After spending the better part of three years gathering dust on a shelf somewhere in the county’s Growth Management Division, documents that outline a potential new master land use plan for Sugarloaf through Little Torch Keys are about to get perused again.
The county started what it calls the Liveable Communi-Keys planning process about three years ago for the Lower Keys area from Saddlebunch to Little Torch.
After several public input sessions and two drafts, the project halted as the Growth Management Division underwent a series of personnel and priority changes.
Last week, Sugarloaf residents asked the county to put the plan back in the pipeline.
“We need to get back on that,” said Christine Hurley, new growth management director. “I have begun the work of getting a status on the Lower Keys LCP. We will come back with neighborhood meetings for updates to the residents” on where we are with that plan.
Hurley said, however, it would realistically be summer before her staff would be able to bring the Lower Keys LCP back to the front burner.
Continue reading ‘Highway tops Sugarloaf concern list’
New procedures for dumping boat
There is an old adage that recounts the happiest days in the life of a boat owner as being “The day you buy it, and the day you get rid of it.”
And sometimes, what happens in between the two leaves the owner so tired of the whole mess that the final stage never officially happens.
Bids hit street for No Name power system
Keys Energy Services last week requested bids for installing electrical conduit on No Name Key bridge that could eventually house commercial power lines for the first time in the island’s storied century-plus history.
The utility is also asking bidders to submit proposals to install an overhead power transmission line system on the island that could eventually supply commercial power to up to 43 homes.
No matter how long I’ve been doing this…surprise
I’ve been driving for a lot of years. More than I care to admit to most of the time.
I can’t say for sure how many miles I’ve logged on my backside, but I can safely say it’s well above average for a non-commercial driver, and probably just under normal for a commercial driver.
I’ve seen a lot of strange stuff across those miles. And I’ve been involved in a lot of strange situations.
I’ve been called out in the middle of the night to pull a law enforcement vehicle out of the sand on a beach with my Jeep because the officer was too embarrassed to call a tow truck. I’ve had trailer axles break and the tires race me down the highway.
I’ve had garages not tighten my lug nuts enough and have the rim fly off the car on the highway. I’ve had water hoses break, fuel pumps quit, tires go flat, points burn through, spark plugs break and all manner of other internal combustion engine chicanery.
But I’ve never seen before what I saw Tuesday night.
Continue reading ‘No matter how long I’ve been doing this…surprise’
Fix Sugarloaf traffic issue early
In less than a year, the state Department of Transportation will begin a resurfacing project that will encompass nearly everything from the east end of Baypoint to the east end of Sugarloaf Key.
For those of us who drive that road on a regular basis, and particularly those who drive that road daily for work or other requirements, the word of a major resurfacing in that area comes as pleasant news.
And make no mistake that anyone who travels that road is appreciative that it will no longer ride like an old-fashioned washboard.
But there are also other issues at work here.
