Newspeak and the town commission

Size of Whitney Plaza expansion proposed by our commissioners

Newspeak is a fictional language in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. In it, it refers to the deliberately impoverished language promoted by government.



Today I met a Longboat resident who had recently met a Longboat commissioner at a social function. The resident related to me that he had asked the commissioner about his pro-development reputation. The commissioner replied to the resident that he, and the commission, were not pro-development. The commissioner told the resident they were instead only trying to restore what had previously existed on Longboat Key in terms of retail businesses and tourist accommodations. I am told the commissioner used the term "Keeping Longboat Longboat" to describe the massive revisions the commission is making to our zoning codes and comprehensive plan. To me this is Longboat Newspeak.

I want to examine changes to Longboat's building codes, density limits, building height limits and  sweeping alterations to the comprehensive plan being proposed by the current commission and town attorneys in light of their assertion of being preservationists and not developer-friendly government officials.

If the commissioners are really only trying to "restore" retail business and tourism to what previously existed, then logically the codes already exist for doing that, since the current rules and codes already allow what the commission contends are their only objectives.

The increases in height, building mass and population density to Whitney Plaza being proposed by the current commission can be viewed as little else but opening the developer flood gates on the north end of the island. Why increase the height from 5 stories to 6 stories? Why increase the density if only businesses are to be allowed at that location? Surely there must be logical explanations for such detailed increases to the bulk and density of the current 1 story shopping center. A retail center that has been only partially occupied for over 2 decades. Obviously there has been little to no demand for commercial space on the north end of the island for quite some time. And no wonder since there is 3 times more commercial real estate on Longboat than is required to support our decreasing population. One wonders what the commissioners have in mind.

And where will all the tourists stay? The commissioners assure us we need many more tourists in order to eventually sell units at the Key Club. If you were going to recommend accommodations for visiting friends, where would you direct them? Now imagine where additional tourist motels and hotels can be built on this island. Would you recommend a new hotel at Whitney Plaza, where the public beach is a long hot walk across a busy highway, or a toes-in-the-sand waterfront lodging? Which would offer the better "island experience"?

Why is the commission working so hard to vastly increase the building bulk at Whitney Plaza? What do they think will be built there that requires exactly 1 extra story and a much larger footprint? I doubt any hotel located off the beach could compete with existing waterfront lodging on Longboat or adjacent islands.

I am worried that for all their supposed good intentions for all of us, that the commission makes our exclusive community vulnerable to profit-driven developers by destroying the well-crafted codes and comprehensive plan that have made Longboat one of the premier residential retirement communities in this country.

You might ask a commissioner why they want to expand Whitney Plaza far beyond what is fitting for the ambiance of the north end. The commissioners have never asked the residents of this island if they are happy with the way things are in terms of retail, and if they are willing to have more tourists and traffic congestion to have more stores that will have to cater to tourists to survive. Tourism stores are not the same stores that are frequented by residents. Maybe the commissioners should ask themselves why in the past it made sense for so many motel / hotel owners to sell to condominium developers?

Current Whitney Plaza

Longboat Key does need to change with the times. We need to open up our social structure. We need to find ways to provide better access to our beaches so that new home buyers will be attracted to neighborhoods east of GMD. We need to have the town actively participate in rejuvenating our community activities and make better use of our parks and recreation areas. We do not need inappropriate development where none is needed. Most of all, we need to start acting like a community instead of snowbird heaven. People need to wake up and see that beautiful Longboat may be under siege by developers and that our current commission is the best thing that ever happened for them. We do not want to become a poster child for the now defeated Amendment #4 - Home Town Democracy.

Even though the above mentioned commissioner calls himself, as well as his fellow commissioners, preservationists, I do not believe that dumbing-down the conversation to the point where "keeping Longboat Longboat" includes large scale high-rise development on the north end is anything less than Longboat Newspeak.

Where are all the Boomers going?



The following are excerpts from two of many articles I have found that address baby boomer retirement. I believe we need to examine the boomers and adjust our community values to both attract and accommodate the "new" generation of retirees. Currently more than 75% of our property owners are retired and relatively affluent. Strip mall and hotel developers are not going to reinvigorate our residential community and return home values to where they should be. If we wait for outside interests to create some sort of commercial presence in five to ten years from now, we may miss an opportunity to make our own changes that we will most likely have to make eventually, if we want to remain a viable community. The 2010 census shows that Longboat had a shift in demographics where the number of residents decreased by 41% in a decade. The generation that made Longboat great are no longer here. We need to find a way to welcome a new generation.  The boomers are the answer and we need to find a way to bring them to our community.


Retiring Boomers Impact Demand For Housing

By MARCI SHATZMAN, October 11, 2009

Jeffrey Katz has been selling real estate for seven years to house hunters in the adult communities, and in the past two years he's noticed something new. "Boomers are focused on how old the community is," said Katz, who's with REMAX/Advantage in western Boynton Beach. They think a new community will attract younger seniors. "They want to be among their contemporaries and not their parents' [generation]," he said. Katz said 90 percent of his clients are Baby Boomers who are moving here to retire or buy a second home.

Baby Boomers take on Retirement


May 2, 2010 By Joni
 
The active lifestyle that baby boomers have enjoyed throughout their working life continues into their retirement life. It isn’t enough to just be not working anymore. They demand more from life. Everything this generation does is studied and surveyed. They were the first to be targeted by market analysts and set new standards for generations to come. How business markets to the boomers has also changed. The priorities set by the boomers, no matter what the venue, have become the standard across the country.


The activity level of the newly retired has also impacted our communities. Well known for their activism in political and social issues their entire lives, this generation has brought that energy to their personal lives as well. No longer is a house in the suburbs enough. Now communities are being built to once again feed the need of this aging generation. These communities include a wide variety of amenities to attract these seniors. Fitness centers, walking trails, social outlets and hi-tech security systems are the new standard for these neighborhoods. Convenience to shopping and community centers located nearby is a must. Golf courses, complete with a country club atmosphere, are hi-lights that are very attractive to the active senior and not to be ignored.

We are at a difficult juncture between two generations that has a particularly profound impact on retirement and second home communities. Longboat Key is unusual in that it is almost entirely retirement oriented. On top of that the climate encourages a majority of the residents to seek cooler places for much of the summer. Additionally, aside from the village at the north end, a predominance of large condominium complexes and the lack of a viable community center do not contribute to a sense of community. Each condominium is in a sense self-sufficient. We have wonderful clubs and organizations that are made possible by the efforts of dedicated individuals. We have the Key Club that is the jewel of the island. However, the club is more exclusive than inclusive because of high membership costs that prevent a majority of Longboat  residents from finding a sense of community there. Times have changed. Boomer studies are revealing that the next retirement generation wants to belong. They are active and social.

Longboat Key offers an unusually attractive shopping experience only a few minutes away at the circle and downtown Sarasota. Many thriving retirement communities would love to have such sophisticated shopping so close at hand. I lived for a time in the Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles. On a good day it might take an hour of fighting traffic congestion to reach shops in Beverly Hills. And those were weekdays.

What we do not yet have to offer the boomers is that sense of being part of a vibrant social and active community. Yes we have amenities but they are underdeveloped. We need to open up our beaches to perspective residents. Bike riding on this island is at times dangerous. I have been in many communities that have in the past decade adjusted to the times and created new and attractive activity experiences for their residents. Perhaps the time has come to also change with the times. It could be fun.