Are we destroying the beauty of the North end of Longboat Key or responsibly protecting residents and property? For Manatee County Commissioner Joe McClash, the town and Manatee County are embarking too quickly on an inlet management plan that will install three groins on the north end of Longboat Key in an effort to stem costly erosion.

Less than a month remains until the municipal election here on Longboat Key. This means that we must be in the midst of the ‘Silly Season’ in our own town of Tiny Towne South. We’ll have fewer names on the ballot than we saw last month in the Republican primary. Many of you have already received your absentee ballots by now. That’s two candidates for one office, no amendments, no referenda.

With Commissioner Phill Younger doing better each day over in Sarasota Memorial Hospital, we at Longboat Key News thought it time to highlight his service to our key.

This photo of the newly restored North Shore beach was taken in September 2011 and shows the escarpment. CREDIT: Karen O’Dowd The following letter was written about the North Carolina shorelines: North Carolina law (G.S 113A-115.1) prohibits the use of groins — steel, rock or wood walls built perpendicular to the beach in order to trap [...]

The Longboat Pass Management Plan, which addresses everything from the alignment of the channel separating Anna Maria Island and Longboat Key to the installation of groins and sand-retaining strategies, was discussed and debated Tuesday by the Longboat Key Town Commission and Manatee County officials.

Greer Island could erode away if groins are moved to the south. According to a report by the town’s engineering firm Coastal Planning and Engineering (CPE), if the proposed groins at the north end of Longboat Key are placed beginning at the 360 North Condominiums, and not north of Greer Island, the erosion at Greer Island would be so severe that the small island could eventually be lost.

Another contentious issue on Longboat this year has been the idea of allowing dogs on the beach. The town has an ordinance in place that prohibits dogs on the beach with or without a leash. Some residents are supportive of the idea of dogs on the beach, stating the potential benefits of vacationers who may [...]

Longboat Key’s erosive North End received a new 130-foot wide beach last fall. Public Works Director Juan Florensa said the $5 million project placed a total of 150,000 cubic yards of fine white sand from the Broadway beach access to the north tip of the island. Florensa said the beach was a short-term fix that [...]

I’ve been reading of late a lot of correspondence from almost all quarters about dogs, dogs on beaches, our beaches, use of beaches, etc. It all reminds me of controversy along the Jersey Shore some years ago over just who could venture onto the beaches of the many shore towns there. They used bathing suit patches to identify suitable bathers; one town even proposed a small tattoo to the exposed skin of honest and true residents. Here it sounds like some locals or wannabes desire to identify or maybe ban all canines from the shore.

Longboat Key Estates Club Association has voted, and formally stated to the town of Longboat Key, that it does not want dogs on the beach. In recent weeks, the idea of creating a dedicated dog beach or allowing dogs during restricted hours access to the entire Longboat Key waterfront has divided the community.