Letters to the Editor

+ Sound at sports campus unacceptable
Dear Editor,
On Saturday, April 19, the Premier Sports Campus hosted a Color Vibe 5K Run in Lakewood Ranch. I am sure it was a fun event for the participants, but it was not for the neighbors of the sports complex.

We were blasted out of our beds on that Saturday morning at 7 a.m. by the pounding bass of the event’s stereo system.

There was nowhere in my home where I could get away from sound for the next four hours. This follows on the heels of the Winterfest three weeks ago when, again, we were jolted out of our beds at 11:30 p.m. by the music. The sound level had been fine all day (the event started at 10 a.m.), but when the Lt. Dan Band came on, the volume was really amped up. That lasted until well after midnight.

I live in Greenbrook Banks, directly across State Road 70 from the sports complex. I bought my home in Lakewood Ranch because it is a deed-restricted community.

When the sports complex came in a few years ago, we had to get used to the noise of the sports competitions. Then we had to get used to the bright lights that were installed. Now, music events are taking place. I ask that Lakewood Ranch please take the Greenbrook residents into consideration when scheduling these events. Most of our neighbors work and enjoy sleeping a little later on the weekends.

Most have young children who don’t need to be awakened at midnight. I simply ask that the Premier Sports Campus be a good neighbor.
Marilyn Kline
Lakewood Ranch

+ Tara Bridge dialogue offers no solution
Dear Editor,
I am puzzled by the letter (published April 3) from Ms. Bertsch indicating her reasons for building a bridge to link Tara Boulevard with University Parkway.  She notes the need to drive north to State Road 70 to access Interstate 75 south. 

Since this situation has not changed since she purchased her home, it must have been “a ridiculous waste of fuel, not to mention time” then, as now.  All of us who live in this area deal with the same problem. 

What we don’t need is the influx of traffic on already crowded roads that building this bridge would bring. This would compound her current problem. She and her neighbors would not be the only ones accessing the new thoroughfare. She had better plan on requesting a traffic light at the entrance of her community to enable her to exit her community.

Perhaps she missed the several occasions when folks donned red shirts, boarded buses and protested building such a bridge. They were aware that this would compound the current problem, not be a solution. 

The mess at I-75 and University Parkway is bad, and it will get much worse, as no one planned to accommodate the influx of traffic through growth, even before the new mall began. 

They left little, if any room to widen University with both businesses/hotels and parking allowed to build up to the road. 

It is inconvenient for all of us, Ms. Bertsch, but we all were aware of the location of our homes and access to major roads which have, and will continue to have increased traffic as our area grows.
Mary Courneya
Tara Preserve

+ Chairman’s statements inaccurate
Dear Editor,
I read with interest the front page article, April 16, 2014, regarding the Ft. Hamer Bridge, and, as a resident of Waterlefe, I am encouraged that this needed bridge is finally a reality.   I know that a number of other Waterlefe residents share this view. However, it is disturbing that Ken Bumgarner, chairman of Waterlefe CDD, claims that all 630 of the residents of Waterlefe prefer that the bridge not be built.

That is not true.  

Just because those residents of Waterlefe who do not oppose the bridge, and indeed support it, have not signed petitions, organized committees, made speeches  and spent large amounts of the community’s money on legal fees to advance their views does not justify Mr. Bumgarner’s conclusion.

For Mr. Bumgarner to purport to represent the views of all of the residents in the community, either as an elected official or personally, without having at least conducted a poll or otherwise attempting to know if his statement is accurate, is not responsible or acceptable.
David LaRusso
Waterlefe