Much ado about nothing

Historic City News has been following, with interest, as the City of St Augustine staff and commission members are being asked by a few vocal residents to intrude on the property rights of a local hotel operator who has built a permitted fence separating her commercial property on Dolphin Drive from pedestrian traffic along Anastasia Boulevard.

The residents say they don’t like the recent appearance of the fence. Initially, the complaint lodged against the fence, and a recurring theme in some derogatory comments that have been posted on the Internet, is that the fence infringes on a historic vista that the public is entitled to enjoy.

One resident, Ray Dominey, who has publicly expressed his opinions against allowing the fence to stand, wrote “I’m sure that the Whetstone’s believe that they have the right to build a fence and in fact, I agree, they do!”

There was a dispute, previously reported by Historic City News, concerning the location of the fence posts that defined the fence line. Dominey wrote in a comment on our website, www.historiccity.com, “I do believe that (they) have the right to build a fence on their property but not on the FDOT easement to the Bridge of Lions.” Since the most recent survey of the state and private property, the fence was moved — it only involved a matter of inches, but was addressed by the property owner.

Another criticism advanced by Deane Newsome, who has created a facebook group to call others to action, instructing readers to phone and e-mail city commissioners and staff and to attend commission meetings, en masse, to “mince the fence”, complains that the fence is ugly.

Ostensibly, he would rather see a wrought iron or other decorative, more transparent fence in its place — but his criticism has been taken to another level; calling for a boycott of other businesses in which the hotel owner has a financial interest, picketing, etc., which some readers have opined makes his motives and intentions suspect; or even malicious.

Regardless, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” seems to be the position of the St Augustine Building Department who issued a permit; properly sought and allowing construction of the fence.

Historic City News editor Michael Gold went to the site on two occasions to obtain photographs of the construction in an effort to document any validity to the complaints. The first photographs documented the disputed location of the fence posts, however, another set of photographs obtained Friday, indicates that the corrections called for by the latest survey have been made.

And what about that view?

In the most recent photographs, included in this article, it appears that there are not one, but two or more visual barriers to the view before you get to the Anchorage Inn fence — and they were installed by the State of Florida.

In addition to street signs around the approach to the Bridge of Lions, and a pair of state-approved memorial markers, the Florida Department of Transportation’s contractor installed thickets of sawgrass along the roadway, which stands roof-high for most passing vehicles.

Further, the pictures reveal a solid, masonry wall; between the sawgrass, sidewalks, and the present fence. At some locations approaching the Bridge of Lions, the masonry wall is actually taller that the fence as viewed from vehicle-level. The height of the solid, masonry wall, at one point, is more than three-feet above the wooden privacy fence.

The City Manager, John Regan, approached the owner of the property last week through a letter obtained by Historic City News. It is professional, courteous, and asks for the property owner to meet with him to discuss the fence — but, does it imply that there will be consequences if the owner, Virginia Whetstone, doesn’t voluntarily comply?

A copy of the letter was forwarded to the Assistant City Manager, the Mayor, the other commissioners, and, of course, the City Attorney, Ronald W. Brown. The arguments have taken on another tone, recently — opponents are sabre rattling, but remain couched in a position that there is a difference between what legally can be done and what should be done. When it comes to property rights, as with most other commercial decisions, what legally can be done is what will be done.

To expect otherwise appears ill advised by the Whetstones, and local taxpayers who have expressed support for the fence — even if they, personally, would have made a different selection of materials. Their fear is the cost of further litigation between the City and the property owner — especially if the property owner has the legal right to build the fence.

Photo credits: © 2013 Historic City News staff photographer