All Together Now

Are you, like me, wondering what the Publix folks have in mind for Avenue of the Flowers. I have great respect for Publix's business acumen, so I doubt we will see them build a larger retail complex.
We will probably see a modest expansion of the current market with added drug and liquor operations and otherwise a reduction in retail space within the complex. However, this is a guess and it might be totally off-base.

Over the past few years several residents have advanced concepts of turning Avenue of the Flowers  and the surrounding Bay Isles area into a community activity hub, where island residents and visitors can congregate and share social activities such as dining and casual refreshments, etc. I think this is a good idea for our community. However, a greatly expanded retail presence is not practical given our seasonal demographics. Several tourists have responded to my past articles saying they wish there was a place where they could meet people on Longboat. Perhaps the Bay Isles locality is the logical place to start. Perhaps Publix will seek people oriented businesses such as Starbucks, and other casual meeting establishments, where people may enjoy one another's company. Whatever happens at Avenue of the Flowers, I believe it will need to draw people out of their self-sufficient condominium complexes and offer a unique and compelling social experience. There are a sufficient number of year-round residents and visitors on Longboat to support a properly sized and populated commercial center on the Publix property.

A town community center located adjacent to the new Publix center can further aggregate social activities around a central geographical hub that is already well established. On the north side of the Publix site lie several banks, the town library, town hall and several churches. Locating a community social and recreational facility in the existing Mattison's building, that lies adjacent to the south side of the Publix property, would further concentrate social activities in the area and offer patrons easy access to nearby cafés and casual meeting places. A community center located adjacent to the Publix redevelopment could be mutually beneficial for both the community center and whatever Publix developes at Avenue of the Flowers.

If we manage to create a viable critical mass of activity in and around the new Publix renovations, we just might attract enough people to sustain a healthy retail presence at that location, while at the same time creating a social activity hub within our community that is essential, if we are to attract the next generation of people looking for an exclusive, beautiful, thoughtfully developed island community.

I wonder what the new owners of Whitney Plaza and environs are thinking. If Publix does create a new attractive retail center at Avenue of the Flowers, that can only decrease the need for additional retail operations on the north end. If the new owners at Whitney Plaza decide to reintroduce retail operations at the north end, I suspect the same thing will occur that happened when Publix opened years ago, and that was to siphon business away from the two northern shopping centers.

In spite of the proclamations made by some commissioners that we need more retail and more tourists on Longboat, I suspect the business community is smart enough to read the writing on the wall. Longboat Key became an affluent seasonal retirement community because that is what perspective home buyers were looking for. As a result of two decades of slow development, we are finally just that, and now all the spare retail real estate needs to also fall in line with the community profile that has evolved over the years. We are what we are and that is a good thing according to the great majority of residents and visitors alike.

Longboat Key is and remains an exclusive, beautifully developed, jewel on the west coast of Florida. The housing problems will pass and we will all be thankful that we did not succumb to the aspirations of the developer element within our community. I think we will find that being an upscale seasonal second home community will remain attractive through the years and that property values will benefit from our exclusivity and low density.

However, we do need to change to some degree with the times. A centralized community district will enhance our lifestyle and offer residents convenient access to social activities including a recreational center in the Mattison building beside the Publix property.  I, among others, believe that we need to strive to create a critical mass of things to do, places to meet people and shop at the center of our island. Having a recreation center as part of that complex appears to be an essential element to the mix of activities. The opportunity to create a vibrant community center in the Mattison property, for a relatively small investment in renovating the building, is too good to pass up. We need to start moving to secure the now vacant property and to turn the building into a part of a greater town center.

Let's all get together and promote a new town center.

The best laid plans of mice and men

Commissioner Duncan is now advocating a long-range 25-year plan for our community. I guess he is saying that we need to follow his plan if we ever want to see our community prosper again. Unfortunately, none of us will be around to see if he was right. As justification for his call for long-term planning, Commissioner Duncan states " the town has to look no further than the current state of the island’s deterioration, in the form of aging shopping centers and foreclosed homes."

I do not disagree with Commissioner Duncan that our residents and town government need to become more pro-active in maintaining all aspects of our community. We differ is tactics and strategies.

Commissioner Duncan uses the community center as a focal point in his discussion and appears to be advocating a community dialog, whereas Commissioner Brown appears to feel that he and his fellow commissioners are the only people who need to be involved in both the design and the method of financing a community center. I prefer Commissioner Duncan's more inclusive approach. Commissioner Duncan raises the question if we even need a community center. A few weeks ago I proposed re-purposing unoccupied commercial property as a community center, both to test the waters for a need for a center, without committing the community to yet more bonds, and alleviating the glut of empty commercial buildings on the island. We could also have a community center up and running before the coming season. I do not see any downside to this idea.

It has now been 18 months since the current commission assumed power and assured our community that they would solve all the problems left unresolved by their predecessors. I believe the phrase "fix town hall" was used at one point. I do not see that anything has transpired since then. Actually, it looks like we have actually slipped further behind. The Key Club expansion has experienced one setback after another during the 2.5 years since the KC hearings first began. I remember the town attorney saying that he and the town planning staff would resolve any lingering questions in a couple of weeks. That was long ago and the most recent missive from the town attorney, concerning referendums, portends of even longer delays. I have always advocated a responsible rejuvenation of the Key Club since it is is an attractive and classy part of our community. The KC helps us stand out as an affluent retirement community. Unfortunately, the Loeb group chose an uncompromising political solution that has become a statutory and legal quagmire, with no end in sight, inspite of the town attorney's repeated assurances that everything will be OK any day now. The commission should have prevailed upon Loeb to come up with a viable project. They did not and a majority of the commissioners still press forward with their grand design for us all without paying any attention to the economic and legal realities that surround them.

Some of the actions by our commissioners, including what I believe to be unfortunate exchanges between commission members and residents who are experts in the area of land use, seem to be leading our town towards becoming a poster child for a possible future Florida Harris Act ordeal.

Commissioner Duncan is quite correct in his assessment that commercial property is deteriorating on Longboat and that more and more homes are coming onto the market. It would be nice to counter his appraisal with some good news. However, the longer our country sinks into economic decline, the more people will hit the wall, and be forced to unload the economic burden of a second home that they only used a few months a year. This is an economic reality for a seasonal retirement community. No amount of long-range planning will alter the course of events. Commissioner Duncan decries employing tactics where he feels long-range strategies are needed. I disagree. When the house is on fire it is not the time to look into pension plan alternatives with the fire fighters union. We need to take more immediate measures to improve our community image and to attract the baby boomers to buy here instead of Anna Maria Island or The Villages in central Florida.

I have written several columns about what I believe we need to do to improve our market position and that does not include still more hand-picked committees of head-bobbers to rubber stamp the ideological beliefs of the current people in power. I wish the current people in power were more effective than they have been over the past 18 months. From failed referendum votes to a stalled Key Club project, to failing to look at the root cause of our failing commercial real estate, there's a lot of smoke and a lot of rhetoric and little else.

The realities of the national and global economics cannot be solved by strategies, no matter how well-meaning. No one knows what socio-economic conditions will prevail twenty years from now or even next year. We need to be nimble and seek solutions for tomorrow not after we are all dead and gone.

One place we need to start looking is in the area of retail real estate. Remember we have enough retail real estate to support a community of 75,000 people. We actually have fewer than 8,000 averaged over the year. If people want to have the commercial tail wag the dog, then we will need to tear down a lot of older two astory condominiums to make way for tall buildings that will house 75,000 people on a year-round basis. That most likely means tourists, since our current residents don't stick around after April. If we manage to get 75,000 people to stay on Longboat during the hot season, than we will have an economic base to support the present commercial real estate property, and I guarantee we will have terrific traffic jams every day. Of course, we will need new water, sewer and electric services along with a solution to the impediments of the Circle and Bradenton Beach. I already know people who prefer to live on Anna Maria rather than fight the traffic at the Cortez Road light in Bradenton Beach.

Short of accomplishing all the above, there is simply too much land on this island zoned commercial. If Publix does decide to fully develop their land at Avenue of the Flowers, that will draw customers away from the Center Shops and any future for the new mega Whitney Plaza. One can only divide a pie so many ways before everyone goes hungry.

We need good news now. We need a community center now, not years from now. A lot of delay and strife will occur if the commissioners attempt to force an unpopular tax burden on the voters, before we even know if the people will support a community center. Keep in mind that the proposed town budget shows a deep cut in funding for recreational activities. Let's use common sense not theoretical strategies and lets get moving and get something accomplished. There has been too much posturing and not enough actual improvements over the past 18 months.

See picture at: http://lbk-folk.blogspot.com/2011/06/best-laid-plans-of-mice-and-men.html

The Rivera of Longboat Key

The development of Bayfront Park being advanced by the current town commission is a quiet unimposing plan including a functional building, some nature paths along with a few recreational activities. If we utilize the Mediterranean Plaza as a large, almost free community center, that leaves all the land at Bayfront Park for other uses and possibilities.

What about blowing the doors off and creating something truly special

and world class on a spectacular piece of property?

Bayfront Park is a special Gulf-to-Bay property that might be developed as a world class beach park experience that rivals the best tropical get-aways, and will attract visitors and residents to our community. A beautifully developed beach park facility will be unique on the west coast of Florida, making Longboat stand out as a forward-looking world class community. Such a beach-front park would add immeasurably to our community image, while offering residents and visitors a beautiful gathering destination and tropical beach paradise experience.

The bay front property could be transformed into the jewel of our island

We have an opportunity to create the classiest most beautiful community beach and grotto presence on this coast of Florida. If we want to reinvigorate our community and add a community amenity that ups the bar, then perhaps we need to look at possibilities.

Particulars:

1) A spacious underpass between the beach and the Bayfront property would provide a first class beach facility similar to what is available on Lido Key. The beach cabanas could be run by a private concession and return a percentage of profits to the town. Longboat residents who presently have no beach access would enjoy the town beach. Having improved beach access on Longboat will enhance property values throughout the community.

2) A large tropical designer landscaped pool by the bay will offer a beautiful community experience year-round for everyone while enhancing our public amenities.

3) Tasteful concessions for food and beverages a cut above what is available at Siesta Beach. Anyone visiting Manatee Beach knows that it is a popular attraction on Anna Maria Island. I envisage a more refined eating experience in keeping with the quality ambiance of the property.

4) Parking needs to be creatively integrated into the design. The trolley can also transport people to and from the park adding capacity while minimizing space needed for on-site parking. Non-resident guests would be required to pay a fee and park at a remote parking facility. This should be a community amenity. During season it may be possible to run a "beach express" up and down the island supported by fares.

The town commission is proposing a utilitarian community center on the Bayfront property. The Bayfront property has the potential to become something really special on our island; lets not squander the opportunity to propel our community forward and create a beautiful compelling gathering place for residents and visitors alike. By utilizing the Mediterranean Plaza building to house a community center, we can devote resources to develop a striking jewel in the middle of our island that enhances our lifestyle and helps to bring the community together.

Bayfront Park Property - Gulf-to-Bay

We only have one chance to develop Bayfront Park  - let's not waste it. We have the opportunity to set our expectations really high in order to achieve something that will make Longboat special.

If we create something truly beautiful, they will come.

Change Begins with Me

Unpleasant reading - American students rank 15th in math and 25th in science testing globally. There are 3 million jobs available in America, right now, that cannot be filled because no one wants or qualifies for the positions. Perhaps the time has come for each American to stop blaming this or that political party or a disliked social pressure group for all our societal problems. If we, as a nation, do not change course we will become a 3rd world country in our lifetime. We can assume that all the other countries are striving to better themselves. I am not sure what we are doing. Whatever it is, it is not working.

I know most Longboat property owners have little to worry about since the great majority of our residences are 2nd homes. However, the relative wealth of Longboat property owners isn't enough to sustain a failing economy and educationally declining population. One commentator has remarked that Americans are becoming increasingly illiterate as a result of being predominately exposed to a TV based vocabulary that is geared to a 5th grade reading level. I had one reader chastise me for using too many big words. I thought I was merely saying exactly what I wanted to say and that requires using language somewhat above the 5th grade level. I wonder how Longboat property values will fare if our economy takes another precipitous decline in the next year or two. I wonder how our grandchildren will manage to find a better life if America is considered to a complacent, relatively under-educated society where everyone is plugged into some sort of electronic distraction.

The average American child spends 1154 hours a year watching TV while spending fewer that 900 hours in school.

Only 1 in 12 American families make their children do homework before watching TV.

By the age of 18 the average American child sees over 200,000 violent acts on TV.

Last year, at the science oriented graduate schools of New York University (NYU), not a single American-born student was registered.

A Harvard study found that current college students spend only half as much time studying as they did in 1960.

We are rapidly becoming a nation intellectually asleep-at-the-wheel and declining quickly if one looks at the grim statistics and reports.

