
I own and run a business in Tampa and unable to attend your meeting today, but did want to voice my support of the proposed development in question. I am a long time member of the Key Club, frequent visitor, and a former property owner. I am in the middle of negotiations for the purchase of another unit at the LBKC and have been watching the progress, or lack thereof, of the proposed additional development to the Key Club. In my opinion if the proposed development is blocked you will no doubt see a negative effect for the Key. Maybe not immediately, but in the long run, the Key will be penalized. I am now wondering why should I buy a property for investment, that is going to be forced tofall behind other resorts? Are others having the same thoughts? Do you think values will go up? Why would they?
You have allowed the high-rise condos to be built behind the gates, and now it seems as though those vocal owners are trying to influence you to vote against progress. The attitude seems to be “we have ours” and we don’t want “yours.” The Key has seen businesses close and others struggling to survive. No doubt the LBKC draws customers to those businesses. What do you think will happen if LBKC is not allowed to staycompetitive to other resort areas? Do you think that slowly you will lose the business meetings, investors, and just regular visitors who support all the businesses on the Key?
Without a doubt your decision will affect the Key either in a positive, or a negative way. Progress is often difficult to accept. I hope you do not vote against it now.
Jim Kelly
Tampa
Supporting the Key Club plan
To: Town Commission
I fully support the Longboat Key Club in their expansion plan and efforts to keep Longboat Key a vital community. As a former resident of the key for 15 years and current member of the club I feel this is a necessary addition to the community.
Chari Polley
Longboat Key Club member
Photo misunderstanding
To: Commissioner Jim Brown
At today’s hearings you characterized my use of a photograph using a 55 mm lens to represent an accurate view of the view from L’Ambiance as being a misleading and an inaccurate portrayal, based upon your experience as a photographer. You said that a 35 mm lens was a “normal” lens and that my use of a photo with a 55 mm lens was an attempt to mislead.
In this regard I would like to refer you to the websites below, which indicate that a “normal” lens is in the range of 35mm to 70mm. You should also note that a 35mm lens is the bottom end of normal and the top end of wide-angle range. I used a 55 mm lens which is nearly midrange and which I believe is a very accurate portrayal of the scale of the project as seen from L’Ambiance.
On the other hand the Club’s photo was obviously taken using a much wider-angle lens, which can only be described as minimizing the scale of the buildings in the project.
The point here is that the renditions provided by the Club do not represent the true scale of the project and I stand by my presentation as being accurate, however I suggest that a scale model or rendition by an independent expert be a mandatory requirement to enable the Commission to properly evaluate the scale of this project.
For Lens Focal Lengths Check: http://www.photoaxe.com/understanding-the-lens-focal-length-and-aperture/http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/camera-lenses.htm
Bob White, President
Islandside Property Owners Coalition, LLC
Do not be detered by scare tactics
To: Town Commission
My name is Dr. Tom Cail and my wife, Andy (Anne Marie) and I are long time, full time Florida residents (30+ years) and a 13 year full time Longboat Key residents and taxpayers. I have been in business (Dentistry) in Sarasota for 28 years, my wife in Real Estate (Sarasota and LBK) for 25 years
The purpose of this e-mail is to urge you to approve the Longboat Key Club’s application. I am convinced that their project is in the very best interest of preserving and yes, improving the character of our beautiful island home. Without it, our Key can do nothing but suffer.
We have lost the Colony. We lost the Holiday Inn. Please, no more. Do not let the scare talk tactics of lawsuit deter you. Please do your duty and vote yes.
Tom and Andy Cail
Longboat Key
Don’t kid yourselves
To: Town residents
The Longboat Key Club (in reality the Loeb Partners Realty) proposal in front of the Town Commission right now is essentially a sales presentation. The lawyers, the consultants, the charts and graphs and little photos from a mile away and three thousand feet in the air: they are all meant to minimize the hurt and maximize the promise, without providing any insurance for the hurt or any guaranty of the promise.
But that’s okay; it’s their job. In fact, the Loeb website tells us that “its major focus [is] on the creation and enhancement of value of these properties through repositioning, renovation and intensive asset management”. And I believe them.
If you wanted to “reposition” this property what would you do? You might get some permits in hand that max out the potential of every available cubic foot (and then some) so you could, let’s see, maybe renegotiate the terms of your loans, or perhaps jack up a sales price, or get a higher bid, or simply write off a bigger loss. Lots of possibilities, once you’ve got the permission to do whatever you want with the place.
But where do they say that they care about the Town that they hold assets in?
That’s where you come in. That’s your job. While the Town Commissioners are doggedly researching how much the Loeb Partners did to improve the lives in Galena, Illinois, where they control the 380-room Eagle Ridge Resort & Spa, or what the good folks in New Orleans might say about how much better off their town is now that Loeb controls 707 rooms and 50,000 square feet of retail and meeting space, you can chime in about what you care about.
You might think that your Commissioner knows what you think, or feels what you feel, or even that since you told him so, you’ve been represented. You might be wrong.
You see, in this sort of “quasi-judicial” proceeding, the only thing that counts, the only evidence or word from you that the Commissioners may vote on, is what they see and hear in these proceedings.
The Loeb managers are actually having their people work overtime, cajoling and schmoozing as many of their true believers and just plain behind-the-gates folks as they can rustle up to appear at the “quasi-judicial” proceedings to make their voices heard by the Commission…in their corporate interest, of course, for their bottom line.
So if the Commission doesn’t hear from you, and you, and you, and your neighbor, and your buddy, about what you care about: beach access, nature, views from your place, views of your place, golf lessons, lawn tennis, organic food, architecture, squash, sculpture, density, traffic, the future, the past, pollution, building height, polo, sidewalks, crossing the darn street safely, sustainability, bus stops, band stands, bike paths, internet cafés, turtles, taxes, signage, stop lights, turn lanes, kayaks, tiki huts, swim-up bars, restaurants, pesticides, free shuttles, croquet, spa treatments, fences, speed bumps, mangroves, movies, water conservation, you name it. You name it.
If the Commission does not hear from you, in person, at these proceedings, in the five minute limit that you have to say your piece and make your influence known, then no matter how smart, or experienced, or just plain right or just plain wonderful you are, you don’t count. Because they can only vote based on the evidence and the testimony they see and hear now. So, add your voice to the proceedings. It’s really your only chance to show you care. See you there.
