Road Abandonment Application filed for Melaleuca Street
Once again, an application has been filed with the County Commission to privatize a public road on Duck Key. This time it is for an entire Street….Melaleuca Street on Yacht Club Island, as shown in the attached picture. This application was filed December 4, 2023 by The Bestow Group / Charles and Kristen Currier, and we have now been made aware of it. The application will go to a public session of the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC), which is yet to be scheduled. It is critical, and we strongly encourage all owners, to register their position on the privatization of roads with the Commission by sending an email to our commissioner, David Rice, and all other commissioners, and/or by attending the meeting when it gets scheduled. (We will inform you once a meeting time is set.)
The Duck Key Property Owners Association is on record with the Commission as being unanimously opposed to road privatization and residents have also strongly opposed prior attempts which are on file with the county. (In 2020, over 100 residents voiced their opposition to the attempted privatization of West Seaview Drive. This strong response helped ensure the privatization was rejected by the Commissioners.) DKPOA’s position is that road privatization limits residents freedom of movement on the Island and access to ocean views, that it damages the uniformity of our community, that it can create areas that lack proper maintenance, and that it is fundamentally unfair to all when the county freely transfers valuable and taxpayer-supported land to a few landowners. Moreover, privatizing Melaleuca Street will create a problem for nearby homeowners as cars may be turning around using their driveways when they reach the blocked roadway.
We urgently need your support! Please come out in force on this issue by contacting all of the BOCC! Please email your opposition directly to the BOCC. They do not have viewing rights to NextDoor comments and they will not be recorded as opposition. Email addresses are... rice-david@monroecounty-fl.gov, boccdis1@monroecounty-fl.gov, boccdis3@monroecounty-fl.gov, boccdis5@monroecounty-fl.gov, boccdis2@monroecounty-fl.gov
This is a defining moment for our community! The only way to stop the privatization of our roads is for each resident to send an opposition email or letter and/or attend the BOCC meeting so our community voice is clearly heard.
Thank you for your support.
The DKPOA Board of Directors:
Ron Oestreicher, John Schwarz, Karen White, Jan Anderson, Barbara McKinney, James Bicknell, Josie Vidal, John Wolfe