Welly supports revised Vision Plan

Longboat Key Club and Resort General Manager Michael Welly sent an e-mail to Vice Mayor Jim Brown Saturday, July 24, praising the work he and his subcommittee are doing to update the town’s Vision Plan.

Wrote Welly: “I took part in the Vision Plan and was a strong advocate of its conclusions and recommendations. I have been disappointed that the Town Commission has not addressed the plan until now, but I am obviously pleased with the fact that the current administration is dealing with it now in a very straightforward, professional and public manner.”

Welly, who told Brown he has lived in several resort communities similar to Longboat Key, said they all share one thing in common.

“Remote mountain communities, islands in the Caribbean and small towns throughout North America all shared the fact that these destinations first drew visitors who became residents who then became overly protective of their towns and shunned visitors,” Welly wrote. “Many if not all of those communities faced what we are now facing and that is that without visitors, their paradise will not be maintained.”

Welly advocated in his e-mail that the town work with the Longboat Key, Lido Key, St. Armands Key Chamber of Commerce to develop an annual calendar of arts, sports and civic events and activities in conjunction with the town that adds to the attractiveness of the town as a visitor destination.

Welly also pushed in his e-mail for a review of the town’s codes “to assure they are consistent with this revised direction.”

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected].