EDITOR'S NOTE: A group of SaltPonds Condominium owners continue to protest the planned construction of a 2,000-square-foot open air bar and restaurant next door at Sunrise Suites— 128 have signed a petition opposing the project. The State Dept. of Community Affairs has ordered that work be stopped on the project pending a public hearing.
But, according to SaltPonds Condo residents, workmen are "sneaking" in to continue to work on the project. Douglas De Hanas, a member of the board of the SaltPonds Condo, wrote the following guest commentary.
Why does the City of Key West ignore ongoing construction of the Sunrise Suites tourist bar and restaurant? Why does Code Enforcement allow this? Does a stop work order mean nothing? Continuing work on the site is an affront to law-abiding citizens and common decency.
Rebecca Jetton of the Florida Dept. of Community Affairs (DCA) has stated unequivocally that the building permit is illegal. It should have never been issued in the first place. City Building official Catherine Harding had no right to issue the permit. City Planner Ty Symroski had no right to ask her to do it. And the developers knew better.
All of the members of this conspiracy knew that the bar and restaurant would be offensive to the residents of the SaltPonds Condominium. This is not a commercial location. It is residential.
We don't want a bar and restaurant of any size here. We don't want a big one. We don't want a little one. We don't want the noise. We don't want the drunks. We don't want the debris. We don't want the smell. And we don't want to suffer reduced property values.
We don't want any of that. Period!
The legal opinion of Attorney Karen Cabanas of Morgan & Hendrick, the SaltPonds Condo Association's law firm, states that the tourist bar and restaurant is illegal. How, then, does the developer of Sunrise Suites get away with continuing to work on the project. Yes, work is continuing!
Developer Bob Tracy is president of the Salt Ponds Preservation Alliance. Does he seek to further exploit the Salt Ponds by selling booze to tourists who will further rape this environmentally-sensitive area.
Last month, Damon Leard, Tracy's partner, claimed that the SaltPonds Condo residents wanted the bar and restaurant. Obviously, his "feasibility study" was badly flawed.
Each City Commissioner we have spoken to has said, "I wouldn't want that bar next to my home!" We suggest that the developers find a nice commercial location for their bar. We don't want it!
The residents of SaltPonds Condominium were never told that this tourist bar and restaurant was going in next to us. Not by SaltPonds developer Bob Butler and not by the brokers, Harper & Harper. This has come as a big ugly surprise.
SaltPonds Condominium residents don't want a tourist bar in their front yard. And we want the foundation removed immediately!
Each City Commissioner and the Mayor has received a copy of our petition of opposition, signed by 98 percent of the SaltPonds residents contacted. We plead for their continued support.