Letters to the Editor

+ Longboat voters are too intelligent to allow commission to continue as is
Dear Editor: 
I am astonished that any member of our discredited commission should consider himself fit to continue in his post.  

Town commissioners’ sycophantic support of the Key Club and its plan for the massive building project, which was strongly criticized by judges in no less than three court actions, was, in itself, sufficient for them to quietly withdraw from the scene ...

Alas, their apparent hubris appears to make them believe they are fit for a further term.

I believe and hope that Longboat Key voters are too intelligent to allow them to continue any longer.
Malcolm Barry
Longboat Key

+ James Madison is out there! Two gentlemen fit the mold
Dear Editor:
There are two individuals (not consultants) who fit the description you outlined in your editorial. Michael Furen and Robert Lincoln seem to know more about our comprehensive plans and zoning codes than anyone.

They have been involved in the town and its emotions for a number of years. They will defend property rights and ownership that won’t destroy the flavor and look of the town.

Five judges have ruled in their favor during the Key Club expansion plan. Who better than these two gentlemen to rewrite the town’s codes and Comp Plan!
Ray Rajewski
Longboat Key
 
+ Let’s treat our Comprehensive Plan as we would a constitution
Dear Editor:
I take umbrage at your latest Our View (Longboat Observer, Jan. 25) in which you lambasted Dr. John DeGrove and his accomplishment of bringing a degree of rationality to land development in Florida.

You have selectively ignored the examples of the past where thousands of acres of Florida swamps were cut into lots and sold to gullible Northerners and Westerners who dreamed of someday building their retirement castles here on our golden sands.

I am one, like your attorney, Michael Furen, who never had to worry about employment in the development business. This was not due to DeGrove or his many counterparts in the other states in our great nation: But they did, indeed, help to codify the requirements for turning raw land into communities wherein life, safety, convenience and welfare were guaranteed for its future inhabitants. He and his counterparts succeeded in giving professionals, such as myself, a sense of direction for our designs.

A Comprehensive Plan is akin to a constitution. This plan guarantees that the future inhabitants will have potable water when they turn on their faucets; that the waste from their activities is adequately carried away; that their houses become homes, with sufficient amenities available for their living; that the road system provides safe means of circulation; and, for people on an island such as ours, adequate access to safe ground in the event of flooding. It is a very clear guide. Also, as a constitution, it should be used as a guide not easily amended, especially not merely to accommodate or nullify obvious violations.

It should also guarantee that the expenses for these enhancements be the obligation of the newcomers and not a burden to the host community and that these guarantees are a prerequisite for approval by the community permitting authority.

Save our town of Longboat Key, which we love.
Bradford Saivetz
Longboat Key