Town issues occupy retired planner's time

Larry Grossman’s T-shirt reads “Occupy Longboat Key,” but he’s not talking about being a 99-percenter.

The T-shirt’s words are a play on words — not a protest. He had it made by a company in McLain, Va., as a joke.

The T-shirt features a boat, sun and palm tree. It promotes occupying Longboat Key because it’s a nice place to occupy — as residents and visitors.

But Grossman has plenty of ideas for making it nicer and frequently steps to the podium during the public to-be-heard segment of town meetings.

Ask “Are there any questions?” during a community forum and you can count on his hand shooting up.

Lately, he’s often been seen wearing his “Occupy Longboat Key” shirt.

He retired in the early 2000s after 30 years in the planning department of Alexandria, Va., where he frequently saw plans submitted by Longboat Key Mayor Jim Brown, an architect. He worked in commercial real estate until 2008. He retired that year, and moved with his wife, Patricia Curran, who worked as a planner in the private sector, to Longboat Key. But he said he has too much experience to just sit back and watch things happen in town.

“A scout comes back and has to report on what he’s seen,” he says. “In this case, I’m saying I see a lot, because that’s what I do.”

Grossman began reporting on what he saw in the proposed Longboat Key Club and Resort plan, testifying as a planner at some of the 2010 public hearings. He saw it as a massive project that had no rules or consensus.

But Grossman was just getting started.

He spoke out in favor of removing 57 bicycle signs along Gulf of Mexico Drive that he saw as distracting, but he worries that Gulf of Mexico Drive isn’t pedestrian-friendly and has pushed for pedestrian improvements from Sarasota to Anna Maria. He was involved in the Vision Plan process and has ideas for a proposed community center and beaches.

In October, when the Town Commission discussed the idea of allowing dogs on the beach, he stepped to the podium and demanded equal access for his two cats. (He was kidding. But, jokes aside, he opposes the idea of dogs — and cats — on the beach because of the potential impacts on nesting sea turtles, shorebirds and other wildlife.)

He visited at least 20 Publix stores leading up to the commission’s approval in February of a new Avenue of the Flowers store and brought back ideas and concerns to the commission.

It disappoints him sometimes that he’s part of the less than 1% — one of the few residents who shows up at Town Hall and makes himself heard. He was the only resident who spoke during the final Publix hearing who wasn’t a resident of Bay Isles, the neighborhood closest to the shopping center.

So, does the man so frequently heard from the podium want to be heard from a different platform — say, the commission dias? He laughs when asked if he wants to someday run for Town Commission. He doesn’t answer yes or no but, instead, points out that a seat on the commission would make him just one of seven voices. But, regardless of whether he’ll someday seek a seat, he’ll continue to take a stand because he can’t imagine staying quiet on town issues.

“It’s too much fun,” he says.