It used to be her town. But we must work this out.

The last real top 40 hit from James Taylor was a duet with J.D. Souther. The song “Her Town Too” did not reach that high on the Billboard list in 1981, but many will remember it as a lament about how the familiar sights change after a breakup. It is unclear if it was Carly Simon and Martha’s Vineyard “she gets the house and the garden,” as they divorced in 1983. The story? Every place in the town changes for the girl after the breakup, in what is described as a “small town city.”

The refrain is “It used to be her town” repeated four times, with the last verse changing the pronoun.

It used to be your town

It used to be my town too

Critics called it “merely a catchy, mindless ditty” or a “gently incisive divorce song.” Take a listen yourself to the YouTube live version, and judge for yourself. Son, Ben Taylor, in a 2010 interview with a Norfolk music paper, said it was his father’s insight in putting secret thoughts into the spotlight.

And now we are in the spotlight. The town of Boca Grande looks the same as it did physically before this vote, but it looks very different for two groups of people. And that is sad for both sides, as our fleeting common ground is lost. We hope it is merely a trial separation and not a divorce.

In this imperfect democracy, the five elected officials of Lee County have voted unanimously to restrict parking in Boca Grande. This paper, like the Boca Grande Chamber, has been against this plan since it was first announced. We tried to discuss every concern we could think of for consideration in advance of the vote. We still believe that it was a sledgehammer approach to dealing with a problem, and going forward will be difficult. But Lee County and others saw it differently, and that’s the price of a republic. Blame it on them, if you need to, for sanity. Those petitioning did not vote Tuesday.

That all being said, this ordinance is a fact. We all go forward. The ordinance passed, by elected leaders. For sure, there are 1,000 individuals pleased with the result. People might not realize on island, but we publish for a number of audiences, and our paper goes out across Charlotte County, and wider still with the web. Then, there is a separate audience on Facebook. Those readers also write their news, and have a comment and posting ability far beyond our pages. This is now a major news event. All network affiliates have carried stories on the ordinance. Those stories are not over, and those 15,000 will now go to petition a governor who specifically vetoed our Boca Grande fire truck.

Our businesses could have major challenges ahead. All merchants will need to rethink marketing. As a newspaper, we struggle to address social media hashtags like #boycottbocagrande. People are very, very angry about this, and we need to deal with it.

But participation mattered, and it still matters. It is very helpful that the parking restriction for retail went from two hours to three. It was helpful that the guide docks were amended to general parking. It may not be enough, but every spot helps. It was very helpful that they considered Barrier Island Parks’ volunteers, as that organizations livelihood could be threatened.

Thank you.

Things will change. Already, residents have offered island parking for friends off island. We cannot even imagine the horsetrading that will happen with car guest passes.

There are so many questions ahead. Next week, GIBA will meet. How will they deal with a likely shortfall in revenue? Lee County staff will also figure out how to implement this. Remember that after the hurricane, they could only muster a local permit office for ONE day, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Back to the sadness for many off island. We need to address it as a newspaper, as those are our readers just as much as those on island. Of those people off island, people feel like there has been a death. Many of the people who came to speak are the people the island needs; the beach walkers who come in morning or evening. They are the Jane Jacobs “eyes on the street” that literally leave nothing other than a footprint. 

This ordinance was a massive sledgehammer to fix something that might have been taken care of many, many other ways, and even perhaps incrementally. Many of the issues stem from our distance from Lee County, and our dysfunctional relationship with them, being 90 minutes away. That cannot be fixed now.

This whole escapade brings into question all of the Florida tourism development complex, from VisitFlorida on down. Why are we bothering with room taxes and beach rentals, to run promotions and fill tourism boards, and nourish beaches with sand, and then shut off access? How has this been done without any consideration of how to deal with the blowback? Where is the highly paid public servant staff of the Lee County Convention and Visitor Board to not only help the island deal with this before it happened, but even speak about it publicly? Tamara Piggott we need(ed) you. This is not just a Lee County issue, however. Federal and state money has been used for decades to renourish these public beaches. The feds have a stake in us, too.

There are still many practical questions still unanswered. 

The split here mirrors our own media world today, where there are two camps, us and them. But unlike Fox or MSNBC, this newspaper’s readers are in both camps. We value all of our audiences, and need every one. Like society, we cannot move forward as a community when we are not working together. We must work together, even if some are heartbroken.

The song “Her Town Too” ends with the admission that things had changed for everyone, not just the girlfriend. 

You never know ‘til it all falls down

Somebody loves you

People do love this town, and island. From both sides of the issue. Like the GIBA water supply that comes from aquifers underneath Rotonda West, or the jobs island businesses provide for off island residents, we are all tied together economically, and physically. 

We have to work it out. Messy as it is. Who knows how, but we will, and must. We need to work on this, and save this marriage, however rocky.

One our readers posted on a clipping about a favorite newspaper out west, on her social media. It was not only about talking, but talking together, in person. “We share with our neighbors, and when we can sit, coffee in hand, and learn about the place we call home.”

Garland Pollard is editor of the Boca Beacon. Email your letters to editor@bocabeacon.com.