- April 24, 2024
-
-
Loading
Loading
It’s hard to know what the citizens of any town or city think without asking.
After Monday morning’s Goals and Objectives Workshop in Longboat Key’s Town Hall, consider that question asked and answered.
The town’s annual workshop gives groups of private citizens the chance to offer suggestions in advance of the commission’s work on the 2017-2018 budget, which will be approved this summer.
And for about 75 minutes, commissioners heard nothing but their suggestions and discussed paths forward on some of them.
Among the topics discussed:
In various forms, several groups not only expressed their support for the construction of the Longboat Key Center for the Arts, Culture and Education but also urged commissioners to find a way to accommodate artists and their works after the existing Arts Center closes in May.
Among the suggestions, employing the Bayfront Recreation Center to this end.
Also, Commissioner Jim Brown said there have been discussions about using the Amore restaurant building after that operation moves to mainland Sarasota.
And, Longboat Education Center executive director Susan Goldfarb said her site could host some students and classes.
“The issue is the students and teachers,’’ said Anthony Rich of the Sleepy Lagoon Homeowners’ Association, speaking in support of a interim site for the art center. He said students would likely follow teachers to where ever they moved, ultimately making it difficult to reconstitute the organization when the Town Center is finished.
Art Tanksersley of the Whitney Beach Conservancy sought help from the commission in preserving and moving an original cottage from the 1930s-era Whitney Resort. The cottage is in the path of redevelopment at the site of the town’s Center for the Arts, on the north end of the island. In February, Ringling College of Art and Design announced its plans to sell the arts center property to a home developer.
Tankersley said it would be a “disaster and shame’’ for the cottage to be demolished and proposed it be moved to GMD and Broadway, on the site of a former gas station, to serve as a gateway to town. He quoted estimates of about $45,0000 to move the building and set it on a new foundatation. City officials said the land is on the market for between $500,000 and $600,000.
While generally receptive to the idea, town commissioners said the proposal has some logistical problems, the most pressing of which is time. “It’s rather exciting, it’s really what Longboat is about,’’ said Commissioner Irwin Pastor of saving a piece of history.
Town manager Dave Bullock said for the town to buy the gas station property, about four to six months should be considered a minimum at “lightning speed.’’ Environmental considerations might extend that time.
Bullock said he would begin initial evaluations on the building itself, the property and other details, starting with an appraisal of the land.
The mid-island park is scheduled for completion in June, but the upgrades are already drawing raves.
“It’s going to be a real jewel,’’ said Gail Loefgren, president of the Longboat Key Chamber of Commerce.
The tennis and pickleball courts opened in March, and the new basketball courts and shuffleboard courts soon after.
The renovation is bringing $3.5 million worth of upgrades to the park. Still to come are various amenities including a dog park, a children’s playground and a fishing pier.
Several groups urged the commission to keep pushing forward with plans to bury utility cables throughout the island and to seek upgraded cell service throughout the key through installation of a distributed-antenna system. Although island residents may not see very much construction along Gulf of Mexico Drive in 2017, the town this year will begin ramping up activities related to the roughly $50 million project.
LBK North hopes to see a solution to the lack of redevelopment along Gulf of Mexico Drive, from Whitney Plaza to the former gas station at Broadway Street. Also, the group said it is concerned about the “reasonable redevelopment of the Colony and other tourism properties to retain the balance that has sustained Longboat Key. Containing density and height are implicit in this reasonable development.”
Longboat Key Turtle Watch hoped the town would consider educational programs for raising awareness and increasing compliance as the town rolls out its new regulations on shoreline lighting. The group also offered to help distribute a town pamphlet that delivers information on the new rules.
LBK North submitted its concern to preserve Greer Island from erosion both in the short term and over a longer period. The group’s presentation also urged commissioners to consider ways of keeping the cove-to-bay passage open.
The Longboat Key Garden Club said it supports the continued efforts to beautify and improve the Gulf of Mexico Drive corridor. In 2013, the town began working with the Urban Land Institute, which recommended several projects to enhance GMD. After the successful completion of the underground utility project, a variety of projects were proposed, including roundabouts, a landscaped medians and walking paths on both sides of the highway. The Country Club Shores homeowners were hoping for expedient completion of a 4,000-foot center turn lane on the road south of Longboat Club Road to the stretch in front of Dry Dock Waterfront Grill. The aim was to tackle traffic issues along the southern portion of Country Club Shores, where traffic can bottleneck during rush hour.
City Manager Dave Bullock said he has been in discussions with the Florida Department of Transportation and should be able to deliver a project update soon.
