Letters to the Editor

+ Mar Vista, Moore’s were on Key before most residents
Dear Editor:
It never ceases to amaze me how Johnny-Come-Latelies on Longboat Key can move into an area and immediately begin complaining about the surrounding area that existed long before the newcomers even knew about Longboat Key.

Mar Vista and Moore’s restaurants have been popular Longboat Key restaurants going back to almost the turn of the century for Mar Vista and for many years for Moore’s. My husband and I bought and enjoyed our villa on the south end of Longboat Key in 1988 and spent our winters there, including patronizing the restaurants. (Remember when Moore’s had a large open water pen with a dolphin?)

During those years, Longboat Key became an even more popular place to buy property and build large and expensive homes, including in the old Village locale in the immediate area of Mar Vista and Moore’s. Today, in spite of those new residents knowing full well those two restaurants were there when they built, now do not like the customer traffic created and apparently have high hopes those two popular restaurants will disappear.

I ask you, folks:  Who was there first?   
Betty Keil
Longboat Key and Midland, Mich.

+ Drivers, cyclists must share the roads
Dear Editor:
Last Wednesday, a group of four cyclists moved out of the bike lane to avoid some construction debris. The debris was large and high enough to throw one off their bike if they hit it head on. While doing so, we heard a honk from behind. After the driver honked, he proceeded to swerve toward us and deliberately drove into the bike lane. I was first in the line of riders, and by the time he got to me the SUV was about six inches from me. I could have reached out and touched his GMC SUV. I watched with horror as he continued to drive into the bike lane ahead of me.

There was an empty turn lane on the road where the man veered into us. He could have easily gone around us by employing that lane to have more space. I realize there is foolishness on the part of many cyclists who ride Longboat Key. But never have I seen such a blatant act of aggression toward a rider. It was chilling, especially in the light of the now tragic death of the ballet dancer on Bay Road.

There is plenty of room on the roads for both drivers and cyclists. There is no room on the road for a deadly, aggressive and angry man. Drivers please keep your tempers in check and realize that a slight move of your many-ton vehicle could change your life forever and label you a murderer for the rest of your life.
Nora Hooper
Sarasota

+ Town should prioritize people over turtles
Dear Editor:
I was so pleased to notice that my community, Whitney Beach, had installed the red lights for turtle protection. Several days early, in fact. I am glad that Longboat Key is so protective of its precious wildlife.
It seems we are not so caring about our human life. I refer to the lack of adequate cellphone service on the north end of the Key. There are those who claim that they have driven through the Village and have had good cellphone reception from their cars. Have they checked with residents about indoor reception? Have they observed people walking around parking lots with cellphones glued to their ears trying to have a conversation? This is not acceptable for the world-class resort Longboat aspires to be.

The Town Commission needs to put some immediate, serious effort toward achieving adequate cellphone service for all of Longboat, if not by tower, then by some other technology. Waiting for the ideal solution is unfair and could result in danger and disaster for those in need of cell phone service in an emergency.

I understand the property values concern, but what about the human values concern?

Again, I am so pleased that we can save the turtles. Now it is time to save the humans.
Virginia Lipton
Longboat Key

+ Roundabouts would solve traffic woes
Dear Editor:
“How to efficiently and effectively deal with the Cortez Road bottleneck?”

The obvious answer is to replace the traffic light with a modern roundabout. This will work especially well for that three-way, rather than the common four-way, intersection!

Sarasota has at long last seen the light. How about Bradenton Beach?

The rest of the world is light years ahead of us. It’s time for us to learn, too!
Ernie Kretzmer
Lido Beach

+ Limiting beach access points could improve traffic
Dear Editor:
Regarding the letters to the editor about “How to improve traffic flow on Bradenton Beach,” I think the comments were constructive. However, one important point was overlooked.

Many drivers going north over the Longboat Pass Bridge have found that if they turn onto the first beach access, they can then drive all the way down to nearly Bridge Street, unencumbered and someone will let them in, as if they were just coming off the beach. This is the real problem. Maybe the beach should have only one access point with a stop light.
Jim Treonis
Longboat Key