Local support for our tourism ‘commons’
In the English tradition, there is the common. Not common as an adjective, as in ordinary, but the “common” as a noun, as in the places that we all own together, as a public. Many here on Gasparilla Island and Little Gasparilla and in Cape Haze are from New England and are familiar with our own town commons. Southern towns had a common too, but it was a slightly different tradition, as the society was organized as an agricultural one. People needed a larger town square to gather from a distance, more of a courthouse square approach, a tradition that Florida inherited. In the West, these traditions were slightly different, all very much dependent on the first settlers who came and planned the towns.
Internationally, these public squares took on different names and functions, according to the society. In Persia there was the mayden or maiden. In Spain there is the plaza, and in Italy the piazza. When we come to the Americas, the traditions were mostly borrowed from England, Spain or Portugal. On island, our commons are the state and local parks, lighthouses and public places such as Gilchrist Avenue and our beach access points.
As traditions of the commons carried over into America, towns had a mixture of public and private spaces, where different sorts of activities were expected. There was the churchyard, the market and some sort of greens. Even here we have churchyard gardens, open to all.
We are lucky in Boca Grande to have had as one of our early town planners the Olmsted Brothers firm, which laid out the greatest public spaces of American history, including New York’s Central Park. While not all of that plan was achieved (see our feature in Gasparilla Island Magazine of January/February 2024), the plan is essentially in place.
In all cases, the commons are owned by all of us, as citizens, in a complex web of expectations and management. Unlike old England, there is no manorial or feudal expectation that others own the property and need to be begged to make any use of it. The property is ours, and the government is there as a servant and sort of “hall monitor” to help make the commons profitable to all, especially when there are competing needs or interests, like fishing or beach parking, or tennis and pickleball.
On Gasparilla Island there are a number of guardians of these public commons, and all of them have slightly different missions. There are the public spaces of Lee County, some maintained by Lee County Parks and Recreation and others by Lee County in general, through the Sheriff’s Office. Through the years, locals have added to common areas, creating public assets like the Pink Elephant docks. Tying it all together are the near 300 acres of conservation land and the bike trail maintained by the Gasparilla Island Conservation and Improvement Association. That right of way began as a public utility, the CSX railroad.
There are the state park lands assisted by the Barrier Island Parks Society (BIPS) on behalf of the United States Coast Guard and its agency, the Department of Homeland Security, as well as Florida State Parks.
This year, the Green Gala will be back as a benefit party for BIPS on Monday, March 25. The Society was unable to have its gala during the Covid pandemic and then after Hurricane Ian.
The role of BIPS is essential, and other agencies also help preserve our tourism commons for not only the residents here, but for Floridians in general (who own these public spaces in common with us). They not only help to preserve our assets, but their volunteers and staff ensure a future for them through engagement and income.
Recently, tourism signage and landscaping was updated at the Range Light. The light itself is a directional way-finder for ships that never stop in Boca Grande, but the interpretive signs are just as critical. They help educate visiting families as to what they are seeing, both in nature and the history of the island. They pay double dividends, in that they give us an elevated commons to utilize on our walks, with paths and good landscaping. But they also have a hidden mission: to direct the short-term visitor to do certain things that preserve those commons, e.g., keeping off the dunes.
The quality of the landscaping around the two lights is high. Good tourism infrastructure helps to tell people what to do, rather than what they cannot do. We all have a bit of the child in us, and as any parent knows, you get a better result when you model good behavior. People will mostly follow expectations through wayfinding. Ditto with the Bike Path and the pocket parks and wetlands across the island managed by the GICIA. Always, it’s better to lead people, because others follow suit.
But there are other common areas used by our visitors that deserve interpretive attention. One such area is Placida, where Charlotte County has placed dozens of NO PARKING signs along Placida Road, to keep Saturday boaters away from the road. The signs are ugly, far too tall and the problem could be managed in far better ways than through the Sheriff’s office. In spite of the numerous public amenities around Placida, there is no sense of place there.
An approach like the one BIPS uses would be welcome there, to guide people properly, particularly as the Placida Park expands to have kayak launches and other amenities.
BIPS does things for Florida State Parks that state parks cannot do. Bureaucrats are challenged by finding or motivating volunteers, or in some cases, designing interpretive signage.
This is the principle of subsidiarity, namely the enabling of decision- making where it best resides. Local and state parks have a larger infrastructure and economies of scale. We need them. But local groups make sure this commons works in smaller ways.
The late Sir Roger Scruton described subsidiarity as the “absolute right of local communities to take decisions for themselves, including the decision to surrender the matter to a larger forum. Subsidiarity places an absolute brake upon centralizing powers by permitting their involvement only when requested.”
Garland Pollard is the editor of the Boca Beacon. We welcome letters, essays and your insights on local issues. Email editor@bocabeacon.com
