bserver O
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