Sunday, May 27, 2012

Goat Rodeo

One Man's Charrette is Another Man's

Goat Rodeo


Goat Rodeo - A chaotic situation, often one that involves several people, each with a different agenda/vision/perception of what's going on; a situation that is very difficult, despite energy and efforts, to instill any sense or order into the process.


Goat Rodeo - A situation that has all the risks and none of the rewards. In a real rodeo, cowboys risk their necks, but they get to look cool. If the cowboys rode goats, they'd have just as much risk of injury, and wouldn't look cool. Such a situation has two possible outcomes: really bad or slightly less bad.

The last commission meeting demonstrated once again the disconnect between the commissioners and the residents. Once again the commission had unfulfilled expectations of a small town government having levels of expertise affordable only by much larger government bodies. Our commissioners appear not to realize that a two or three person department does not have the resources and capabilities of county-level agencies. By now the town manager has most likely become cognizant of the problems that arise because of a disconnect between the capabilities of the town's planning department and planning and zoning board, and the commission's blithe willingness to accept what plans are placed before them, without discussion or much consideration.

Last Monday's commission meeting was a goat rodeo when it came to the sweeping and poorly developed 2012-6 ordinance. As the commission meeting began, one commissioner looked out at the packed to over-capacity commission chamber, with dozens of residents backed up into the halls and anti chamber, and mused as to why all those people were attending a commission. He actually admonished the residents for wasting their time. It was the 2012-6 Ordinance and the north end commercial overlay that activated so many residents. After being besieged by a dozen concerned taxpayers, the commission dropped the north end overlay part of the ordinance, passing the much more drastic parts or 2012-6 virtually without discussion. How can they do that? This ordinance removes all land use protections and opens our community to political exploitation by any developer who can suck-up to enough commissioners to create a purely political majority.

I believe that the commissioners are hard working, dedicated residents with the best of intentions. I also know that they are hanging out there all on their own since, the town staff has no ability to give them expert guidance in some areas. In 27 years, I have never heard of the planning department coming before the commission to state that they know little to nothing about a particular area of zoning. Ordinance 2012-6 is a perfect example where the commission is unwittingly performing what should be brain surgery using a bulldozer instead of a scalpel.

The Key Club hearings were focused mainly on doing what Ordinance 2012-6 is now trying to legalize, without having to create and process any changes to the town's Comprehensive Plan. Instead the Key Club lawyers created Ordinance 2010-16. Ordinance 2010-16 was narrowly passed and then found to be illegal by a state judge. The result was a wasted two and a half years. Anyway, early on in the initial commission hearings, it became clear to me that what was being proposed by the Key Club, and tacitly supported by the town's legal staff, was a suspension of extremely important land use protections on Longboat Key. I remarked then that what was being proposed would allow my neighbor to construct a nuclear reactor in their back yard if four mostly unelected commissioners agreed. It got a laugh, but that is exactly what is happening. Ordinance 2012-6 does just that. Welcome to the new frontier of land use on Longboat Key.

Back to Goat Rodeos. The previous planning director, and a very small planning department, created the north end commercial overlay and presented it to a commission appointed planning and zoning board. The north end overlay looks as though it was actually created by a hotel developer. The PZB, in the view of many residents, has all the problems and challenges of a politically appointed body. Both the planning department and the planning and zoning board lack the depth and resources to craft complex zoning proposals. The problem appears to be that the commissioners find it easier to ignore this problem and act on the recommendations presented to them, as if the planning department and the planning and zoning board  recommendations invariably best serve the community.

We expect too much from our town staff, as was demonstrated by the recent TE Connectivity communications study, that exposed the deficiencies of the previous planning director,and her small staff, in the area of modern-day communications.

The commission needs to stop blindly following the advice of our hard-working staff when we ask them to perform work beyond their expertise. We need to stop believing that a few small town staff workers can possibly be experts on everything. Yet experts are exactly what is required.

The cell tower issue was misguided from the beginning by the previous planning director, and staff, who repeatedly assured the commissioners that, not only was a cell tower needed badly by a majority of the residents, but that a cell tower was the only solution. Since the commissioners rightly relied on staff to give the town well-researched and complete sets of choices, the commission was left hanging in a seemingly illogical situation with the planning director telling them they must build a cell tower despite a large community dislike for inappropriate structures on Longboat Key. Fortunately, one of our commissioners, along with the new town manager, finally gave the commission a clear understanding of the technical and  community impact implications of a cell tower. The previous commissions never questioned the ability of the previous planning director to present a competent and unbiased report to the commission. The current commissioners are much less apt to accept staff positions at face value. The cell tower process was a veritable Goat Rodeo that went on for years.

We need to stop playing pin the land use ordinance on the goat. We need to stop and seek professional informed advice.

Longboat Key can afford to hire specialized professionals when specialized and/or complex solutions are required. When faced with challenges beyond the reach and training of our staff, the town needs to look outside local town government. The problem seems to be that the commission sometimes lacks the knowledge to realize the need for qualified professional advice. Hopefully, this is beginning to change.