The blame-game is not working. Each of us is responsible for being part of our democratic process, and that requires vigilance, critical thinking and encouraging our grandchildren to be readers and scholars and engineers.

My recommendation is to become as informed as is humanly possible by listening to all the conversations taking place in our society. Receiving your information exclusively from Fox or MSN will only expose you to their profit-driven propaganda. It will not increase your comprehension of the complex issues confronting our nation. Most of all try to mentor young people and try to lead them to a place where the process of learning becomes as important to them as what they learn.

Change Begins with Me.



A Risk-free Community Center Proposal

Mediterranean Plaza at Bay Isles

Our current commissioners are now discussing constructing a community center complex at Bayfront Park. Voters have rejected similar proposals twice by large pluralities. The only thing that has changed is that there are now fewer year-round residents and they are a decade or two older.

It may not be true that if we build it, they will come. Longboat was designed and marketed as a condominium-centric affluent seasonal retirement community. A majority of the condominium complexes are located on the west side of GMD. Most all have social amenities including a swimming pool, tennis courts, meeting areas for social activities and of course a very expensive beach at the front door. The island also has several areas of residential homes mostly inhabited seasonally. As always, the problem with proposing any changes to the current state of affairs on Longboat, whether it be a community center or a hotel or an expanded retail presence, is the lack or people 8 or 9 months of the year. In the case of a new community center it will be difficult to justify the annual 1/2 million dollar operating budget, much less the many millions required to build a new community center, if the center is under-utilized most of the year.

That is where my proposal comes into play. If the town were to lease the Mediterranean Plaza, located on Bay Isles near Avenue of the Flowers shopping center (Publix) for five years, at a favorable rate, and re-purpose the 25,000 square foot, two story structure as a community center, then we, as a community, would have the opportunity to see if there truly is the needed community support for a centralized community center on Longboat, before risking millions on something that falls flat on its face and becomes yet another empty edifice on our island.

Mediterranean Plaza is an almost perfect opportunity to enhance our community's social amenities, with little or no financial risk, while utilizing what may soon become the next commercial property tragedy in our community. The church on General Harris will soon be completed and Mediterranean Plaza will soon lose its last remaining large client.  

Making use of the Mediterranean Plaza offers a few advantages to locating a new recreation building at Bayfront Park. Mediterranean Plaza has ample parking, with more available at Avenue of the Flowers for large events. If the 25,000 feet at the Plaza is inadequate then the community center can be readily expanded to include Madison's structure across the street. That building is also in economic peril.

It seems to me that we can accomplish two objectives with minimal risk and cost. The first is to create a large centrally located community center. The second is to reduce the blight of abandoned commercial property in our community. Government has an opportunity to become a partner with local business to revitalize unoccupied commercial properties by re-purposing the structures for community use. All of this while lowering financial risk to the taxpayers, and facilitating the creation of a community center far more quickly than a new community center.

Looking back at my previous columns, where I have expressed a need to have a community center, I now realize that there may be a flaw in my thinking. Our aging population, living in condominiums with social amenities close at hand, may not want to expend the energy to drive to a large recreation center that offers little more than what is already available to them. On the other hand, I believe that we need to offer more community social activities if we are to attract a new generation of residents on Longboat. The Mediterranean Plaza may offer an opportunity for our town to have its cake and eat it too. Perhaps we do not need to endure a lengthy fund-raising process before we have our community center. At the same time we can quickly begin to develop community awareness and compelling community social programs using existing facilities and reducing empty property blight.

Mediterranean Plaza at Bay Isles would make an inexpensive large attractive community center.

Mediterranean Plaza at Bay Isles





Where Angels Fear to Tread

Juliani Kenney Investment Capital, LLC is in the process of purchasing the old bank building owned by PFG Asset Managenent and occupied by Montgomery Asset Management. Additionally Juliani Kenney are aManagementlso trying to purchase all the land bounded by GMD, Broadway Street, Cedar Street and Palm Court. These purchases constitute a significant increase in investments for Juliani Kenney on the north end of Longboat.

Prior to their latest acquisitions, JKIC purchased Whitney plaza for $3.7 million in December, 2010 and have so far been unable to attract any retail businesses to the plaza. At a recent Village Association gathering Brian Kenney described the challenges of persuading anchor retailers, such as Walgreen Drug or Panara Bread, to locate at Whitney Plaza. Brian spoke of drive-by counts and other metrics employed by retail chains to evaluate future store locations. Given the 2010 census figures listed below, it is little wonder that Juliani Kenney are finding it difficult to rent space in the now dilapidated shopping mall.

