Realty Group
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
AUGUST 6,1993 VOLUME 22 NUMBER 32 3 SECTIONS, 40 PAGES isianc REPOK T> I Buoyant girl Drive-thrus S''•.$'?.r "'"**'•« •' ^-•^'••'^'S* ' JJ are banished Council vote unanimous By Ralf Kircher ment after Tuesday's council meet- ing but has inferred in previous StaffDrive-thr Writeru lanes are now banned testimony that McDonald's is will- at restaurants, liquor stores and ing to fight the ordinance in the Lee other food service operations in County courts. Sanibel. Council members have acknowl- The Sanibel City Council's vote edged this inference and, in fact, on the ordinance to bans drive- the prospect of a court battle gave thrus was unanimous; it was called Mayor Mark Westall cause to post- „. '-.'-".-,,• after 11/2 hours of public com- pone final decision on his vote until ment Tuesday evening and was the last minute. met with applause and cheers from The delay in Westall's decision nearly all of the 100 citizens pre- shed light on the intense emotions sent. shared by islanders on both sides But those who did not applaud of the drive-thru issue. the new law may give cause for the After Westall cast his vote, he elation to be short-lived. explained why he disagreed with Steve Hartsell, attorney for McSpoil (McDonald's—Sanibellians McDonald's, would make no com- •please see page 2A Radio jocks give away Egg McMuffins on causeway By MaryJeanne McAward rants provided food for thought for Wednesday morning. McDonald's breakfasts to all. Staff Writer two local radio personalities. The Muckrakers Randy Sherwyn and The pair donned McDonald's The new Sanibel ordinance ban- jocks, in turn, gave the public free Paco Mendez, morning drive-time paper hats worn by burger flippers ning drive-thrus at island restau- eats and entertainment to boot disc jockeys for B103.7 FM—the the world over and waved to vehi- "Killer Bee," were so taken with the cles as Sherwyn, the station's Sanibel City Council's thumbs- music director, manned a pocket- down for drive-thrus, they moved sized GE cellular phone. their morning show to Causeway They wove live chatter, caller's Road in the company van, a scant comments and raucous opinions 12 hours after the new law was from passersby into the show they adopted. usually host in the studio from 6- En route, they stopped at the 10 a.m. each day. McDonald's restaurant on As vehicles pulled into the public McGregor Boulevard and bought access and a smiling Mendez hand- several hundred dollars worth of ed out Egg McMuffins and Egg McMuffins, Breakfast Burritos, Breakfast Burritos, Sherwyn said hamburgers and cheeseburgers. the pair didn't come to the island Sherwyn and Mendez legally to cause trouble. parked the black and yellow Killer "We just wanted to point out Bee van, laden with tasty choles- how ridiculous this is. Four or five terol, close to the Bailey Beach people voted on this. Why not let public access, not far from the the residents decide?" he asked. "Welcome to our Sanctuary Island" However, Sherwyn did seem in (1 to r) Radio personalities Paco Mendez and Randy Sherwyn offer sign. favor of a Sanibel McDonald's. free McDonald's food to all as they broadcast live from the island. On air, they offered free •please see page 2A New sign ordinance passes By Ralf Kircher diate stumbling block when Staff Writer Council member Jerry Muench After six hearings, 10 drafts, 66 began the hearing by questioning pages and one second reading, an the new rules concerning the size, ordinance re-regulating all private height and lighting of businesses island signs was unanimously signs. adopted by the Sanibel City "My question is, why are we Council Tuesday. doing this?" he asked, noting that Immediately after passage, coun- 108 business signs would be cil members asked city staff to affected by the ordinance. "Have we draft a "glitch ordinance," which ever had a complaint on signs will begin amending the sign ordi- besides the number?" nance and patching unforeseen His question turned rhetorical, loopholes. as no answer was provided. The first of these glitch ordi- However, explanations of the new nances will change the size of a regulations were. resort beach sign support to allow "A smaller sign that is law-abid- for a four-by-four-foot wooden ing will look less junky," Code post. Planning Director Bruce Enforcement Officer Dick Baker Rogers referred to the number now said. cited in the ordinance "a mathe- "I'm worried about people being matical error." •f. hit by signage on Periwinkle," said Reporter Ralf Kircher spends an unforgettable day being pam- The second reading hit an imme- •please see page 2A pered at an island spa. For story and