Shawn Glen Pierson
Longboat Key
Do not become hostage to opposition groups
To: Town Commission
Please, do not allow Longboat Key to become hostage to a minority opposition group driven solely by ‘self interest.’ The enhancements to the club and to the key will benefit the entire community…residents, vacationers and businesses alike! Conversely, a rejection of the plan will precipitate a gradual decline of our economy and the amenities that are the “backbone” of our community.
We’ve already watched the Colony and other enterprises falter…surely without investment and renewal this pattern will only continue. This is not just an issue about the Longboat Key Club…it is about the survival and prosperity of Longboat Key.
Arthur Warshaw
Longboat Key
Plan not consistent with Comprehensive Plan
To: Town Commission
We are writing to urge you to reject the proposed development by the Key Club because it simply is not consistent with the Town’s Comprehensive Plan, because it is not compatible with the zoning codes, and because the Islandside planned development was never planned for high intensity commercial use.
Our family, like many neighbors, bought our residence on the basis of the planned development marketed to our family when the condominiums were built. We relied on the scope of development presented, and the Town laws designed to prevent excessive density.
Finally, there are no guarantees that the Key Club will be a reliable developer, even if the scope were smaller, based on their prior experience with the Moorings Marina. Thank you for your consideration and efforts to maintain the integrity of the Town.
Shelley Winkler, Jean Winkler, and Linda Winkler
Longboat Key
Don’t be swayed by self-serving misinformation
To: Town Commission
Please act fiscally responsibly by approving the LBK Club’s plans for redevelopment.
As permanent residents on LBK, sadly we have watched the erosion of the vitality that brought us to this area six years ago. Shops closing, restaurants disappearing, property values plummeting — all are testimony to the need for change.
You have the power to make this area the “must-go-to” place for luxurious recreation, relaxation, and living that it once was. You also have the power to vote for its continued slow and agonizing demise.
Which shall it be? Please don’t be swayed by the self-serving misinformation disseminated by the few who identify themselves as the “behind the gates” group. They do not represent the vast majority of LBK residents.
Which shall it be — a return to prosperity or the end of a dream? The fate of LBK rests firmly in your hands!
Robert and Carole Madden
Longboat Key
Supporting the Key Club
To: Town Commission
As a Bay Isles homeowner and Club member I fully support the Clubs redevelopment.
Marvin Kocian
Longboat Key
Key Club will benefit community
To: Town Commission
As long term, year residents of Longboat Key we urge you to support the Longboat Key Club application and approve the planned improvements to the Club which will benefit this community. The organized opposition of a minority of part time residents should not hold captive the greater interests of the majority. Also, the benefit of immediate and future employment for the larger community cries for approval by the Commission. Support the Longboat Key Club.
Edna and Richard Hausman
Longboat Key
In favor of improvements
To: Town Commission
My husband and I cannot attend the meeting, however, are supporting the new development plans to enhance the premises and to improve the clubhouse and golf course at Islandside. Attention must be paid to the light at New Pass, as that can be a problem in season, also the bridge opening on demand must be considered. In season, at times it has taken me 45 minutes to get to my home on Bird Key from Harborside golf. I am in favor of improvement with the suggestions being taken into consideration.
Jean and Jim Tarsy
Longboat Key
Rejuvenation of the Key Club
To: Town Commission
I live on Longboat Key and would very much like to see a rejuvenation of the Club. New activities are badly needed.
P. Perron
Longboat Key
An open letter to the media that serve Longboat Key
To: Editor
I have been visiting Longboat Key now for many years during the winter months to escape the harsh winter snows of upstate NY.
While I am here enjoying our usually warm weather, I do take an interest in local politics as I ran for my towns Common Council and have a degree in Political Science from a prestigious Upstate NY Graduate School. The great interest by the incumbents and challengers in these local elections got me interested in the intricacies of what really goes on behind the scenes and outside the public politicking.
Therefore, I have been doing research on the candidates for office. Some of the information that you and your reporters have uncovered has really been helpful to whom I would consider the average Joe Voter on Longboat Key. Yet, there also is a lacking of investigative work whether this is do to time constraints or perhaps the LBK Club $400 million project, I guess the little things fall by the wayside when you are looking at potentially hundreds of millions of dollars of investment on the key.
First of all let me say this – I support all of the candidates (incumbents and challengers) who have the gumption to step forward and put themselves under public scrutiny to run for an unpaid elected office. I think you have to be a little crazy to do this but I also understand that most who call Longboat Key home now are, like myself, retired from a successful career up north and we moved here to play golf, tennis, and enjoy the warmer weather than we had back home up north. And most of us have or did have good incomes so running for an unpaid position is not a big deal to us. Knowing this, when candidates do run for office they accept the public scrutiny that really should come from the press but that also can come from the public that takes the time to do their homework and research the great candidates that we do have.
I am one of these people that have done some research and I can say this – almost no candidate running for office is perfect.
Candidates have made mistakes filing campaign reports (Rothenberg filed a late report); Mr. Pokoik left a few words off of his political signs forcing him to add the words via pen or marker to correct the situation, but what I have found the most glaring of errors to me, if it is an error, has been made by the candidate Lynn Larson. I would love to have her sweetheart deal she must have with the Longboat Key press, and I would hire her campaign manager in a heartbeat. Ms. Larson has been advertising in the LBK News, and the Longboat Key Observer for over a month now, she also has political signs like Mr. Pokoik, and I have even seen a mailer sent to a neighbor of mine, as I am not a registered voter of Florida. What Ms. Larson does not have – according to campaign reports I have seen her file and from the reports listed in the Long Boat Key News – is she has had many of these services apparently provided to her campaign free of charge.
In today’s economy, I find this truly hard to believe, and apparently it is merely an oversight on the part of herself and her campaign treasurer.
Ms. Larson claims to have worked under Bill Nelson (then Insurance commissioner) as a State Bureaucrat in charge of a state agency with many Millions of dollars in her division’s budget. Yet I wonder if we should trust her or any candidate without business experience with our towns public tax monies, especially if she can’t easily run her own campaign fiscally responsibly, but I digress as she states she is for fiscal accountability of our town’s money if she is elected, yet she seems to not want to be fiscally responsible in her own campaign.
