Dear Readers….

On Tuesday Feb. 22,2022 the Commission will have a hearing on a variance for a new dock at the Blue Moon on W. Tradewinds…. It shouldn’t be a slam dunk 5-0 commission approved vote …. in this writer’s opinion…..because when it comes to the neighborhoods and districts in our old town south- end of Lauderdale-by-the- Sea….and certain streets it really is a case of who comes first… the residents or the businesses that occupy the same area….In this case it is W. Tradewinds Ave.north of Commercial Blvd …on the east side of the intracoastal ….As you turn onto W. Tradewinds Ave….the Blue Moon sits on the intracoastal waterway and it is sandwiched between the purple medical building on the corner by the Commercial Blvd. bridge and the beginning of a residential neighborhood and the Women’s Club building with its distinct red door that sits upfront and off to their entry ….The Women’s Club is historically intertwined and revered in our town …and never to be toyed with….After all they provided the town with our Welcome Center building on A1A and Bougainvilla when they moved to W. Tradewinds Ave.  and opened the door of their new home in 1956 …  long before there was a Blue Moon to contend with…. https://womanscluboflauderdalebythesea.com/about-us/….So, it goes without saying that this commission must seriously weigh the impact and concerns of the Women’s Club and the W. Tradewinds residents before any consideration is made to merely rubber stamp this variance that increases the size of the Blue Moon dock and in the future considers bringing the water taxi stop there once the new dock is completed with the impact it too might bring forth to the Women’s Club and the W. Tradewinds neighbors…

This neighborhood is not alone ….on the south side of Commercial Blvd. is unjoined W. Tradewinds Ave. where this residential neighborhood deals with Benihana being situated on the corner of Commercial Blvd. and W. Tradewinds Ave. similarly impacting these homeowners daily….with their valet service and cars lining up …with patrons spilling over into their streets ….. The third area that will need the commission’s attention for their constituent’s quality of life is the marina property located on Basin Drive and runs behind our businesses on the south side of Commercial …. There is no doubt that the neighbors who reside around the water basin that is the entry to the marina property will be just as vocal on the impact they will face with the proposed new Marina Hotel/ Condominium development project as they were not so very long ago when the marina boat docking project tried and failed to win acceptance and approval…. The current Marina Hotel/ Condominium Hotel held an open public meeting in Jarvis Hall last year when most of the neighbors were not in town…. To his credit of the owner of the property decided not to proceed through the process until the neighbors were back ….Despite our Town Manager stating there was no need to wait….that government does not stop out of season! …What a huge disservice to our residential property owners……..if what this writer was informed of was so…..

These three distinct neighborhoods require that our residents come first and commercial properties come second… In order to make any improvements or changes to these commercial properties there must be more open and accountable dialogue between them and their residential neighbors with our town administration and staff being transparent while following the proper process from the start that results in a compromise that benefits both or a denial if our residents are still to be adversely impacted …

To followup on the specifics….

 It is now being pushed by both the applicants and the Town staff as a simple variance for the dock only despite all the hype and the hoopla surrounding the water taxi stop coming to the Blue Moon long before it was suddenly pushed out of sight for this January hearing….. while keeping letters of support for the water taxi in the backup for this variance…So which is it? ….Adding to this strange turn of events was the late in the process decision by the Town that this variance for a dock would be the first test of our new Citizen Participation Requirement Ordinance 2021-11 passed in October ….. How and why would a variance for a dock require using this new ordinance?….  The Blue Moon was told by the Town to send out notices to affected properties within 300 feet to attend which is the requirement for any variance application already!…. The meeting took place between Christmas and New Year’s Eve in Jarvis Hall …. Some residents voiced their objection to both the date and limited area for notice…As a result it was suddenly televised and on the Town website! ….. This writer took another look at Ordinance 2021-11 and what I found brings forth inclusions that allow the Director of Development or designee to deter the intended purpose for this ordinance …. it must be brought back on a agenda by a commissioner to rectify this issue asap!….

On Feb. 2,2022 the Planning and Zoning Board met to vote to accept or deny the Blue Moon dock variance ….It passed 4-1 after another poorly run and poorly advised meeting took place….in this writer’s opinion…. As an advisory board the commission includes their input as they deliberate and then vote to approve, deny or send it back to P & Z…. Below are the links to that P & Z agenda with backup and the video from the Town website…. This writer hopes this commission will take the time to watch the whole meeting in order to hear from the Women’s Group and from the neighbors who came to speak to the P & Z Board and the Town staff.….and will certainly come again to speak on Feb. 22nd…. requiring this hearing to be moved up on the agenda as has been done for many other such hearings ….

All five of our commissioners need to do what all five did not do when the Seaward Hotel ….a hotel that has been  on El Mar Drive for decades asked to meet with each of them early on as they dealt with what will now be the only single family allowed to be built on El Mar Drive in our hotel district due to the Town’s epic fail in disregarding our 2012 Conditional Use Ordinance for single family homes on its first time use a decade after it was codified…It required this commission to fast track and pass 5-0 a new ordinance to prevent anymore single homes on El Mar Drive!….Do Readers see the disturbing pattern on the part of our new administration as this writer does with both first uses of ordinances passed in order to protect our property owners from adverse impacts being improperly used!….

To tie this altogether…. in LBTS we are as we always have been…a unique small town with neighborhoods and districts that require special attention from those we elect to make sure our property is protected…. our quality of life is secure…. and our elected representatives put us first!…

More to come…