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Letter to the editor

Deadline for Snack Shack petition is Monday

By SHEILA MULLANE ESTRADA
Published June 20, 2007

The fate of the Snack Shack at Archibald Park may well be decided Monday, the deadline for organizers to turn in additional petition signatures forcing the city to preserve the 1930s-era log cabin.

Petition organizer Eddie Lee said Tuesday he is confident that enough signatures will be gathered throughout the rest of this week to force the city to either pass an ordinance protecting the historic building or let the voters decide its future in a citywide referendum.

The group needs 272 more signatures to get to the 833 signatures of registered voters required under the city charter to force the City Commission to act.

"I am overwhelmed by the response we have received, " Lee said. "People have turned out in great numbers. My phone is ringing off the hook with people wanting to sign the petition. I just wish the commission would consider the will of the people."

If they are not successful, a majority of the commission recently indicated that the building will be torn down.

Lee says he has collected about 130 of those names. He and other Snack Shack supporters will canvass neighborhoods Saturday and Sunday to collect more signatures.

Petitions will also be available beginning Wednesday for people to sign at various locations throughout the city, including outside the city library and the post office, Lee said.

Lee called the charter requirement for 25 percent of registered city voters "punitive, " particularly since only 10 percent of voters are needed to change the charter itself or recall elected officials.

Lee said he is also making sure that all new signatures are properly witnessed, as required by the charter, and that each petition is accompanied by a full copy of the proposed ordinance.

At the same time, Lee admits that if the group does not gather the required 833 validated signatures of city voters, "It will make it very, very difficult to keep the Snack Shack."

"Our petition drive has not failed, " Lee stressed, rebutting a comment made by Mayor Charles Parker at a recent commission meeting. Parker also said he wants to "tear down the building as soon as possible."

Support for the Snack Shack exploded in April, just weeks before the City Commission planned to demolish the building, which is now gutted and boarded up following the failure of a planned renovation to turn it into a destination restaurant.

That project was stopped by the U.S. Department of Interior, which originally deeded the beach park to the city and still governs how it and the log cabin can be used.

A subsequent lawsuit by the restaurant developer ended when the city paid him a $500, 000 settlement.

"We citizens have already paid very dearly for this building, " said Lee.

He would like to see the Snack Shack used for a variety of public uses including a meeting place for veterans, civic groups and events, weddings, recreation and more.

Complicating any future use of the building and the park is the insistence of the family of the original land donors that the park cannot be used for any commercial purposes, including the selling of food and drinks to beachgoers. That view is disputed by both the city and the federal government.

[Last modified June 20, 2007, 07:09:23]