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Reduce
waterfront traffic by reducing development
If there is one thing
that everyone impacted by the Truman Waterfront can agree on, it's that
they don't want the heavy influx of associated traffic routed through
their neighborhood. At a time when nobody in Key West can seem to agree
on anything, on this single issue, there is complete consensus.
Development begets
traffic. Previous city commissions, with the aid of city staff, embarked
on a plan for the Truman Waterfront which embraced development. It is
long past time that the nonprofit organization Last Stand should finally
receive recognition it is due for the role it played in scaling back the
massive plan originally proposed for this site. If you think the traffic
plan is bad now, just imagine two cruise ship piers and hundreds of
thousands of additional square feet of retail and office space, plus
high-rise parking garages on the waterfront.
Nearly 10 years ago, the
City Commission selected a consulting firm with deep connections to the
cruise ship industry to develop a plan for the property the city hoped
to acquire from the Navy. At the same meeting, a reputable planning firm
was passed over because they actually told our city leaders that the
parcel had negligible commercial value since its only entrance and
egress were over narrow streets which ran through traditional,
established neighborhoods. The Boston firm, with impressive base reuse
experience, told the commission that the land was best suited for
passive parks and recreation. ...
After hundreds of hours
of public charettes and meetings, the firm produced a plan that called
for a virtual city-within-a-city. ...
Over objections of city
staff, Last Stand pushed for the conveyance of a larger percentage of
land to transfer to the city at no cost, to be maintained for public use
in perpetuity. Even though a city agent insisted that the Department of
Interior would never approve the request, he was instructed to submit
it. And damned if the federal government wasn't willing to give Key West
the land for free, on the condition that it would become and remain a
park. ...
The Key West Commission,
in the meantime, with little public notice, proceeded to amend the
original conveyance application to omit the public park requirement from
much of the land which the federal government had already agreed to
transfer at no cost. ...
If the current Key West
City Commission is honestly interested in reducing traffic to the Truman
Waterfront, it needs to look at a reduction in the allowable development
permitted under the plan. It's hard to admit that wrong decisions were
made in the past. ...
The new city commission
has the ability to correct some of the excesses of the past. I hope that
they have the good sense to take a second look at some past decisions
which, unless checked, will be kicking us in the pants for a long time
to come.
Elliot Baron
Chapel Hill,
N.C.
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