|
Commissioners say Mole Pier area access will be restored
BY TIMOTHY O'HARA
keysnews.com
KEY WEST -- A proposed
temporary security station and offices near the Outer Mole Pier have
raised the ire of residents, who are worried their opportunity to roam
the open spaces there will be hindered.
The city commission
unanimously voted Wednesday night to approve the temporary station.
But first, several
commissioners made it clear that the station is temporary and that
public access will be allowed following the completion of an 18-month
construction project that includes upgrading the pier.
"This property is for
the people of this community," Commissioner Harry Bethel said.
The security station
will house immigration and customs officials, marine patrol officers,
city redevelopment agency workers and possibly navy officers.
"The nature of a
security station is to deny public access," local resident Elliot Baron
said during the meeting.
The offices will be
placed on the 33-acre property given to the city by the Navy during the
Base Realignment and Closure process. The pier initially was included in
the deal, but following post-Sept. 11 security changes the Navy decided
to keep the pier and lease 800 feet of it to the city for cruise ships.
Commissioner Carmen
Turner wanted to be sure that the station would only be there
temporarily, while the Navy finishes its $12 million pier renovations.
The construction project has closed access to the area to all but cruise
ship passengers and employees.
For several months
next summer no one will be allowed in the area. The Navy plans to begin
dredging the marina by the end of the year and may dock vessels as large
as destroyers there.
Also Wednesday night,
the commission voted to change its lease agreements with businesses and
people who lease property from the city. The lease agreement was changed
by only two words, "at least," but it was two too many for some.
The change was
proposed by Commissioner Ed Scales, who said he wants the city to be a
better landlord to the city tenants.
Scales initially
proposed changing the ordinance so that tenants could begin negotiating
new lease agreements any time prior to the expiration of the existing
lease. The proposal was changed so that tenants with a 10-year lease
could not begin negotiating until three years prior to the expiration of
the lease and five years prior if the lease runs for 20 years, as is the
case with the city's Local Redevelopment Agency property.
Commissioner Turner
was the lone vote against the change.
"I want to see how
this benefits the city," Turner said. "I see how it benefits the lease
holders. Has there been a problem?"
Turner questioned
whether the new ordinance violates state competitive bidding laws for
municipalities and said "it gives the wrong perception."
"It creates the
opportunity for some to get sweetheart deals," she said after the
meeting.
The current lease
ordinance calls for negotiations to begin 90 days before a lease ends.
The current ordinance is unfair to tenants, because they only have 90
days to figure out what they are going to do with their business if they
are denied a new lease, Scales said.
"It just doesn't seem
fair to them. You tell them they have 90 days to clear out," Scales said
prior to the meeting. "It's bad public policy."
Approval of a lease
would still have to be approved by the commission during a public
meeting, Scales said.
"This is just
negotiations," Scales said.
Nancy Klingener,
speaking on behalf of Last Stand, said the ordinance stifles the
competitive bidding process for the properties and benefits those who
are current tenants.
In other business,
businessman Ed Swift asked the commission to postpone voting on his
proposal to renovate and lease the former Plantains restaurant on
Caroline Street and build eight affordable apartments above the
restaurant. |
