Expansion talk is a double issue
To the editor:
Our Town Council has created the most wonderful irony with two of the issues currently on its platter. Both deal with “expansion.”
At the same time they appear to be pushing hard to expand the amount of space in which local bars can serve alcohol, they’ve engaged in an equally vigorous (not to mention questionable) campaign to stop the expansion of the space in which our local library can operate.
Expand Bars not Libraries! Is that some kind of message to be sending for our “Family Island” or what?
Don’t get me wrong; I’m a big fan of local bars, particularly the ones with good prices on beer who also offer entertainment that isn’t so deafening that one can’t hold an intelligent conversation. But I’m also a big fan of the local library because I think it is doing exactly what a good local library should do, and doing it quite well.
As to the expansion of alcohol sales on the beach, my understanding is that the Local Planning Agency made it very clear that such expansion would be a violation of the town’s Comprehensive Plan. (Whoops, I almost forgot to include the words “Award-winning.”) Undeterred by the inconvenience of the existing rule, the Council sent the proposal back to the LPA and told them to keep re-interpreting it until they re-wrote the Land Development Code and come back with the answer the Mayor wanted.
There still seems to be a big question about who does or doesn’t have a legitimate claim to the right to serve alcohol on the beach. Record keeping by the county about a lot of local issues is pretty iffy when one goes back more than a few years. Treating everyone equally is always a good idea, but if a bar was established or wants to expand after the rule was written, they have no grounds to be upset because some other bars got there first and are “grandfathered” in for sales on the beach.
Meanwhile, a half-dozen people and/or articles have failed to adequately explain to me what made the Council think they had the right to butt into the workings of the town library. The library’s expansion campaign was prominently advertised for years and a subsequent audit found nothing wrong with their actions. If the only “transgression” was that the library director neglected to give the town a copy of a document pertaining to the financing (a crime he fixed immediately upon being informed of the need), the town government would do well to re-read the charter and get a better understanding of the limits of its authority.
I was told that the Council had received “numerous” complaints by citizens who wanted to stop the project and that they felt compelled to look into it. Just how many complaints constitute “numerous” and how well connected do the complainants need to be to get such vigorous action? I’ve also heard vague references to the library’s use of the town’s infrastructure as a reason to investigate them. What infrastructure? They use electricity and water, and I’m pretty sure they pay for it. The Fire Department uses a lot of water and some electricity, too. Is anyone urging an investigation of them by the town?
My recommendation to our Town Council is that rather than investigating other local entities, they would do well to look into their own operation and check that every “i” is dotted and “t” crossed to be certain that none of their working rules are being bent or broken.
Jay Light
Fort Myers Beach