"The percentage of residents ages 65 and up rose to 67.3%, from 58.3% in 2000. The percentage of residents ages 85 and up rose by 46%, with 8.2% of residents age 85 or older in April 2010, compared to 5.1% in April 2000. The island, which experienced a 9.4% decline in population over the past decade according to the census, lost residents in every age group from ages 15 through 74. " The number of people who call themselves "residents" decreased 41%.

In the face of daunting demographics and lack of success, over the past few months, in attracting retailers to Whitney Plaza, Juliani Kenney choose to double-down their bets, so to speak, by investing in still more commercial real estate at the north end.

I try to put myself in the shoes of Juliani Kenney in light of their most recent acquisitions. I keep stumbling on the fact that the new parcel and Whitney Plaza are separated my Cedar Street. In addition, the northern parcel is narrow, by commercial standards, and thus difficult to develop without adding to the property depth. That can only be accomplished by acquiring Palm Court which bounds the property on the east.

To my way of thinking to invest millions in two commercial real estate parcels that are separated by a well-trafficked street is going where angels fear to tread. Prior to Juliani Kenney all of this land appeared to be commercially inviable. Andrew Vaac was not able to resell the bank building just as Andrew Hlywa was unable to make a go-of-it at Whitney Plaza. In fact a succession of owners over the past 20 years have all failed to operate Whitney Plaza at a profit.

Personally I would be worried about acquiring two separate and previously financially unsuccessful commercial properties without almost absolute assurance that I would be able to join the two parcels and widen the northern parcel. That would of course require that the town commission deed the streets over to Juliani Kenney. That could be a problem if the residents at the north end do not want to abandon the well used thoroughfares. At present many village residents use both Palm Court and Cedar street as a "safe" access route to get onto GMD headed south.

In several newspaper articles about recent Juliani Kenney land purchases, a few different threads emerge about how best to utilize the newly purchased land parcels. Brian Kinney appears to believe there may be a need for a hotel on the property. Certainly this is a far more ambitious project than the one previously put forth by Juliani Kenney of revitalizing the retail space at Whitney Plaza. It is doubtful that anything now will be done to the crumbling Plaza if a new "grand design" is put forth. That could mean many years of empty building blight at the north end while the economy recovers to a point where investors might be willing to spend tens of millions to launch a large scale redevelopment of Whitney Plaza. I can envisage an exclusive low-rise tasteful boutique hotel, beautifully landscaped and blending-in with the existing ambiance of the north-end as being an enhancement to the community.

There still remains the problems for retail and tourism created by an increasingly affluent community that spends only a few months a year on Longboat. Because there are relatively few people living on our island most of the year, it is almost impossible to make a living here if you run a retail business or tourist facility. Each new hotel/motel room, each new store that is built/opened on the island dilutes the already inadequate pool of paying customers. As Longboat became more and more popular as a winter retirement retreat, more and more real estate was converted from tourism to condominium usage. Even with many fewer tourism units the occupancy rates are still dismal. Many people who come to Longboat in off season say it looks like a ghost town. As on drives up GMD at night all the condominium windows are dark. This may present a challenge to anyone looking to open a tourist attraction on the island and attract year-round clients.

Perhaps the best and easiest solution to the dilemma the commission thinks exits on Longboat is to relax and get comfortable with what we have become - a seasonal retirement retreat for the well-to-do. This is a good thing to be if you are one of the 18,000 or so fortunate residents of our island. There is really nothing that needs doing. We are all doing just fine. Housing sales are coming back. We have finally achieved a stable retail/tourism presence after the build-out of the island. Let's just settle in and enjoy our beautiful community just as it is.

Ex-mayor Spoll recently cautioned the town and the commission about community reaction to inappropriate development on the north end. I agree with his assertions that the north end ambiance is uniquely "old Florida" and should be preserved as a major asset to out entire community. To his credit Brian Kenney stated "It’s definitely not our desire to build a monstrosity that upsets the town and nearby residents.” It remains to be seem if his definition of monstrosity is similar to that of north end residents.

Let's hope our development-fixated commission and planning board heed George Spoll's advice.

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.