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Wisteria Island development
Posted: May 6, 2007 12:28 pm
by Elrod
When you stand in Mallory Square and look at Tank Island (now Sunset Key), Wisteria Island (aka Christmas Tree Island) is to the right.
Satellite photoof Wisteria Island.
MiamiHerald.com wrote:Wild Key West outpost slated for development
A PRIVATE, WILD ISLAND IS SLATED TO BECOME AN UPSCALE DEVELOPMENT
BY CAMMY CLARK
WISTERIA ISLAND --
This is a tale of two islands, both visible from the pier of Mallory Square.
Sunset Key represents the new Key West, an exclusive resort community with multimillion dollar homes, regular ferry service and taxesto bolster city coffers.
Wisteria Island, nicknamed Christmas Tree Island for its abundance of Australian pines, represents the old -- an unspoiled habitat that became a haven for endangered birds and the homeless, a playground for boat children and kayakers and a place where one local restaurateur hid Easter eggs.
But after decades of leaving Christmas Tree Island as is, the longtime private owners, the Bernstein family, decided to develop the 21 acres of prime real estate. They have partnered with Ocean Properties Ltd., owners of Sunset Key.
more...
Posted: May 6, 2007 12:52 pm
by ragtopW
Posted: May 6, 2007 1:25 pm
by Moonie
How very very very sad.. 
exclusive golf course with who know how many million/billion dollar homes surrounding it...
like Florida doesn't have enough golf courses... 
Posted: May 6, 2007 1:49 pm
by ragtopW
Moonie wrote:How very very very sad..
exclusive golf course with who know how many million/billion dollar homes surrounding it...
like Florida doesn't have enough golf courses...
if you have that much money Lost Wages is just a plane hop away...
Posted: May 7, 2007 1:40 pm
by citcat
shee-it.
Posted: May 7, 2007 1:53 pm
by ToplessRideFL
I hate to see the place being developed...but If I were the owners... I might be a little ticked off about this:
For Cliff Hartman, one of about 100 people who live rent-free on boats anchored at the bay bottom owned by the Bernsteins, the island is a peaceful place for that community to socialize. He also is among those who lived on the island.
''My camp was nice,'' Hartman said. ``I had a big tarp, charter boat chairs, a dresser, kitchen with a spice rack. A nice city trash can washed up with a lid. I carved out a cool couch from a Styrofoam block, putting tiki torches in it. Real Gilligan style.''
Kitchar knows families who raised their kids there, complete with home schooling. Wisteria Island became a refuge for those who lost everything in Hurricane Wilma.
Occasionally police have been called out to break up fights or remove trespassers. In 1994, 81 marijuana plants were found. The grower had rigged a plastic sheet to allow condensation to water the plants.
Hartman said no one has lived on the island for about a year.
But plenty of trash was left behind. Some has been washed ashore, especially by hurricanes.
Posted: May 7, 2007 1:55 pm
by chippewa
ToplessRideFL wrote:I hate to see the place being developed...but If I were the owners... I might be a little ticked off about this...
Saw that, too. I guess there a still a few pirates left in Key West.
Posted: May 7, 2007 1:55 pm
by LaTda!
ToplessRideFL wrote:I hate to see the place being developed...but If I were the owners... I might be a little ticked off about this:
For Cliff Hartman, one of about 100 people who live rent-free on boats anchored at the bay bottom owned by the Bernsteins, the island is a peaceful place for that community to socialize. He also is among those who lived on the island.
''My camp was nice,'' Hartman said. ``I had a big tarp, charter boat chairs, a dresser, kitchen with a spice rack. A nice city trash can washed up with a lid. I carved out a cool couch from a Styrofoam block, putting tiki torches in it. Real Gilligan style.''
Kitchar knows families who raised their kids there, complete with home schooling. Wisteria Island became a refuge for those who lost everything in Hurricane Wilma.
Occasionally police have been called out to break up fights or remove trespassers. In 1994, 81 marijuana plants were found. The grower had rigged a plastic sheet to allow condensation to water the plants.
Hartman said no one has lived on the island for about a year.
But plenty of trash was left behind. Some has been washed ashore, especially by hurricanes.
what has you ticked off about that??
Posted: May 7, 2007 4:02 pm
by CapnK
somebody call Skip Wiley.
Posted: May 7, 2007 4:15 pm
by ToplessRideFL
LaTda! wrote:
what has you ticked off about that??
you own an island.... you take the boat out with a group of friends and you pull up on your island... and you see.... give or take 100 people living on or around it... who dont pay rent, set up camp on your island, leave their trash, raise their families... ALL on YOUR property spoiling paradise and you dont see a dime... yet have to pay the taxes on it, maintain it???? That wouldnt concern you just a bit?
So my thoughts were as long as their paradise was spoiled anyway... they might as well get something for their heartache.
Posted: May 7, 2007 4:24 pm
by rednekkPH
The long and short of it is the island is privately owned, and the owners can do with it as they see fit. I don't think anyone here would want someone coming in to tell them what they should do with their land. I sure as hell wouldn't. If people think it's such a travesty, they should join together to raise the money necessary to purchase the island from its owners - then they can keep it the way they feel it should be kept.
Posted: May 7, 2007 4:35 pm
by Tequila Revenge
Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell.
Ed Abbey
Posted: May 7, 2007 4:36 pm
by Tequila Revenge
They cannot see that growth for the sake of growth is a cancerous madness, that Phoenix and Albuquerque will not be better cities to live in when their populations are doubled again and again. They would never understand that an economic system which can only expand or expire must be false to all that is human.
Ed Abbey
Posted: May 7, 2007 4:58 pm
by Moonie
rednekkPH wrote:The long and short of it is the island is privately owned, and the owners can do with it as they see fit. I don't think anyone here would want someone coming in to tell them what they should do with their land. I sure as hell wouldn't. If people think it's such a travesty, they should join together to raise the money necessary to purchase the island from its owners - then they can keep it the way they feel it should be kept.
the Nature Conservancy does this very thing.....they operate within certain limits. of course.
it would be a very handsome write off to dedicate it to someone like the Nature Conservancy, National Wildlife Federation, the Audubon Society, etc...
land developers/development are Forida's worst nightmare.
the freeloaders shouldn't be there, trashing the place and I don't blame the owners for being upset...
just curious as to how they are planning on developing it...