Larson claims (depending on the reports she has filed which are varied -) just over $2,500 of income and expenses of under $20.
Nowhere do I see that she spent any money on campaign signs, mailers, or newspaper advertising prior to Jan. 1, 2010.
But I inquired with an ad representative with one of these papers and they said that political advertising had to be paid for upfront, as in the past if a candidate was defeated and had not paid a bill, it often would go uncollected.
I appreciate the efforts of all the candidates who are not running in the primary election now underway as they seem to be doing a fairly good job filing reports with expenses and incomes on time etc, but then again they have yet to have the pressure on them that the three candidates running for District 1 on the key I believe are now experiencing as one of them will not be moving forward to the March general election.
Thank You for your time and I hope we will see some in depth reporting on the local races we have here on our barrier island hometown that goes a bit beyond the visage of everyday politicking and gets to the core of these candidates whom several will be entrusted with the towns ATM card for the next two years and we should all due our due diligence to make sure that the best people to handle our tax monies are elected to serve us.
Joseph Scarino
Longboat Key and Brockport, N.Y.
Lack of facts color testimony
To: Editor
I attended some of this past Friday’s commission hearing on the Longboat Key Club proposed expansion. Mr. Richard Crawford, leader of the Coalition for Positive Change, which favors the Club’s proposals, made a presentation.
I was extremely surprised at the lack of facts and knowledge in his comments. He stated that the membership in his organization was in the “hundreds,” but upon being questioned further, he could not give a more definitive number or a breakdown of the membership. When asked a bout his group’s relationship with the Club, he hedged his answers on almost every question. His ‘facts’ were mostly his opinions.
Mr. Crawford and his organization (which probably is much smaller than he states) appear to be nothing more than a surrogate for the club and not an independent group of supporters as he claims. Perhaps one should question how much trust the Club deserves when it resorts to this type of testimony.
Charles Jennings
Longboat Key
Club may be maximizing for their own gain
To: Commissioner Peter O’Connor
We are Bayou neighbors of yours and I am taking this opportunity to offer my viewpoint regarding the expansion of the LBK Club, since you are a town commissioner.
I speak for myself, not necessarily for my husband, Ron.
Let me begin by saying we are members of the Club and have been for several years.
I will also mention that I have not liked the way they are trying to mobilize club members…. it is just too political for me, and I don’t want to have that kind of relationship with a place I go to relax.
I am having a very difficult time getting through all of the hyperbole about the expansion issue. There will always be pros and cons to any issue such as this and I do understand there is probably validity on both sides.
Having said that, ultimately I want what is best for the island. We do need to maintain a certain economic viability or we will have more shops etc going out of business.
However, my favorite part of the island (besides the Bayou J) is the Village. I like the feel of a quieter retreat much more than the feel of a big time resort. I conduct many meetings in large, world-class resorts and it is not my wish for the island.
I am also concerned about traffic. I just don’t see how this kind of expansion won’t impact in-season congestion. I have read the arguments but more people will mean more traffic.
I am also worried about the real motivation for the expansion. Is it truly about what is best for the island or is it about people wanting to make more money, at any cost?
The bottom line for me is that ideally, I would like to see an economically healthy community and preserve the beauty and non-commercial aspects of Longboat. My gut says there are other ways to do this and that the plan that has been put forth by the Club is not really in the best interests of our beautiful community but more about the self-interests of people who are maximizing this opportunity for their own gain.
Susan J. Strong-Ribnik
Longboat Key
Show me the money
To: Town Commission
Mr. Lee Pokoik has requested copies of all certificates of attendance (or other documentation received) for each Commissioner who attended conferences or seminars that were reimbursed by the Town during calendar year 2009. The Town has all the financial data requested, but we do not have any certificates on file, with the exception of the Institute for Elected Officials documents.
Please stop by Town Hall with any documents you may have and we will make the necessary copy. If you have not received any documentation, please provide this information by return e-mail and we will notify Mr. Pokoik of your response.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Trish Granger, Town Clerk
Longboat Key
To: Town Clerk
I did not receive any certificates of attendance or other documentation of attendance for any of the conferences I attended in 2009.
Bob Siekmann, Commissioner
Longboat Key
Interview before support
To: Mayor Lee Rothenberg
I am sending this e-mail to follow up with the voicemail that I left on your phone. The Union is interviewing the candidates for the seat that you currently hold and are running for another term. Your challengers have asked for our support. The union, in fairness to all, likes to interview all candidates before making a decision on which candidate to support. We have interviews scheduled for Thursday Jan. 7, 2010. I would like to schedule you for 11 a.m. at the union office if possible.
Keith Tanner
Longboat Key DVP
Rothenberg article was Personal attack
To: PIC
As I read your article, “Rothenberg should step down from commission,” I was reminded of a quote attributed to Arthur Hays Sulzberger.
“A man’s judgment cannot be better than the information on which he has based it. Give him no news, or present him only with distorted and incomplete data, with ignorant, sloppy, or biased reporting, with propaganda and deliberate falsehoods, and you destroy his whole reasoning process and make him somewhat less than a man.”
Your article is offensive to me because I deem it to be a personal attack on Mayor Rothenberg and it leads the reader toward developing several misimpressions of Mayor Rothenberg and the Town Commissioners’ deliberations.
The following is a sample of statements included in your article that I consider to be misleading:
“… the Town Commission in a 5-2 vote has allowed Mayor Lee Rothenberg to run for yet another term …”
“… the mayor placed his fellow commissioners in the position of having to vote for or against him…”
“The indirect pressure of being asked to support the ambitions of a fellow commissioner cannot be underestimated.”
“Surely the mayor … does not wish to create a bad precedent” (by running for another term)…
“At a minimum this action by the mayor creates an appearance of impropriety even if technical legal arguments can be made to support his self-serving participation (in the vote).”
Your article omits several critical facts, all of which can be found on the Town’s web site under “Meetings and Minutes.”
1. The term-limit resolution adopted (i.e.,Resolution 2009-48, Establishing Findings and Applicability of Partial Terms with Respect to Term Limits) applies equally to all current and future commissioners, not just to Mayor Rothenberg.
