North end on the brain at PIC forum

We use the left side of our brains for analytic thought, logic, language science and math, Tom Freiwald told the audience at a Longboat Key Public Interest Committee forum March 14. The right side is used for holistic thought, intuition, creativity, art and music.

Freiwald gave the overview of the human mind on behalf of New College sociology professor Dr. David Brain, who oversaw the study of Longboat Key’s north end that included a January planning charrette as part of a community-based planning effort. Brain was unable to attend the PIC forum, so Freiwald, vice chair of the Longboat Key Revitalization Task Force, said his intent was “to take you inside the brain of Dr. David Brain.”

Brain intended the exercise as a right-brain, dream-big, blue-sky kind of exercise. The 34 participants did just that: They devised ideas for the north end, including a roundabout at Broadway and Gulf of Mexico Drive, a boutique hotel for Whitney Beach Plaza, an arts district for a portion of the Village and a Gulf-to-bay nature-walk loop, many of which were then sketched out by three teams each consisting of three architects and design professionals. Architect Gary Hoyt presented the sketches at the PIC forum.

But many attendees had concerns: They wondered about the logistics of putting a roundabout on the Florida Department of Transportation-controlled Gulf of Mexico Drive, the tax implications of the ideas and whether the zoning would allow for the ideas.

They were thinking with their left brains, Freiwald said.

“We’re in the right brain,” he said of the effort.

The Revitalization Task Force, which facilitated the project, emphasized throughout the effort that the visions generated through the process were ideas, not plans. If a developer moved forward with any of those ideas, the left-brained issues would be addressed — many at the Planning & Zoning Board level.

Former Mayor and Task Force Chair George Spoll the effort has already been a success.

“Even if you hate what we’ve done, we’ve been successful because we’ve gotten people involved,” he said.

The Task Force plans to compile the ideas generated through the process into an “idea book” to present to the Longboat Key Town Commission for use as a future resource.