First off, this post is not for those who do not ride in the rain or the cold, or further than Hooters, or don't have any love bugs on their bike, or shop for all their fashion accessories at HD, and never have to wash their bike because it never gets dirty, or trailer their bikes behind an air conditioned toy hauler that sleeps 10 under a satellite dish powering a 52 inch plasma screen t.v., or think that the word "constitution" is dictated by morning rituals (Is this a run on sentence? Yes! Do I give a damn? No!).
O.K. so that leaves out, oh maybe 96.0325% of Florida "Bikers". Bye, see ya , might I suggest you point your mouse to any link that takes you outa here.
Now for the the 3 or 4 that might be left consider the following:
About Ponte Vedra Beach: Ponte Vedra Beach was 50th on the list of 100 finalists for CNN and Money Magazine's 2005 List of the Best Places to Live. It was the first place in Florida to be named in that year and one of only four areas in the state to make the cut. (Note: ain't that freaking special!)A plan to open a biker bar less than a mile from Nease High School was unanimously rejected Thursday by St. Johns County officials. The bar, which would have been called Iron Maiden Saloon, applied to the county's Planning and Zoning Agency for a special use permit to allow beer and wine sales on the property.
Agency member Dick Williams said he was opposed to the project because it's not compatible with the area. The building, on U.S. 1 south of County Road 210, is not currently in use. It is about 0.8 miles from Nease.
Williams said he received about 100 e-mails from residents who were opposed to the project and that School Board members were out in full force. School Board member Bill Fehling, who represents Ponte Vedra Beach, said the bar would not have fit in well with the area.
Ponte Vedra Beach is an unincorporated seaside community in St. Johns County, Florida, United States, 18 miles (29 km) southeast of downtown Jacksonville and 26 miles north of St. Augustine. It is an upmarket tourist resort best known for its association with golf. It is the home of the ATP Tour, the PGA Tour, and The Players Championship[1] is played at The Tournament Players Club at Sawgrass. Sawgrass is also the new home of The MPS Group Championships, a women's tennis tournament.
The area is known for its resorts including the Ponte Vedra Inn and Club (a AAA five diamond resort), the Lodge and Club (four diamonds), and the Marriott at Sawgrass (three diamonds). It also lies in the fourth wealthiest county in Florida, ranking just behind the Palm Beach and Naples areas. Most of the beaches have limited public access, with the exception of Mickler's Landing and Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve. Golf, tennis, boating and surfing are other popular activities.
Hmmm, did you note that "GOLF" is a popular activity? Any similarities there to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina? Do you see motorcycling listed as a "popular activity"? Has not Myrtle Beach, South Carolina been attempting to rid itself of the annual motorcycle scourge? Is their a message here? Yes there is?
I remember, oh maybe once in my wayward youth, being stoned off my ass and riding my bike through the greens and sand traps of the Fort Lauderdale Country Club on a well moonlit night. And to think we could be riding in Ponte Vedra Beach. Do they have outhouses on the greens? Cause if not........................
In an e-mail he sent to parents and community members before the meeting, he said, "The application indicates that the use will be focused on motorcycle riders with additional grassed areas for overflow parking to accommodate a 'number' of motorcycles."
After the meeting, Fehling said he was relieved that the application was rejected.
"Alcohol, student drivers and motorcycles is a bad combination," Fehling said. "We thought it was too close to the high school. High schools aren't just 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., there are activities there on the nights and weekends."
School Board member Beverly Slough issued an e-mail alert about the application.
"While the applicant technically meets the requirement that liquor sales do not occur within 1,000 feet of a school, the leadership of the school district feels that this establishment is not in the best interest of our students," Slough wrote. "It will generate high traffic patterns during the times that our students come and go for their extracurricular events."
The applicant, Brian Bennett, disagreed. "It's been called a biker bar, but it's a bar," said Bennett. "We're not biker trash or biker scum. "Most people who ride bikes are professional; they have to be. Bikes have gotten expensive. Despite the fact that we are four times the required distance, I really didn't think this would be an issue." Christina Abel can also be reached at (904) 249-4947, ext. 6319.
WHAT???? The applicant "technically meets the requirement"?????? What the hell does that mean???? Would the applicant have been better off to "untechnically" meet the requirement????
Does being a "biker" mean there is some other invisible "hoop" one must hop through in order to be accorded the same rights as the well heeled "Golf Creatures" that populate the "Golden Shores" of Ponte Vedra?
Will this set a precedence (not that it would matter). "Yes we know you abided by all the rules, crossed your t's and dotted your i's and did everything as per ordinance. But ya see boy, we dont like your kind. The rules don't apply to your kind, understand? So git yer ass on that there little motorsickle and ride on out a here."
There is a Moral to this here little story , Yepper! And ya probably ain't gonna like it. But hey, has that ever stop us before? Do we care? Nah!
You see, Bikers been gettin thier asse's whipped by the public's for so long now they seem to have taken a liking to it. Last Florida, legislative session one little Florida Representative, Carlos Lopez-Cantera got HB137 passed that trampled all over bikers rights and did little to nothing to increase the safety or save a life on the killing fields of Florida's highways.
And what did "Bikers" do to stop him? Nothing! Cry a few tears afterward's. But other than that nothing. See Representative Carlos Lopez-Cantera and the Florida Biker population sent the rest of Florida's citizens a message:
"Well hell, you can tromp on them ol bikers rights all ya want to. They gonna threaten to fight ya, but they ain't. They just gonna congregate at their local Hooters and shed a tear in their beer and talk about FREEDOM. So you all just continue treating them any ol way ya want. Won't be long and will have them suckers legislated out of existence. "
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So, you don't like bikers who don't ride like you or look like you. You don't like the people or government of Ponte Vedra Beach. You believe that 98% of those who ride in Florida are not "really bikers" like you. You don't like golf and you don't like the bikers who would have went to the bar but were not permitted to by legislation because they, according to you, simply went to Hooters and "cried".
ReplyDeleteSounds like somebody needs a hug and a big can of "Quit Bitch'n". Boo Hoo somebody didn't get their way, they were denied, it wasn't approved so lets just tell everyone how much is wrong with the city, the government, the bikers, the sport of golf, and god knows what else.
Move the bar to an acceptable location. If it's worth the ride, people will trailer there bikes over to it....after golf of course.
"went to the bar but were not permitted to by legislation because they, according to you, simply went to Hooters and "cried".
ReplyDeleteDon, read the post again the reference to crying over legislation had to do with a number of bikers who bitched after HB137 was passed instead of fighting what became "bad law"!
"Move the bar to an acceptable location"
If the individual wanting to open the bar complied with all existing ordinances as reported in the story, then he has every right to open the bar. To arbitrarily deny him this right is discriminatory and "possibly" litigious.
I looked at your profile. It says you spend a lot of time thinking about motorcycles. Might I suggest you spend some of that time thinking about freedom.
As to how I may look. Yeah my momma had a problem with that to. It's genetic, what can I say.
We do thank you for your comment.