Ok. Sarasota county leading the charge to crappyness

[ReefGuy]

Florida West Scuba School may be out of the charter business shortly. Here's an exerpt from their latest newsletter.

If you are familiar with this area, much of what was old Florida, funky little water front restaurants, marinas, boat yards etc, are quickly being wiped out, much of the time with the blessing of the politicians. The word today for water front is condo everything! The last hotel on the beach on Venice was torn down to make way for, you guessed it, new condos. The marina north of us (Dona Bay Marina) is also coming down in a couple of months for new "luxury condos." Charter captains have no place to go to run their business, as the marinas are now being privatized and the docks then reserved for the condos. Certainly, land owners have the right to maximize their incomes, but more mixed use is needed!! Here where our dive shop stands, this area is being redeveloped as well, with a proposal to build condos on the sight of the old (inactive) restaurant. However, the plan is for Fisherman's Wharf to continue to be mixed use which means we should be able to stay, along with the Marker 4 restaurant. Marker 4 is one of only three remaining water front restaurants in Venice. The new docks have arrived and the construction of the additional docks will begin soon. Our dive boat will hopefully remain. If not, I have to be honest, we may be out of the charter business, since there is virtually no where else for us to take the boat. Hopefully that will not be the case.

To make matters even worse (to me at least), there are certain groups here in Punta Gorda that want to get rid of our historic district and go, you guessed it, condo. Our historic district is composed of houses that were built in the early 20th century and sits right on the south side of Charlotte harbor, overlooking the harbor through a beautiful park. There's actually a road between the houses and the park, so that EVERYONE can enjoy this beautiful view. This area was hit hard during hurricanes Charlie, Francis and Jean, with probably close to 20% of the houses either demolished or waiting in line. The homeowners in this area each year have a HUGE halloween bash for the kids, setting up haunted houses and really decorating it up, making it a special time for the kids. In short, it's what gives Punta Gorda its charm.

If they do that, I'm probably out of here. Fortunately, I know how to make my voice heard here, and I already have. Sarasota is a different matter. I'm going to try to find out how I can make my opinion heard there, as well.

 

[lowedaph]

Sounds like a difficult situation. If the government places strict regulations on development, pent up demand will drive real estate prices skyrocketing. If the government lets development go unrestrained to meet demand, the beauty that made the area so attractive will be destroyed. Its a no-win situation. I was just reading in my local paper there's going to be moratoriums on mobile home park conversions, multifamily rental housing, and marina redevelopment. This is on top of existing regulation that makes it nearly impossible to build a house on a vacant lot.

The incessant march of "progress"...

 

[Tom Winters]

That quote from Florida West Scuba School isn't too surprising. I've been watching that Venice coastal area just keep on developing - pretty soon, it's going to be like Boca Raton. And even if they are part of the Fisherman's Wharf development, you can bet the rent wil be top-shelf.
The hurricanes messed up so much of the historically-underdeveloped coastal areas in SW Florida. All those developers over there must just salivate at the prospects of building there. Good luck keeping Punta Gordon from becoming like Aventura.
On the entire length of the Boca Intracoastal and feeder waterways, there is not one public marina or one restaurant to pull up to. There is no place to refuel. There is just the public boat launch, and that is reserved exclusively for Boca residents because of parking limitations. Any marine facilties are part of the Boca Raton Resort, and some of the visiting yachts there have tenders bigger than my 30'.
This was a deliberate plan on the part of the Boca fathers back in the 20's though the 50's when they had a chance to develop a waterfront area, but they consciously omitted any possibility of independent commercial development.
As much as I am not wild about the waters of Broward county, at least there are commercial facilities and restaurants to pull up to.
And in lowedaph' spost, one thing to consider is that the government and local developers often have remarkably similar last names.

 

[DennisS]

There was a story in Fort Lauderdales Sun Sentinel today, three commisioners that ran on the slow growth platform approved 13,000 new residential units for the city. How bad is that? Pro growth Broward County government stepped in and said it was too much. So much for respecting the will of the people that elected them, money talks.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/columnists/sfl-cpol19mar19,0,3130988.column?coll=sfla-news-col

Hollywood beach is next, there are a bunch of high rise, ocean front buildings that will be sprouting this year.

 

[leo311]

Got similar problems where I live with the county commission (crooks). They keep expanding, approving rezoning, new sub divisions everywhere, new apartment complexes, all these new people escaping the city for a life in the burbs. That's great for the tax base, but these yahoos keep dropping the millage rate without expanding services that are needed. ie law enforcement, fire fighters, roads; you know, all the stuff people need. The infrastructure to support and protect the people who've been here for years was lacking, and with the new growth, those services are being stretched to the breaking point. I'm tired of political people who preach one thing and then back out on their word once elected. It seems these people have no integrity, they only want to please the developers. Now, don't get me wrong here, I'm not saying that I'm against the growth; ultimately it will benifit the small businesses. However, if you are going to keep allowing new development, you must also expand the services that will protect those properties and citizens.
I'm off the soap box.