Disconnects between our Town leaders and the citizens

Unnecessary stop signs

The commissioners have approved installation of stop signs all over Town in recent years without the required traffic engineering studies. When residents complained about the two newly installed stop signs on Riverside Drive, the commissioners pointed to the machine they temporarily parked in the area that measured the speed of the traffic, which they said recorded speeds as fast as 60 miles an hour. They used this as justification for the new stop signs. The problem was that the machine was recording the speed of the lawn sprinklers when they came on for the house the machine was parked in front of. Once this became published in their own study, the embarrassed commissioners had little choice but to remove the new stop signs on Riverside Drive.

Code changes for special interests

A former mayor has publicly stated that he wants to build a high masonry wall around his house on the corner of A1A to block traffic noise. Another commissioner who runs a short-term rental on Oak Street has had renters complain about the noise from the traffic. The commissioners passed Ordinance 2023-03 on March 15, 2023, creating a special area that permits an otherwise impermissible high wall to be constructed in the area of those two houses along A1A as well as Oak Street.

Last year the commissioners passed Ordinance 2023-02 on March 15, 2023, permitting second kitchens in single-family residences. This code change made it easier for investors to create duplex short-term rentals, which is clearly not in the Town’s best interest. Outraged residents banded together to fight this change and help elect a new mayor and a new commissioner, who succeeded in repealing this insidious ordinance.