A Trolley Gone Too Far?

Well, here we go. I’m going to try and take a reasoned approach to an issue that has once again seemed to have fractured our community’s quiet little island. One which could have been resolved months ago in a number of ways. 

The first avenue we could have followed was to have taken Councilors who voted for it over to the Charter Middle School for a remedial math class and used the last referendum vote taken by the residents of the island on this issue as the basis for a quick arithmetic lesson. The people didn’t want the proposal as written then and definitely are opposed to it now. The numbers don’t lie. 

Its splintering effect on the island has been significant and again the width of that fracture has appeared to have widened some, limiting our ability to come to some reasoned discussions, but that blame could be shared amongst a number of folks. 

Another path that might have been taken would have been revisiting the first proposal from two years ago and trying to evaluate the most unpalatable portions of both the old and the resurrected 2024 version and remove those obstacles.  

One of the first areas that bother me as well as a number of folks I hear from deals with the dumping beachgoers off at various locations to access that wonderful natural asset we have. Now I don’t believe we can be overprotective of the beach because no one wants to see the pristine nature of it damaged.  

When we initially spoke about creating those three points of access along Collier Boulevard they were viewed as “neighborhood access points,” recognizing that there were no sanitary or trash facilities in those areas to accommodate a major influx of usage. All you have to do is take a Saturday and join one of the beach clean-up groups that volunteer to clean that marvelous stretch of sand, and you’ll quickly understand the issue that exists today and potentially could become worse. 

It is also a shame that while under county rule the island suffered from a subsequent lack of vision by those planning officials in the driver’s seat. That saw several of the former informal beach access pointsthat existed between some of the condos being built in the 80s and 90s “mysteriously” disappearat the north end of Collier Boulevard. Those points of access were of minimal impact but have been greatly missed by some of those small condos in that area which had historically utilized them. 

Even Helen Keller can see the explosion of growth up Collier Boulevard, and we’d be foolish to think they wouldn’t want to visit this great beach.It is also not unreasonable to think the issue of parking will become a problem if you plan stops at those beach access points without providing adequate places for potential riders to park before taking the magic carpet ride to the beach access point. 

The unintended subsequent impact on businesses such as Publix, CVS, Town Center, Winn Dixie, and others could potentially find their own parking facilities overtaxed as the “trolley” funnels those folks onto a stretch of beach with no bathrooms or other public facilities, leaving them with no options should nature call, in addition to the trash issues which will also be created. 

The other argument I’ve heard bantered about is that businesses need this to bring in customers. The person arguing that point obviously doesn’t go out during season, when the wait to get into many of our great establishments can be well 90 minutes or more. They are bursting at the seams because they have a great product.  

The Collier CAT System is a wonderful asset for many and it certainly assists many of the wonderful workers to get around many of businesses in which they work. Some residents here on the island even utilize it for shopping and medical appointments because they no longer drive. 

I think we’ve all made mistakes in life, including me, and Councilor Blonna is no exception. I would hope he would take a moment to apologize for the slip of the tongue, as I think we may have all erred in that regard at one time or another.  

Yes, the little over $200,000 we’ll spend on the pilot project isn’t a lot of money in the grand scheme of things, but it isn’t chump change, so rather gamble the people’s money in this way I would hope at the September 23 Council Meeting they might reconsider this item if one of the four voting in favor could bring it up for reconsideration.