Before allowing a hotel, fix the traffic jams

Without hesitation, my wife and I will vote “no” Aug. 30 to reject rezoning to accommodate a hotel on North Longboat Key. And we urge our fellow citizens to do the same.

The last thing we need is more traffic adding to existing disaster traffic jams.

My wife, Rosemarie, and I find it increasingly difficult to deal with the severe threat to our quality of life, serenity and safety since we came to this beautiful island in 1974. The accelerating traffic jams and bottlenecks on the north end — primarily during the winter season — trap and restrict our freedom of movement, even in case of emergency; pollute the atmosphere; and fatigue our nerves.

The last thing Longboat Key residents need is a high-density (more than 45 units per acre), so-called boutique hotel on the bay side of Gulf of Mexico Drive just south of the north bridge. Its added traffic would diminish rather than improve the ambiance of our island.

More important, this hotel would put about 140 more cars on the island and add to traffic and safety issues. This would make Longboat’s insufferable traffic problem significantly worse than it already is and negatively impact property values.

Let’s get our priorities in order. The Town Commission first should organize to correct the existing traffic issues. A comprehensive traffic study surely would identify workable short- and longer-term solutions without building new bridges. This would include addressing the fact that buses make frequent stops in the middle of traffic lanes in Bradenton Beach, backing up traffic for miles and the out-of-sequence stoplight just east of the Cortez Bridge.

We live near the north end of Longboat, and our doctors, dentists, hospitals, grocery and department stores are located in Manatee County via the Cortez and Manatee Avenue bridges. We depend on prompt access to the mainland to support our medical and shopping needs — and also ease of return.

Never in our 40 years have we been exposed to such an infrastructure failure as now. Unlike acquaintances who have moved off the Key, we do not want to think of leaving our home.

During season, every afternoon, it becomes a nightmare endeavor to get off the north end. Often, traffic is backed up a mile or more south of the Longboat Pass Bridge, sometimes as far south as Emerald Harbor, often not moving at all.

It is impossible to understand why our Town Commission facilitated a referendum that would increase traffic prior to first resolving the existing out-of-control traffic issues.

Moreover, it is clear that Longboat’s traffic problems will become much more severe over the next five to seven years, when more than 700 additional, already authorized, tourism units come online (e.g., at the Zota Beach Resort, a redeveloped Colony and the Longboat Key Club and Resort).

One reason those with a financial stake in this project prefer to build a high-density hotel rather than low-density, upscale residential units on this land parcel is rather obvious. High-density development is almost always more profitable than low density. However, when these high-density developments occur, the residents suffer.

It is an unacceptable excuse for commissioners to shirk their duties by claiming they cannot find a way to solve the problem, sometimes citing they have no jurisdiction for traffic blockage north of Longboat. We recall years ago how jets flying to and from the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport created major noise pollution on Longboat, yet despite having zero jurisdiction over air-traffic planning, our commission solved the issue — for good. They found a way.

Why can’t today’s commission resolve the existing traffic issue before making it worse?

Please join us and vote “no” on the Aug. 30 hotel referendum.

Mike Hodges is a resident of Longboat Key and author of the Grandfather Economic Report, grandfather-economic-report.com.