Pine Island golf cart hearing scheduled for April 23
To the editor:
The hearing by the County Commissioners to review our draft Pine Island golf cart ordinance will be April 23 at 9:30 a.m. in the County Courthouse.
I hope and expect that by the end of the hearing that day, golf carts will be legal in the villages of St. James City and Bokeelia, as well as the Stringfellow side streets (but not on Stringfellow or Pine Island Roads, or in Matlacha or on the bike path). A valid drivers license will be required and, of course, all of the usual rules of the road will apply to golf carts.
I ask that all Pine Islanders with an interest in the golf cart issue attend the hearing. You are, of course, welcome to speak if you wish (3 minutes max), but I will simply ask all persons in favor of the proposal to stand, and then I will ask all persons opposed to stand. I expect the former to be at or near 100 percent of those present, but dissenters or anyone with additional comments should, of course, exercise their right to speak, and they will be treated with respect.
Please forward this information to all your neighbors with an interest in the golf cart issue and encourage them to attend this hearing.
If you have never been the Lee County Courthouse, you are in for a treat. The building is old Florida all the way, with a courtroom right out of the 1920s (in fact it has been used to film movies of trials set in the 1920s). Give yourself a tour of the historic building after the meeting.
To get there, leave Pine Island at 8:30 a.m. Go Pine Island Road to Pondella Road and then south on 41 across the bridge. Turn right on the cloverleaf at the end of the bridge which will take you east to Monroe Street with the salsa colored parking garage across the street to your left. Park there and walk south to the courthouse. Go to the second floor to the courtroom (also called the Commissioner Chambers). If the traffic was normal, it is now 9:15 a.m. The bathrooms are just down the hall. Get comfortable because the proceedings will start promptly at 9:30 a.m. I don’t know when our issue will come up in the proceedings, and you will probably have to sit through some other business first.
If the ordinance is adopted, join me at some of the usual St. James City waterholes for a celebration when we all get back to Pine Island – if you live inside the village of St. James City (south of St Jude Boulevard), bring your golf cart.
Phil Buchanan
St. James City