2. Prior to consideration of the term limit resolution, the Town’s attorney, David Persson, advised the commissioners that their decision must be consistent with the Town Charter and provided them with suggestions on how they might accomplish this. The commissioners’ task was defined as that of interpreting, not changing, the Town’s Charter. Persson also provided the commissioners with historical records to help them accomplish their task. Nothing in Persson’s instructions could be construed as being related to “voting for or against Mayor Rothenberg.”
3. As requested by the commissioners, Persson researched the question of whether Mayor Rothenberg should vote on the resolution. The Florida statutes and court judgments cited by Persson clearly suggested that Rothenberg not only was eligible to vote on the resolution, but was obligated to do so. This is inconsistent with your suggestion that Rothenberg had a clear opportunity to abstain but chose to the vote on the resolution to advance his own self interest.
That your article continuously attributes negative motives (e.g., ambition, and being self-serving) to Rothenberg’s actions is regrettable. He is not running for a higher office and there is no evidence that he will gain financially from serving another term. Moreover, a desire to help keep Longboat Key a place all residents will continue to enjoy seems to be a motive that is much more consistent with Rothenberg’s past history of service to the Town. We can’t know another person’s motives with any degree of certainty, and for that reason, it is inappropriate to attribute negative motives to others.
After reading all of the materials submitted to the commissioners to assist them in their decision regarding Resolution 2009-48, listening to their deliberations, and considering the advice provided by the Town lawyer, I found myself comfortable with the commissioners’ decision. However, I consider it reasonable that others might hold a position different from mine.
Should you decide to pursue this matter further, I would suggest that everyone on your board read all of the “supporting documentation” submitted to the Town commissioners, search for additional relevant materials, and listen to the audio tape of the commissioners’ deliberations. If after absorbing all of this material there is a strong consensus among your board members that the commissioners need to revisit Resolution 2009-48, Establishing Findings and Applicability of Partial Terms with Respect to Term Limits, develop a tight written argument supported by facts for their doing so and submit it to the commissioners.
John O. Summers
Longboat Key
Please consider carefully
To: Town Commission
Having been a member of my northern city’s City Commission, Planning Board and Zoning Appeal Board, I know the pressures on those in the approval process. There are times that the matter will seem very complex. There are many who will make it seem complex. At such times, I urge you to trust your own common sense and experience-acquired wisdom. Longboat Key has gained from planning and zoning. The land behind the gates was built out, completed, in accordance with that planning and zoning. Buyers paid premiums because of that planning and zoning. Loeb acquired the property from Arvida for substantially less than market rates by agreeing to those zoning and planning restrictions. Longboat Key Commissions, Planning and Zoning Boards and Committees spent a lot of time and care to establish the ground rules.
The Club has a lot of ways to achieve five-star status within the existing ground rules and neighbors would be very supportive of modernization of a more modest scale.
The importance of zoning is that it gives the community ground rules to rely on. Please keep this in mind when the matter seems to get complicated. Good wishes on your considerations.
Bill Sandy
Longboat Key
Be mindful of needs, protect resident rights
To: Town Commission
While you must be getting a lot of correspondence on the Longboat Key Club expansion—some in favor–others not –, I wanted to express my views as a 15- year resident who purchased property on the island based on certain beliefs and values.
My wife and I enjoy the ambiance of LBK. It does get crowded in season, but we know it’s part of the make-up of the island. It’s a wonderful place to live and deserves the excellent reputation it has for a ‘quality of life’ place to enjoy the pleasures of life. We are encouraging you to keep it that way and to not give in to people who would change our lifestyle in the interest of ‘economic development’
We are against a wholesale disregard for the zoning code and waivers that would destroy ‘what we have tried to protect over the years. We need our green spaces and encourage you to protect them with all your energy and thoughtfulness! We invested in Longboat Key relying on the existing zoning laws. Sure — things change over time, but a blatant disregard for these well protected laws is disrespectful to the people that have invested here — and just greedy!
As elected officials who are selected to protect our rights, we encourage you to be mindful of the needs and desires of the people who live and have invested here.
We all appreciate the work you are doing and deep down feel you will do what’s right to protect the majority of the people and not give in to selfish business pursuits in the name of ‘progress’. Thank you for your consideration and what you do to make our treasure of a community remain just that!
Carol and Les Brualdi
Longboat Key
Support economic health: move plan forward
To: Town Commission
I’ve had the pleasure of being a property owner and part-year resident of Longboat Key for the last 9 years. Please allow me this opportunity to voice my full support for the Longboat Key Club expansion. I believe this expansion is critical to the future health of the key and of the Sarasota area in general. The benefits will far outweigh the negatives…whether we are talking about economics or amenities and the quality of life on the key. I urge you to move this plan forward and support the economic health of the key.
Eric Leininger
Longboat Key
Vital economic lift
To: Town Commission
I am a property owner in Longboat Key with a condominium in the Longboat Key Towers building. I want to voice my strong support to the proposed expansion being proposed by the club. Given that I live “behind the gates”, I would seemingly be one of those on the key most affected negatively by the expansion.
In my opinion, the expansion brings a vital economic lift to Longboat Key with a limited negative impact on the overall quality of life. In fact, I believe that without some sort of significant expansion or other form of economic stimulus (of which none are proposed or forthcoming) the key as we all know it will die a slow and traumatic economic death.
There is always the need for careful consideration on any development projects but I urge you for the long-term viability of the key to pass on this proposed expansion and aid in the continued vitality of the key.
David H. Greene, Managing Partner
Greene Consulting Associates, LLC
Key Club hearing conflicts
To: Town Commission
Two minor conflicts have been identified and addressed. The first is Friday, Jan. 8. The Sabbath starts just before 6 p.m. and we need to have our entire set-up taken down by that time. To do so we need to cease deliberations by 4 p.m. on that day. The second is on Monday, Jan.11. The Rabbi has a lunch meeting of 35 people that needs to occur at the rear portion of the Social Hall. I have agreed that the Club Hearing will recess for lunch from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. to accommodate the Temple’s activities. Please let me know if these accommodations will cause any problems for you. Use your judgment as to who should receive this information so they can plan their time.
