Ken Thompson Park (on City Island)

Email from a past-president of the Lido Shores Property Owners Association (LSPOA), to the City Parks, Recreation, and Environmental Protection (PREP) Advisory Board

Dear Parks, Recreation and Environmental Protection Board,

I am a year round resident of Lido Shores a neighborhood that encompasses some 225 homeowners living at the north end of Lido Key. Our neighborhood as did the neighborhoods of Longboat Key, St Armand's, Lido and Bird Key, (not to mention the many people who visited our beautiful Lido Beach from the City and County) endured one of the worst bouts of traffic congestion during the recent St. Armand's Food Truck & Music Festival which took place at Ken Thompson Park, and are extremely concerned about similar future events, whether staged intermittently or on a regular basis.

Traffic between downtown and Lido Key often backs up at various times of the day, even when there are no special events, road/utility projects or accidents. It can take close to an hour to travel from Westway Drive to the Gulfstream Avenue Roundabout and this is before St Regis is open.

The group who brought us the failed St. Armand's Winter Festival is now proposing to privatize some part of Ken Thompson Park and permanently develop it as an amusement venue, featuring carnival attractions, golf coarse, “a bar in the sky". And I'm sure other events throughout the year to draw even more traffic. This portends for us a non-stop replay of the Food Truck Festival and the traffic tie-ups it generated. The last thing we need is more cars and trucks coming across Ringling Causeway, squeezing into the single lane between St. Armand's Circle and Ken Thompson Park and making it impossible for residents and visitors to get to their destinations in a reasonable time.

In consideration of traffic congestion, impeded emergency vehicle access, the harmful impact on our diminishing quiet green spaces , environmental impacts and more, we respectfully ask you vote against any proposed commercialization of Ken Thompson Park. Allowing this special space to fall prey to business interests with no connection to the City’s barrier islands will drastically alter the character of our immediate environment and certainly diminish the quiet quality of life we presently enjoy.

We thank you in advance for supporting our very important cause.

Email from the Mayor of the Town of Longboat Key to the City Parks, Recreation, and Environmental Protection (PREP) Advisory Board

PREP Board: As Mayor of Longboat Key, I have had conversations with many of our residents who share... [resident] concerns about the proposed use of Ken Thompson Park. While we would welcome some upgrades to the park-- such as improvements to the playground and paths, addition of beach areas and a splash pad, and introduction of a water taxi facility-- the conversion of portions of the park to a private, profit-making enterprise that could intensify the use of such environmentally delicate space would be detrimental to the barrier island environment. Moreover, seasonal traffic from St. Armand's Circle through Longboat Key is one of our most difficult problems and could not support an "amusement park" type use on City Island. We believe improvements by the City similar to those recently concluded at downtown's Bayfront Park would be a much more appropriate plan for that space. Thanks.

During public comments toward the beginning of a regular City Commission Meeting, a Bird Key resident makes the following remarks:

Today I’m going to give you the feedback on the City Island Amusement Park that you wouldn’t take on the 5th, with the added benefit of having listened to the extensive discussion and vote that you took during commissioner’s comments. So, in no order:

• The top three needs identified in the Parks Master Plan for Ken Thompson were, 1. Restrooms, 2. Neighborhood Park, and 3. Seating. Nowhere can I find an amusement park.
• Not only does the proposal address NONE of these needs it will exacerbate the number one issue identified in the plan, TRAFFIC, in what is already, a bottlenecked, traffic congested area. Clearly the city recognizes these traffic problems as it has dedicated 90% of the bike lane on the Ringling Bridge exclusively for the free shuttle, which still can’t maintain a reliable schedule.
• The Parks Master Plan does NOT describe Ken Thompson as underutilized. As a matter of fact, if it is so underutilized why do people need to park in the green areas?
• Why do the conclusions of a study, commissioned, and paid for by a developer who wishes to develop our park, trump our own much more extensive study and master plan?
• Are all city properties now eligible for public/private partnerships if someone commissions a study to show they’re underutilized? And on top of that without need for competing bids, especially with our awful track record.
• What is the definition of well utilized and by who residents or tourists?
• It’s a bad idea to replace a free park with an amusement park. No one in Sarasota wants to emulate Orlando.

These facts and questions were easily addressable on the 5th and the proposal should have been dismissed yet, inexplicably, you chose to refer this to the Parks and Rec Board. Why did we bother spending time and money on a Parks Master Plan if we’re going to simply ignore it when a developer comes to us with a proposal?

It got worse during commissioner’s comments when Mayor Alpert dismissed the concerns of the people she ostensibly represents when she said that that the city is more than one neighborhood, and that people are opposed to anything that adds even one car to traffic. An amusement park on City Island is going to add a hell of a lot more than one car! As for neighborhoods, Bird Key, Coon Key, St. Armand’s Key, Lido Shores, and the rest of Lido Key will all suffer from the increased traffic. I did not mention Longboat since if the concerns of city residents don’t matter, I don’t see why theirs would either.

The Board of Directors of the St. Armands Residents Association approves this letter sent to the City's PREP Board.  

Deputy City Manager Robinson sent an email to the City Commissioners stating: "Ride Entertainment has made the decision to remove their item/presentation scheduled for April 18th PREP Board."

No additional details were provided.  We don't know if this is just temporary or if the proposal is being withdrawn. We don't know if Commissioners Alpert, Arroyo, and Battie--all of whom are up for reelection this November--will put this back on the City Commission agenda this summer to try to vote it through without a a review by the PREP Board.