photos, please see page 8A. 1 "<• 2A • AUGUSTS, 1993 • ISLAND REPORTER While most spoke in favor of the ordinance, would have enabled the company to build a •from page 1A island resident and founder of Make Sanibel fast-food restaurant with a drive-thru on Protecting Our Island Lifestyle) president Dick Naked (MkNaked), Steve Greenstein, railed out Periwinkle Way. Walsh that the drive-thru issue was "not an at islanders and their tactics of their fight "Unfortunately, this is not an objective analy- emotional one." against McDonald's. sis of issues," Hartsell said. "It's a subterfuge, "I'm in favor of [the ordinance], but it is "We are by nature hateful, bigoted and dis- designed to stop one restaurant." important why I am concerned," Westall said. criminatory," he said to hisses and grumbles Council members, planning commissioners "We have a. right to self-determination, but we from the crowd. "One thing we all share is fear. and members of the group McSpoil have contin- don't want government getting to the point that My fear is that we will live in a...bastion of ually maintained that the ordinance is not says to an individual, 'We don't like you,' or yes, hatred. aimed at any particular restaurant or fast-food we like you.'" "The real issue is fast food. When everyone is chain. Westall related the fact that a volunteer of an waiting in line a half hour, they're all going to "It is very clear this has not been designed to organization of which he is a board member complain and say 'We should have had a drive- prohibit any one company from coming here," resigned after the mayor expressed indecision at thru.'" McSpoil president Walsh noted. the first reading of the ordinance. He also told Greenstein's remarks inflamed the crowd. Hartsell urged the council members to Take the audience of a rumor which said his guided Island resident Al Ackerman stood at the the courageous position: address these issues canoe tour company would stand to make a podium and pointed his cane at Greenstein. through the conditional use (permitting] pro- great deal of money if a McDonald's were on the Adding fuel to the fire was McDonald's attor- cess." island. ney Hartsell's arguments which immediately fol- The council members, however, listened to "That's ridiculous," he said. lowed Greenstein. the voice of the masses. He went on, describing his disillusionment Although Hartsell's comments were worded in "We have to represent the people," Council with island residents who have spent so much the less-inflammatory tongue of legalese, he met member Jerry Muench said. "People should not time, energy and money battling drive-thrus with no greater approval. ridicule or shame us if we want to keep our when they could have been fighting for a better Hartsell cited "broad-reaching effects that island the way it Is." environment all along. haven't been explored" and said it "underscores Muench's peers present Tuesday agreed. "We are constantly hearing about this being a how ill-conceived this ordinance really is." "The main issue is preservation of character," sanctuary island," he said. "I think 'Ding' Hartsell took issue with the Tampa Bay Council member Wally Kain said. Darling would be rolling over in his grave if he Engineering report, which was contracted by the And Council member Bob Janes said he was saw how some of this island has been devel- city after th.e ordinance was drafted and sup- "still convinced drive-thrus will exacerbate the oped. ports a drive-thru ban. He argued the report mess on Periwinkle Way." "Let's take this energy that we've seen with point-by-point, refuting the assumptions, ques- Council member Daphne Miller was absent the drive-thru issue [and] keep it going and tioning the data and criticizing the analysis. for the hearing Tuesday but at the first hearing apply it to the environment." Proposed in February, the ordinance was two weeks ago, assured fellow members of her The overwhelming majority of the public com- drafted shortly after the McDonald Corporation support of the ordinance. mentary supported the ban. applied for a conditional use permit which The ban goes into effect immediately. One island woman spoke in whispers, impas- sioned to the point of inaudibility. "What you -MCMUFFIN "McSpoil is a vocal minority said workers police the general will have [if the ordinance does not pass] is •from page 1A of people with nothing else to area of the restaurant and lit- nothing more than a corporate gang rape," she "There needs to be a place do," she said. "They have the ter is not a problem. said. for a decent meal for a young time to go to meetings." He said his favorite McSpoil member and part-time Sanibel resi- family," he said.