Bruce St. Denis
Town Manager, Longboat Key
Allow Key Club to pursue capital expenditures
To: Mayor Lee Rothenberg
As both a member of the Longboat Key Club and a resident at Grand Bay, I am writing in favor of the allowing the Key Club to pursue their capital expenditures on our lovely Key. We are indeed fortunate that someone is willing to enhance our area, especially in this economic environment. I believe this a step forward in preserving what we have and not letting things run down.
John Lundy
Longboat Key
Fear of Key Club traffic increase
To: Town Commission
I have been at the Sanctuary for almost 20 years. We chose this place because we wanted a beautiful and peaceful community with good golf and tennis available.It seems as though we are about to lose most of the tennis courts. As for the golf course, it is in deplorable condition. If the greens are in good shape (rarely) then the fairways are bad and vice versa. I wouldn’t dream of paying the high green fees that you ask for a guest when the course is so mediocre.
The traffic would be terrible if this plan goes through. It will certainly hurt St. Armands Circle if we have large trucks coming through. We all want to make improvements, especially on the golf course, but we don’t want such a large convention center; we don’t need to compete with the Ritz, and we definitely do not want to lose our driving range.
Susanne Olin
Longboat Key
Expansion proposal would destroy the beauty of the Key
To: Lee Rothenberg
We are appalled and dismayed at the vastness of the proposed expansion plan. We bought a condo in the Sanctuary complex in 1990, moved to Regent Place a few years ago and started vacationing on the island in the late 70s and 80s. We were then and are still impressed with the strict zoning that has kept this island a special, aesthetically wonderful place and are in admiration of those town commissioners who have adhered to the best interests of the residents of this Key throughout the past decades.
To allow the Loeb expansion proposal would be to destroy the beauty and tranquility of this Key forever. We’ve been members of the Club since 1990 and have relied on and enjoyed the Islandside recreational activities since then; in fact, we bought behind the Islandside gates precisely because of those facilities and the quiet afforded by this stretch of land.
All that would be ruined by approving the current proposal. The proffered hotel and convention center alone are not in keeping with the character of the Key and the traffic and environmental impact of the plan is enormous.
We do hope that you and the other town commissioners will reject the proposal or, at the least, demand significant reductions in the density and scope of the plan so as to conform to the goal of keeping our Key a lovely oasis in the midst of the kind of crass commercialism to which other areas in Florida have succumbed.
Please pass this on to your fellow Commissioners.
Geri and Ron Yonover
Longboat Key
Tourism not key to future
To: Town Commission
There was an excellent article by John Summers in the Longboat Key News on Dec. 18 that deals with tourism and the future of Longboat Key. I hope you all had a chance to read that tourism is not the major factor to the future of Longboat Key. We only need to look at our neighbors on Bird Key and Casey Key.
Soon you will hear all the testimony there is – to decide whether the expansion project proposed by the Longboat Key Club should be approved or not. I will leave the legal arguments to the lawyers and try and focus on the issues facing the residents of Longboat Key. The only one who benefits from this expansion is the Loeb organization. The issues being raised by the proponents of the expansion seek to focus on increased real estate values; the support of our restaurants, shops and other businesses; unemployment, and the potential taxes from this expansion to preserve and increase services.
I don’t know the unemployment rate on Longboat Key, but as far as I know, unemployment is not an issue. If this project gets approved, increased taxes will most likely be used to support increased services for this expansion rather than supporting the current base.
In one of the issues of ‘Club Reflections’ (the monthly Key Club newsletter), the general manager mentions the fact that three new restaurants will be part of the project.
How does this increased competition support our existing restaurants? If you review the restaurants that advertise in the reflections magazine (copies of which are in every guest room), only the Dry Dock Waterfront Grill is on Longboat Key, all the others are on St. Armands Circle. It would seem to me that the Club will do everything it can to keep their guests on the property, and I would further assume, that the minimum food expenditure for club members will increase over the years to support these additional restaurants.
The shops on St. Armands Circle are less than two miles away while the shops at Avenue of the flowers are almost four miles away, and the Centre Shops are seven miles away. Again, the shops at St. Armands are advertised in the reflections magazine. It’s only logical that ‘shoppers’ who stay at the Key Club will tend to go to St. Armands. It’s no wonder that that Merchant Association is so much in favor of this proposed expansion.
We have heard how much this project will benefit St. Armands Circle and the City of Sarasota, but will it benefit the residents of Longboat Key? It would be interesting to see how many people with ‘Support the Club’ badges actually live on Longboat Key.
Consider this: the proposed timetable is five to seven years of construction. How many potential home buyers will want to put up with that massive construction? How many homeowners will want to sell so as not to be inconvenienced with the traffic and construction? What will then happen to home prices?
Let’s not forget the passing of the referendum to allow expansion of 250 units, I would submit to you the addition of eighty rooms at the Hilton will do more for the businesses on Longboat Key than the $400 million proposed expansion of the Longboat Key Club because of its location. We should encourage other resorts to apply for the other 170 units and hope that The Colony can come to some agreement to renovate and completely re-open.
Longboat Key has attracted home buyers over the years and has enjoyed increased market values and will continue to do so. There is a certain ambiance to Longboat that no other key has, let’s keep it that way.
Jim Brown’s column of Dec. 30, titled ‘Do not try to make Longboat Key Perfect’ summarizes it best: “The last thing we should be trying to do, it seems to me, anyhow, is fundamentally change the character of what those ‘parents’ and Arvida built.”
Ray Rajewski
Longboat Key
Commissioners should uphold codes
To: Editor
My wife and I moved to Longboat Key eight years ago from Boca Raton. We made this most important decision because the established codes protected Longboat Key from being commercially over developed as experienced on the east coast of Florida. We along with thousands of other families choose to become residents and invest a part of our life savings and move to LBK. The commissioners should uphold the integrity of the existing codes, which protects the balance and quality of life style of the residency.
Sylvia and Irwin Pastor
Longboat Key
Potential speaker for Club
To: Peter O’Connor
I have met with and discussed the relationship of the golf course maintenance staff and the adjoining neighborhood with John Reilly. Since that meeting, I have been monitoring the area and checking on any calls. There have been none.
