Islamorada official to Marco: Buy Glon property

The Florida Keys city incorporated in 1997, only a few months after Marco, and started talking about buying Plantation Yacht Harbor, a crumbling and dilapidated resort, shortly after the first City Council was convened.

In addition to bitter complaints that the plan wasn't put to a voter referendum, residents thought the $9 million price tag was absurdly expensive for a young city.

Geisler is the only member of that first council to be re-elected and has weathered the years of abuse that body took for buying the almost 35 acres.

"Anyone who would even mention the fact that we shouldn't have bought that land would probably be tarred and feathered and run out of town," Geisler said Monday. "The people of Islamorada have embraced the park as the focal point of our community. Realtors use it to help persuade their clients to buy houses here. Employers use it to attract qualified employees, etc."

That is exactly what Marco officials hope will happen if they buy the almost 7 acres of downtown land Dale Glon is ready to sell to the city for $9.7 million. In a referendum that will be mailed to Marco voters Nov. 20, residents will be asked if they want to buy the 12 lots, and if they are willing to finance the purchase with general obligation bonds.

Collier County Supervisor of Elections Jennifer Edwards will tally the votes on Dec. 9.

Adjacent to the Winn-Dixie, the lots are bordered by Elkcam Circle, Lambert Drive and the Rio Waterway just south of Smokehouse Bay, and would satisfy calls for a community center included in every comprehensive visioning session held on Marco for the past decade.

This past summer, Community Development Director Greg Niles found notes from a Sept. 21, 1995, Marco subcommittee convened two years before incorporation.

Charles Horn, Pat Berry, Betsy Bitner, Lou Carter, Michael Coleman, Kathryn Madison, Judi Nadeau, Betsy Perdichizzi and Robert Stakich polled and surveyed members of 39 island organizations and civic groups and concluded that the island lacked "cohesiveness," partially due to the fact that there is no one "focal point."

About 7 acres of land should be purchased to create a cultural and/or civic center, the group concluded.

It could be used for a number of activities, including an indoor theater for plays, musical productions, lectures and other entertainment; museum space for Marco's archaeological finds and historical displays on loan to Marco; large meeting facilities for civic groups and clubs; a band shell for outdoor concerts; adequate parking for numerous activities occurring at the same time; and a botanical garden.

The city's comprehensive land use plan, completed and approved in 2001 by the Florida Department of Community Affairs, requires Marco officials to "begin efforts to investigate property/space needs for future public and civic uses."

"Rather than wait and see what is left over, the city should think of our public needs at build-out, and acquire such acreage necessary to accommodate projected needs as soon as possible," the plan states.

However, critics of the plan are again using the "blank check" argument that effectively defeated a July 2001 referendum that would have repealed Marco's spending cap.

Marco has a spending cap that prohibits officials from exceeding the previous year's budget by more than 3 percent, plus a cost of living allowance.

While Marco officials cannot say definitively how the land will be used, and had to draft the referendum language with numerous possibilities in mind, critics are using the ambiguity as a weapon.

"Residents read the first version of the referendum language and saw a 'blank check,' with little assurance that green space or a cultural center would ever materialize," wrote Fay Biles, president of the Marco Island Taxpayers' Association, a city watchdog group. "There was even an 'either/or' statement added (to the referendum language) about public or private development. Talk about 'wiggle room.'"

In answer to charges of ambiguity, Parks and Recreation Director Dana Souza said he has consultants researching different ways the city can develop the land into park and public space, should voters decide to buy it, and there would be comprehensive public planning sessions, which would incorporate desires by locals.

When faced with a similar debate, Islamorada officials held a series of charrettes, which are, essentially, marathon design workshops in which officials and residents sit around for hours refining their wish lists.

Despite incredible conflict, a shared vision emerged intact, said Zully Williams, Islamorada's project manager.

"I would say that, for the most part, the community really enjoys the park after that initial debate of whether to buy it. That was the hard part, along with installing the recreational facilities so that families could begin to enjoy it," Williams said Tuesday.

"I think most of the town now really enjoys the park that it's become. ... There is a skate park, pool, basketball and tennis courts, (and) soccer and baseball (is) played almost every evening. Also, there is a vita course that is always being used and the pool is full first thing in the morning ... between 6 and 8 a.m."

As for the green space the property provides, Williams said residents and tourists love it and use it extensively.

"The beach has even become a destination spot for marriages, and parties for children because there are two tot playgrounds next to it, and, of course, it's an incredibly scenic place to be married," Williams said. "Young residents really make use of the park after school; and during the day, there are lots of people walking, jogging, etc."

Islamorada Mayor Chris Sante agrees that it was a good end to a complicated and messy situation, which included a menu of allegations about the intentions of individual council members.

"The old council that was in office (at the time) bought the land with only public workshops to support their idea. The general public, myself included, wanted to vote on a purchase of this size. The other (issue) was that one of the councilmen had a contract on the property next door to the park. This did not sit well with the public," Sante said, referring to former Councilman Frank Kulisky, who ultimately sold his land to the village.

In the end, while some residents were dissatisfied with the means by which the council authorized the purchase, most Islamorada locals are very satisfied that the city prevailed in buying the land, Sante said.

"Almost everyone agrees that the land should have been purchased," he said.

On Friday, Glon's attorney Craig Woodward said a backup buyer is in place should voters decline to authorize the city expenditure. He has a signed contract for $11 million with a $175,000 deposit from a Florida developer, who would use the property as Glon originally intended: a mixed-use, commercial and residential condominium project as permitted under the planned unit development status granted to Glon in 2001.

Islamorada is not the only new community to buy up available tracts of land early on in the process.

Sunny Isles, a beachfront community in northern Miami-Dade County, also incorporated in 1997, and immediately set about purchasing green space for parks, including Gilbert Samson Oceanfront Park on Collins Avenue.

In an assessment of the city's 2003 budget, Sunny Isles City Manager Chris Russo wrote that the single most significant item in the budget is the $33 million multiyear capital improvement program.

"The plan, which includes construction of the new City Hall and police station ... includes beautification, parks, streetscape enhancements, and infrastructure improvements," Russo wrote. "It encompasses the dream and vision that the founders of this city have been striving to achieve."

With the Gilbert Samson park in operation for about two years, Sunny Isles officials are now adding lifeguards so all the residents and visitors who have been enjoying the acquisition can do so safely, Russo wrote.

Geisler said there are always going to be naysayers, but even they are a dying breed in Islamorada.

"Sure, there are a few who still say we should have had a referendum, but these people don't understand the dynamics of what was going on back then. That piece of property was going to be bought by a developer if we had not moved fast. However, even these people are happy with the park. We have lost many other properties because we took too long to act," Geisler said.

His advice to Marco voters: "Tell them to buy it if they can."