Longboat Observer 03.08.12

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LONGBOAT

You. Your neighbors. Your neighborhood.

NEWS

DIVERSIONS

INSIDE

Kay Siebold and Barbara Bostic refuse to act their age. INSIDE

RVA buys Cedars and Barrier Island Realty. PAGE 3A

OUR TOWN

Thursday, MARCH 8, 2012

parties of progress?

The pink ladies raise record funds for Susan G. Komen. PAGE 1B.

by Robin Hartill | City Editor

Commission warns Colony parties Commissioners warned the interests of the Colony Beach & Tennis Resort that they could lose grandfathered units if they don’t reach a resolution.

Dora Walters

Andy Youngs, Esther Cook, Jane Vorel and Jane Johnston

+ Group celebrates Royal birthday

Mayor Jim Brown asked the long-feuding parties at the Colony Beach & Tennis Resort to picture something: Imagine it with only six units per acre, Brown said of the 18-acre, 237-unit shuttered resort.

If the parties don’t work something out by December, a six-unitper-acre Colony could be a reality. Commissioners heard from the interests in the Colony dispute at their March 5 regular meeting. The status update was a requirement

of the extension the commission approved last May that extended a continuance of the town’s tourism abandonment requirement for the Colony to Dec. 31, 2012. Without the extension, the property could have lost 85 of the resort’s units by

Aug. 15, 2011 — exactly one year after the resort closed — because they were built on the property before town code limited tourism units to six per acre. Commissioners heard from all parties about why they wanted a redeveloped Colony, the complexities of the

SEE COLONY / PAGE 2A

Esther Cook’s birthday coincided with the date of St. Mary, Star of the Sea, Catholic Church Royal Rummage sale preview Friday, March 2. But that didn’t deter volunteer Jane Vorel from celebrating. Before the doors opened for the sale, Cook shared her birthday cake with her fellow volunteers.

Lubin

OFFICIAL UNVEILING

Courtesy photo

+ Casa del Mar treated to concert On Feb. 23, Amanda Lubin performed a piano program at the association apartment at Casa del Mar. The first concert she ever performed was when she was 8 years old — seven years ago — in the very same place. She is now 15. Lubin has been coming to Casa del Mar yearly since she was born because her grandparents have been vacationing on Longboat Key for more than 30 years. Every year she performs a concert, and this year the attendance was upward of 75 people.

+ Don’t forget to spring forward

Daylight Saving Time begins at 2 a.m. Sunday, March 11. Though we lose an hour of sleep, don’t forget to change your clocks!

SEE OUR TOWN / 16A

Dora Walters

St. Armands Business Improvement District Chairman Marty Rappaport and Sarasota Vice Mayor Terry Turner unveiled a plaque Friday, March 2, recognizing the completion of a 10-year improvement project on St. Armands Circle. The project was a joint venture between the BID and the city of Sarasota. Part of the project was the renovation of all four medians into landscaped, park-like settings with benches, sidewalks, curbs and lighted pathways. Brick-paver crosswalks were also installed. Rappaport said new goals are adding public bathrooms, more parking spaces, additional landscaping from the bridge to the Circle, burying power lines and installing new signs at entrances to the Circle from Longboat Key and Sarasota. “The goal,” Rappaport said, “is to make St. Armands the No. 1 tourist spot.”

follow the money

by Robin Hartill | City Editor

Campaign contributions show sources of support Vice Mayor David Brenner has inched ahead of challenger Ray Rajewski in fundraising. But the differences between the candidates clearly go beyond the numbers. Money talks, and if it could comment on the race for the District 3 Longboat Key Town Commission seat, it might say: This race is a close one. The latest campaign treasurer’s reports released by the

Town Clerk’s office showed that Vice Mayor David Brenner has pulled ahead of challenger Ray Rajewski slightly in terms of fundraising, bringing in a total of $11,665 in campaign contributions through

Feb. 24, compared to the $11,151 Rajewski brought in during the same period. So, where is all that money coming from? Brenner’s donors include former

mayors George Spoll and Jeremy Whatmough, current Commissioner Pat Zunz, Key Club attorney

SEE CONTRIBUTIONS / 6A

INDEX Bridge Bites....... 10B Briefs....................4A

Calendar............ 12A Classifieds ........ 12B

Cops Corner....... 10A Crossword.......... 11B

Opinion.................8A Weather............. 11B

Vol. 34, No. 32 | Three sections YourObserver.com


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