This is wonderful music. Chris Thile is a monster musician.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Enough is Enough

Jim Eatrides, owner of  the Alpha Omega company located at Whitney Plaza on Longboat Key, has once again requested at least a half hour of the commission's time, including the expensive town attorney, to hear Eatrides' complaints about the recent telecommunications report to the town commission by TE Connectivity. TE Connectivity is a communications industry giant that was selected by the town to provide a comprehevsive, objective recommendation about the best way to solve Longboat Key's communications.  In 2011, TE Connectivity had $14.3 Billion annual net sales. The TE report states that DAS will provide better service than the 150  foot cell tower being hawked to the town by Eatrides for the past four years or more.

Office of Jim Eatrides' company Alpha Omega at Whitney Plaza

Signs on the window of the Alpha Omega office
Note the T-Shirt shop has been closed for many months

Office of Jim Eatrides' company Alpha Omega at Whitney Plaza


Jim Eatrides is being granted special status in that most any other citizen is usually allowed 3 minutes of input to the town at commission meetings. Eatrides has no licensing or certification in telecommunications. Eatrides has not submitted any sort of proposal or plan that has managed to meet the town's requirements, despite four attempts. Why is Eatrides being continually granted specific and unusual access to town government on all levels? The same can be said for a few other selected special interest efforts, where certain individuals are allowed to consume taxpayer dollars and town resources to further private agendas.

I estimate that the town has spent in the vicinity of $100,000.00 directly addressing Eatrides sales pitch, including staff and town attorney time.

It is time to charge Eatrides for town services, just like there are charges for subdividing property,  remodeling a kitchen, or expanding the Key Club.

Enough is enough! We as a community can to better than this.




Tuesday, May 8, 2012

The Final Solution at the North End

Foot bridge over Bishop's Bayou at north end park

What to do at the north end to solve the failed commercial blight that has been becoming increasingly worse over the past twenty years. The time has come for the town to work with the taxpayers to create a solution that will allow the surrounding 500 residences to coalesce as a neighborhood, free of the specter of an abandoned Whitney Plaza, gas station and bank building. The taxpaying north end residents are not able to support retail at the north end for many reasons. Longboat Key residents need to realize that there is 3 times more commercial property on Longboat Key than the 3000+ year-round residents can support. Some of this land needs to be converted to residential or public use. The north end, with its concentration of 500+ residences within a few minutes walk from Whitney Plaza, is the most advantageous place to create a community park that will have high usage by the surrounding homes while raising property values and hopefully attracting more families.

A community park at Whitney Plaza and the adjacent properties would not require parking since 1000+ residents own property within a few minutes walk of the park facility. There is existing public parking across GMD if needed. The park could provide social activities such as Pickle Ball, Bacci Ball and shaded areas for socializing. Tables and chairs tastefully located beside the bayou would provide a beautiful ambiance while respecting the fragile ecology of the waterway and adjacent residences.

Visitors to our island would be greeted by an attractively landscaped natural setting as they come onto Longboat Key from the north. A community park would have zero impact on traffic congestion. If the town reduces the speed limit to 35 MPH along the northern part of GMD, as has been done quite effectively by Bradenton Beach, residents would be able to traverse the highway in relative safety.

Whatever efforts the town might make to encourage commercial development at the north end, two things would remain unresolved and prolong the present decay brought on by the inability of the business community to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. The first is the predictable resistance by the 500+ residence owners surrounding Whitney Plaza to tourism, as it threatens their way of life. The second is the town's inability to guarantee that any developer will be willing to invest millions at a location with very low drive-by numbers, as has been pointed out by the current owners of Whitney Plaza. No one has been able to attract a successful business to Whitney Plaza in the past twenty years. 

There is a fix for the commercial property blight that has existed at the north end for too many years. It is a solution that would increase the value of the surrounding 500+ homes and condominiums while not increasing density or congestion - a community park.

Given the fiscal obligations the Town currently faces, such as resolution of pension funding and the much larger and ongoing beach maintenance program, finding a way to purchase the commercial properties at the north end would be no small challenge. An ad velorum bond could be one mechanism. Another might be a privately offered tax-free instrument to the current property owners, somewhat like an owner-financed mortgage.  But the projected tax base differential between the current decaying commercial land at the north end and a beautiful community park, that would augment the island's bucollic ambiance, would probably be more than enough to off-set the cost of a low interest mortgage on $6 million in land acquision costs. Please do not take issue with these estimates, they are just that, estimates. This is a discussion and open to constructive input.

There are so many pluses attached to turning the empty, decaying commercial property at the north end of Longboat into a beautiful community park, surrounded by 500+ residential properties, that a park almost looks too good to pass up. The aggregate value of residential real estate directly surrounding Whitney Plaza exceeds $200 million. Only a modest increase in assessed property values, as a result of added community amenities, would more than pay for the $6 million long-term low interest loans used to acquire the aproximately 8 acres of commercial land to be included in the community park.

The choice between taking a chance that some commercial development will occur at the north end after 25 years of nothing as the result of some sort of commercial overlay, or the assured increase in property values resulting from transforming deteriorating and non-performing commercial property into a highly desireable community park, is clear. In the long run, the taxpayers of Longboat Key would profit most from investing in their own community. All ships rise on the tide, it is said. Actually, the county should buy all the commercial property as they will profit most from increased ad velorem taxes.