Mr. Reilly would be available to meet with any neighbors or Neighborhood Associations to discuss the long-term relationship of the Golf Course and the neighborhood.
Al Hogle
Police Chief, Longboat Key
Question credit card
To: Kristi Bronson
Several candidates have inquired as to using a credit card for payments of election expenses. Florida Statutes outlines the use of credit cards by statewide candidates only, and as such, a clarification of Statutes as it relates to use of credit cards by municipal candidates was requested. Please see the ruling from the State Division of Elections on this issue. If you have additional questions, please feel free to contact the Town Clerk’s office.
Trish Granger
Town Clerk, Longboat Key
To: Trish Granger
Only statewide officers and political committees registered to support statewide candidates may have campaign credit cards.
Kristi Reid Bronson
Chief, Bureau of Election Records
Election Laws
To: Keila Griffin
Questions or Comments: I am the elections official for the Town of Longboat Key and would like clarification on the following section of Florida Statutes, Chapter 106, Campaign Financing: F.S. 106.125 addresses the use of credit cards by “any candidate for statewide office or any political committee.”
The following question has been raised: Does the authority to use credit cards include candidates in a local municipal election or does it strictly apply to statewide offices (cabinet, etc.) and political committees? Please advise as soon as possible.
Trish Granger
Town Clerk, Longboat Key
Misunderstanding of vote
To: Bruce St. Denis
As discussed briefly this afternoon there is an apparent misunderstanding of the process of Town Commission actions on the part of at least one current candidate. You might want to review this correspondence file (all public record). Perhaps it would be appropriate for you and/or our Town Clerk to review these meeting, voting, recording processes with this candidate.
Peter O’Connor
Commissioner, Longboat Key
To: Peter O’Connor, Lee Pokoik
Attached are the approved minutes of the October 18, 2007, Town Commission Special Meeting, with the formal action of the Town Manager’s salary increase in 2007. The minutes are also available on the Town’s website, under the Minutes and Meetings link.
If you have any additional questions or if you need additional assistance, I will be checking the e-mail during the day tomorrow.
Trish Granger
Town Clerk, Longboat Key
Questions for Pokoik
To: Lee Pokoik
First, Welcome to the fray. I must comment on certain statements attributed to you in reply to a question in today’s Longboat Key News.
I did not support the raise for our Town Manager during the Naples search process. Only Mr. Clair and I voted no.
Dr. Lenobel was not even a Member of the Town Commission at that time.
The premium over that $25k was 28% or $7k
I was not a member of the Town Commission when the out-of state use of the Town Manager’s car was authorized.
I hope this will clarify the facts.
Peter O’Connor
Commissioner, Longboat Key
To: Peter O’Connor
The minutes of the Board meeting show that you didn’t vote no.
Lee Pokoik
Longboat Key
To: Lee Pokoik
I believe you are misinformed. The vote was 5/2 with Clair and O’Connor opposed. By copy of this message the Town Clerk is requested to search the record to determine the actual voting results. I believe that this particular item was circa 10/07.
Peter O’Connor
Commissioner, Longboat Key
To: Commissioner Peter O’Connor
Enclosed please find page 2 of the 10/12/2007 workshop meeting of the Town Commissioners of Longboat Key, bottom of page two where the minutes state there was consensus to increase the town manager’s salary by $25,000 effective Oct. 1, 2007. Nowhere could I find any mention of the $10,000 deferred compensation or any mention of the prohibition clause that was stricken in an amendment to St. Denis’s contract regarding the prohibition of taking the Town’s SUV out of State at taxpayer’s expense without authorization from the commissioners.
I note that on 10/18/2007 you flip-flopped on the being part of the consensus on the $25,000 salary increase, but did you also vote no somewhere on the deferred compensation package and on the SUV deal?
Lee Pokoik
Longboat Key
To: Lee Pokoik
I’m clearly wasting my time, but here goes, one more time. You obviously do not understand the workings of the Town government. There is a difference between a workshop and a meeting. Votes are only taken at meetings. Actions are only approved at meetings.
A consensus at a workshop is not a consensus on action/approval, but is only a general agreement to move an item forward to a meeting for a vote. That may be what you are looking at. Approval of the pay adjustment was taken at a meeting on 10/18/07. The vote was 5/2 with Clair and O’Connor voting no. I have the minutes of that meeting in my hand. There was no flip-flopping by anyone. I’d urge restraint. Again, the out of state car issue was taken up in 2005. I was not a member of the commission and did not take part in that vote. It was approved, the record shows by a vote of 6/1 with Clair voting no. You should seek advice from the Town Attorney on aspects of the Town Manager’s contract. I am not your opponent in the upcoming election. I’m done!
Peter O’Connor
Commissioner, Longboat Key
To: Editor
I forward for your interest and/or use correspondence between myself and my opponent on the occasion of his announcement. I had hoped to have our many common positions explored, but to no avail.
Peter O’Connor
Commissioner, Longboat Key
To: David Brenner
I hope that we can continue to work together for the good of our Key.
In that regard we have several positions in common. I know that you know, inter alia;
- I voted for your reappointment to the Planning and Zoning Board.
- I voted to leave final site plan approval with the Planning and Zoning Board.
- I essentially ‘saved’ Visioning by voting to fund the survey which kept the process alive.
- I have consistently supported fiscal discipline in Town Government.
- I have consistently supported engineered solutions to our beach preservation, including the groins now building at the Islander.
- I consistently supported the construction of our new Tennis Center.
- Of course I have formed NO opinion on the LBKC application now before the Town.
I am disappointed that we did not have the opportunity to discuss these symmetries prior to your making your decision on competing for this seat on our Town Commission.
It had been my intention to have that discussion prior to your action.
Peter O’Connor
Commissioner, Longboat Key
Code departures unreasonable
To: Editor, Town Commission
Throughout this country, zoning codes are established for specific purposes. To alter one code on Longboat Key or elsewhere could be acceptable. To willfully grant numerous waivers (or code departures) is unreasonable. Why do our commissioners believe they are making right decisions for our community by altering numerous codes?
Jean and James Zakovec
Longboat Key
Absentee ballots
To: Kathy Dent, Barbara Bain
One of the candidates has inquired as to whether or not the absentee ballots have been mailed. Can you confirm one way or the other?
