Letters to the Editor

+ The Colony remained dedicated over the years

Dear Editor:
My wife and I moved to Longboat Key in 1976. For all these years we’ve had many dinners and beverages at the Colony. 

In 1982, I was invited to become executive director of the Sarasota Convention & Visitors Bureau. In this capacity I worked in conjunction with area hotels and resorts promoting Sarasota County as a desirable destination to visit. The Klauber family was always cooperative in providing accommodations for key industry personnel, travel wholesalers, travel agents and travel writers. In addition, the Colony employed its own marketing department that traveled the globe promoting Longboat Key and the Colony Beach & Tennis Resort.

To the Klauber family and all the men and women who served the Colony, thank you, thank you for your dedications and professionalism over the years. I can’t imagine the entrance to the property without the familiar Colony sign adorning Gulf of Mexico Drive.

Mary and Larry Marthaler
Longboat Key

+ Kudos to hardworking and committed residents
Dear Editor:

I would just like to express my gratitude to Andrew Hlywa and Dawn DiLorenzo for all the hard work and commitment they put into the Whitney Beach Plaza. Their selfless contribution to Longboat Key, including charity for the victims of Hurricane Charlie, needs to be recognized. I recall as a child when the plaza was first built. It had such promise and was vital to the key, because Publix was still in the distant future. One of my first jobs was stocking and bagging groceries at the Foodway in 1980.

I would also like to thank Dr. Murf Klauber and Katie Moulton for their service and devotion to the Colony Beach & Tennis Resort. Dr. Klauber created a No. 1 beach and tennis facility and, in the early ’70s, provided employment for my dad, the late Jack Banan. I worked there briefly as grounds maintenance in the mid ’80s.

The dedication that these people have given two island landmarks in the face of such adversity is truly remarkable.

C.B. Banan
Longboat Key

+ Continue to protect our community
Dear Editor:

Editor’s note: This letter was originally sent to Mayor George Spoll and The Longboat Observer.
After more than a year’s worth of negotiating, hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on lawyer fees, thousands of hours of town of Longboat Key staff time and countless and interminable conversations, it is time for IPOC and Mr. (Bob) White to concede what appears to be a personal and selfish agenda. What can be more detrimental to a vacation community than what we have and are currently witnessing on Longboat Key? The endless tort mongering is not only ugly but is off-putting to prospective owners and visitors:
neighbor against neighbor; the misuse and misrepresentation funds; and, worst of all, what seems like Mr. White’s personal vendetta at the expense of the entire town. And, frankly, it is off-putting to this recently new homeowner who never would have considered buying a vacation home where there was such an appetite for a reactionary and backward thinking community agenda.

Enough with the litigation!

As a Longboat Key commissioner, I urge you to continue to protect our community with progressive change that will enhance the town of Longboat Key in ways that will enliven, enhance and encourage tourism and vacation homeowners.

Susan C. Levine
Longboat Key

+ Longboat Key Club’s acts seem hypocritical
Dear Editor:

The recent appeal from the Longboat Key Club left me wondering. Does the club leadership really care about Longboat Key or more about its investors on the other side of the Atlantic? The way this monstrosity of expansion plan was jammed (down) our collective throats, the timing of the final vote by the town, the demonizing of people with opposing views, smack of hypocrisy. If the Longboat Key Club wants to unite the community, it needs to turn the page and stop personal attacks on IPOC in general and Bob White in particular.

Dragana Cupic
Longboat Key

+ Cell tower causes health concerns
Dear Editor:

We hope the parishioners of the Longboat Island Chapel will pray for our health after the cell-phone towers are installed.

We moved to Longboat Key to continue a healthy lifestyle. We are very concerned to hear of Longboat Island Chapel’s (and now, Spanish Main’s) decisions regarding cell-phone towers.

A review of the literature indicates widespread concern over the radiation emitted causing cancer, brain tumors, leukemia and other illnesses. Cell-phone towers have not been around long enough to prove their safety. Awhile back in Italy, people were outraged over the decision to install towers.

An article from the New York Times states, “Cesaro residents have long seen electromagnetic radiation from the transmitters as contributing to what they say are increasing leukemia rates.

“Their fears found a voice in Mr. Bordon, the environment minister, who issued a threat to cut off the power … ”

We urge everyone on the Key to rethink what is beginning to happen regarding cell-phone towers.

Dr. Harold and Fran Blum
Longboat Key

+ Building department roadblocks are setbacks
Dear Editor:

I have been vacationing on Longboat Key for the past 25 years, and it has always been my dream to live and raise a family here. After a couple of years I find my dream quickly becoming a nightmare because of some problems I am experiencing with the local building department. Although I find most staff friendly and willing to help, some policies that are in place make even the simplest project extremely difficult and financially unfeasible.

Building codes are essential for the safety and development of any community, however, a sensible and practical approach to enforcing these codes are not only the duty of our town government but a right of every citizen. Code enforcement, given its broad powers, has the potential for abuse. When this power is abused, the results are detrimental not only to individuals dealing with the issue, but the community as a whole.

In a tough economic climate, it is counterproductive to all taxpayers to have unchecked powers of local code enforcement that make us no more safe, but only succeed in stifling building activity, which leaves everyone worse off financially.

Longboat Key is way overdue for a comprehensive user-friendly policy that allows homeowners to maintain and improve their homes without the fear of dealing with an overcomplicated and confusing process that makes even simple improvements not worth the effort.

Even a minor violation, like not cutting your lawn, could potentially lead to severe fines, liens and even foreclosure. The punishment does not fit the crime.

Jim Armstrong
Longboat Key