Trish Granger, Town Clerk
Longboat Key
To: Trish Granger
Yes, Trish, the ballots for which we had requests were mailed Tuesday this week. From now on ballots will be mailed as requests are received.
Barbara Bain
Voter Education/Community Outreach Coordinator
Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections
Statement not correct
Mr. Burgum:
I have read your opinions over the many years I have been vacationing on Longboat Key. I am also a property owner on the island. Your highly conservative views are obvious to anyone reading your “opinions.” I feel compelled, after reading your latest opinion in the Jan. 1, 2010 edition, to write. You state: “The president declared that the war on terrorism is over in his inaugural address.”
This is a totally false statement. I listened to the inaugural address. The President never said or implied what you attribute to him. In fact, he stated the opposite. He said that the United States will continue to search for and destroy our enemies wherever they may be. I would challenge you to find the statement you attribute to him, and print it. Print it in its entirety, without taking it out of context. You can’t, because it doesn’t exist.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion. However, before you print it for all to read, please make sure it is factual rather than made up out of “whole cloth.” The people who read this newspaper have more intelligence than you credit them with, and they deserve better.
Jerry Aaron
Longboat Key
Answer to Mr. Jerry Aaron’s letter
Mr. Aaron is absolutely correct; Mr. Obama did not declare that the war on terrorism is over in his inaugural address. In fact, he didn’t even come close to making such a statement. So, to Mr. Aaron and anyone else who was mislead by my mistake, I do apologize.
I do hasten to add that I did not make up the supposition that Mr. Obama had declared an end to the war on terror out of whole cloth. It was Mr. Obama’s otherwise laudable speech in Cairo, which I had in mind when I wrongly attributed his declaration to the Inaugural address. It was there he first pledged to alter America’s course by banning torture, closing Guantanamo, and, by implication, cleansing us of all of our counter-terrorist sins. Words matter with Mr. Obama and to make sure the world understood the full implication of all this, the Obama administration underlings banned the words “war on terror” in favor of “man-caused disasters.”
Still, Mr. Obama’s inaugural address was free of any suggestion that “the war on terror is over” and I regret the error.
Tom Burgum
Columnist, Longboat Key News
The cowardly legal lion
To: Tom Burgum
Last February I was visiting my sister and brother in law who has a place at Longboat Key and picked up a copy of the 2-27-09 Longboat Key News.
It was very refreshing to read subject column which, of course, would never appear in the politically correct mainstream press.
The only similar column I have ever read appeared a couple of years ago in “The Economist” which is published in the UK and which blasted American blacks for failing again and again to do anything but sit around blaming whites for their many problems. They also referenced Bill Cosby as you did but pointed out that blacks would put him down as they favored demagogues like Jesse Jackson and his crony Al Sharpton who are slobbered over by the slovenly mainstream press.
I am 81, a Korean veteran and unfortunately am very pessimistic about the future of this once great country. Your article was very well written and I enjoyed it.
I also read a column by Stephen Reid in which he comments, among other things, on public sector pension plans. I wonder when the general public will wake up to the fact that few private sector workers have defined benefit pension plans while most public sector government workers have them — so private sector workers are funding government workers cushy retirement plans, which they themselves do not have. Government workers also have cushy health coverage and other benefits like paid time off which private sector does not have. And when things are tight, like now, private sector workers are laid off while the government is hiring. And many of these plans are under-funded due to incompetent management and fraud which is a future bomb waiting to explode.
Best wishes for the New Year.
Bill Allen
Homosassa, FL
Peacock solutions
To: Town Commission
I recently read an article about your peacock problems and am volunteering my solution that has worked well for me and my birds. I am a peacock owner and have been for about 10 years now. When I first moved to my home I was interested in owning peacocks because I have always enjoyed them. However, like many places here I did not want them uncontrollably breeding where I could end up with 30 to 500 of them. As then for myself, and my neighbors, they would become a nuisance instead of an enjoyment.
After some thought and consideration my solution was to allow only the males out, in controlled numbers, and keep the females in pens, sometimes with a mate. Where I live, the females when let loose, tend to sit on their eggs and the predators kill them anyway.
So I control the hatch number. If I don’t want chicks, I collect the eggs. In the last 10 years I have had three chicks, one of which I imprinted to myself (imprinting was developed by the DVM Dr. Murphy). I control the number of males that are loose and at the same time get to enjoy my birds that I own, without overly annoying my fellow neighbors, and I can say that my neighbors and I still have good relations.
J. Gilbert
Longboat Key Club’s Massive $400,000,000 Redevelopment Project
To: Town Commission
Please take a stand on the only guaranteed benefit to the people of Longboat Key as a result of the above-mentioned project.
As a pre-condition to approval of this project, require the Longboat Key Club to obey Florida Statute XXIII, paragraph 316.1995 and Longboat Key Ordinance 73.05. These laws oblige Longboat Key Club to keep their golf vehicles off the sidewalk/bicycle path that runs between the Moorings Marina and the flagpole near the Bay Isles north gate.
The Longboat Key Club redevelopment project is being sold as a boon for all residents of Longboat Key.
Yet the probable results of the completed project are: 1. Massive traffic jams at the south end of Gulf of Mexico Drive — does anyone believe the additional one car per hour on Gulf of Mexico Drive fairy tale? 2. Increased property values — only for the Longboat Key Club, 3. A boost for island businesses — for St. Armand’s Circle, maybe, 4. Increased Town Tax Base — likely to be entirely consumed to provide increased services to Longboat Key Club.
In short, the only guaranteed benefit to Longboat Key would be to require Longboat Key Club to obey the law. Scofflaws make bad neighbors!
Dr. Robert J. Tata
Longboat Key
New blood
Gene, I am desperate and hope you will help. At the last Commission Meeting, you and three other commissioners voted to allow Lee Rothenberg to run for a Fourth term. This is in opposition to the Charter where the voters chose a Three Term Limit to allow for new ideas and new blood. You cannot ignore the voice of the people who elected you. Their votes gave you the chance to represent them. Those same voters must be respected and it is your responsibility to represent their wishes.
You have the power to ask that the vote be revisited at your meeting Jan. 4. This request is not to prevent Lee Rothenberg from running for a Fourth Term but to guarantee that the Three Term Limit is enforced. It is unethical to use the power as a commissioner to disregard the vote of your constituents. The oath you and your fellow commissioners take at the beginning of each meeting to practice civility must reach beyond your dealings with each other and extend to the voters you all represent.
I have every reason to believe that you will rethink your vote and request that the issue be revisited.
Beverly P Shapiro
Longboat Key
It ain’t so
To: Marnie Matarese
Regarding your “Unethical Behavior and the Intended Consequences” email to the commission, you ask “Say it ain’t so!” Okay, it ain’t so!
A) Your charge that Lenoble and Rothenberg are “stealing an election” is an insult to both commissioners who have served Longboat Key with integrity, skill and dignity for so many years. You owe them an apology.
B) “The buzz”, your rumored post election hi-jinx do not hold up to the light of day. Hal Lenobel is not a quitter. Lee Rothenberg is not a quitter. And, Joan Webster, cannot be appointed to the commission until March, 2011, an interval of one complete term out of office.
C) Term limits. The commission did not address the impact of appointed terms on term limits until 2006. Lee Rothenberg was appointed in 2004. I do not believe it is “fair” to hold him to a Resolution passed well after he was appointed to the commission.
D) Finally, you ask us to re-visit our term limit decision, as it is self-serving to certain individuals. Clearly any change is also self-serving. The commission debated the question at two meetings and passed the Resolution by a 5 to 2 vote. The over riding reason for the vote was to respect the voters who favored term limits which are defined as three consecutive two year terms.
Bob Siekmann, Commissioner
Longboat Key
New option for Christmas dinner
To: Town Commission
I read with interest the AP article about your problem with peafowl. Please note that they are simply large pheasants, and as such any recipe for preparing pheasant should, with adjustments for size, work well for these larger birds. As they are an exotic species and a feral animal, game laws do not apply, so they may be freely harvested and eaten. This should open up new options for Christmas dinner.
Denton Warn
Hutchinson, KS
More information about peafowl
To: Mayor Rothenberg
My name is Teresa and I am a Punta Gorda resident. I read the article about the peafowl population on Longboat Key in the Charlotte Sun and their plans to capture and cull a large portion of the population. I would like to find out more information about this effort and who is spearheading the project since I would be interested in working out a plan to take some or all of those peafowl destined for culling. I currently have four peafowl and would be interested in adding to my flock and/or finding homes for a large portion of them. I would be willing to take part in their capture as well, or help whoever is spearheading the project. If you could let me know who to call and how to get a hold them I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you and hope you had a Happy Holiday and have a Happy New Year!
Teresa Tibol
Punta Gorda
Please support Key Club
To: Town Commission
I am a permanent resident of Longboat Key, and have a vested interest in its future. I urge each of you to support the Key Club project as now presented. I would like to see you allow the original version to be built, but, since that is not possible (I suppose), at least please do not whittle it down any further. The Key is in a spiral of decay initiated by actions of the Commission taken years ago. It is time to bring this to a halt. I do not have any association with the Key Club or any of the surrounding properties.
R.C.Hutchinson, M.D.
Longboat Key
Moore’s rezone out of sympathy
To: Town Commission
I believe that you were blindsided by sympathy when you voted on the first reading to rezone the Moore property to residential. I cannot say it any better than Commissioner Jim Brown, whose letter I read in Friday’s News. I, personally, and all of the PIC Board promoted the referenda to allow the Moore’s to request permission to change the zoning. At no time were we endorsing his position. I signed his petition because, like PIC, I believe it is the right of every citizen of Longboat Key to have the opportunity to be heard and request changes. I do not agree with the Commission’s vote to allow the change. To be brief, I refer to Commissioner Brown’s words. The function of government, your responsibility, is to protect the health, safety and welfare of all the people. You are bowing to the financial needs of one person without projecting the future of that decision and the impact it will have on the rest of the citizens who want to preserve that property for dining on the waterfront. The P&Z agonized over the issue and made its recommendation based on sound judgment in the best interest of Longboat Key. Please, reread their recommendation and at the second reading, reconsider your vote and what it means to us.
Beverly Shapiro
Longboat Key
Moore’s rezone not out of sympathy
To: Beverly Shapiro
Beverly, I did not vote to rezone Moore’s out of sympathy. Our community has seen the demise of several waterfront restaurants and I am guessing that market forces were the deciding factor in a majority of the cases. I believe the same market forces should be to operate in regard to all businesses on Longboat and in all markets around the world. It’s a simple rule – no business, no business.
If my memory serves me, I do not recall PIC objecting to loosing the Buccaneer and replacing it with several residences that now stand empty and bankrupt. I do not believe that the commission or any government entity has the right to force people to stay in business. At least not in a free society. I also do not feel that the commission has the right to defy thousands of voters who told us to allow Moore’s to rezone.
Lastly, a majority of the residents in the village do not want a speedy-mart or hamburger joint to be allowed to replace Moore’s should it ever go out of business.
The village is a residential community. Most village residents accept the presence of a restaurant in their midst. But if asked I believe they would prefer a residence be there.
Beverly, I am still waiting for you to supply me with the number of paid PIC members along with the percentage of members who are directly associated with the real estate industry.
Gene Jaleski
Commissioner, Longboat Key
Note our Sleepy Lagoon concerns
To: George Spoll
My husband and I live on Marbury Lane in Sleepy Lagoon, and we want to add our voices to those raising serious concerns over several aspects of the proposed new Church development on General Harris. First, we face a problem with parking. There is no on-street parking on our street, but if the Church is allowed nine of the rather few public beach parking spots, then we can be sure that the surfers will risk getting towed by blocking driveways on our streets. If you give the Church those nine spots, then there needs to be a special arrangement with a towing service that can be called at any time to tow illegally parked vehicles at town expense. If you do, as well, you need to clearly mark with signs that parking is prohibited on our side streets. Second, drainage is a major concern for all householders. We need to keep the canal clean for everyone’s use, not just the churchgoers. Three, we need to talk about the height of the Church towers, to ensure they are not too tall for the surroundings. Please take our views into consideration of the issues. Thanks.
Norma and Kent Brown
Longboat Key
