Good afternoon.

One of the duties of being a founding president is to be a font of oral history. Herewith, a brief gurgle from that font:

I had already been in Naples for a couple of years when H. Milton Link – a landscape architect from Ft. Lauderdale who had also been an assistant city manager at Miami beach -- and his financial backer, Mr. Julio Lobo the Cuban sugar king, purchased a southern section of what was then called the Crayton tract from Mrs. E.W.Crayton (hence Crayton road) for development of the Moorings. By the way – when Milton and Mr. Lobo finished here in the 70s, they moved on to Vero beach where you will find the “son of” the Moorings!

When the earliest settlement of Naples began in the mid 1880s with what was titled “the town of Naples” -- not an incorporated community (that wouldn’t come until the mid 1920’s) but rather a typical, Florida real estate development project, its plan laid out all east-west avenues to dead end into “gulf street”. Gulf Street was the western most north-south street in the plan and ran along the gulf beach. Gulf Street was never paved and today is still on the beach and out into the water at places as a result of erosion. But Gulf Street is the legal basis for Naples’ “public” beach as it gives to the public access via public streets to the public lands by law found at the water’s edge, as opposed to other cities like Miami beach where most places you must trespass over private land to reach the beach. That Naples design is in place from about 21st Avenue South, N orth to the Beach Club. (Naples Beach Hotel and Golf Club)

When Coquina Sands was designed and developed in the ‘50s, a compromise to that plan was reached because the esthetic desire was to have curving streets instead of a grid design and also because there was a natural bay in its northern portion which cut the beach off from the interior. So instead, a beachfront tract equal to the amount of land that would have been given for street rights of way to the waters’ edge was given by the developers to the city. That is today’s Lowdermilk Park, named for the city manager of that time.

When shortly thereafter, Mr. link brought forth the plan for the first two moorings units – from Coquina to Bow Line Dr, divided by Crayton Rd. – the same concept was proposed but instead of the beach park being dedicated to the general public, it was to be dedicated to the public residing around it … that is the residents of the moorings.

This association was created for the purpose of holding title to that beach and Milton asked me to be president. I had started building a house at 685 Bow Line Drive in 1959 and moved into it in 1960.

The first and toughest problem the association faced once we were chartered was the reality that, as a beach property owner, we had taxes to pay – big taxes. Taxes it was unlikely that dues could cover.

Happily, a creative solution was negotiated with then tax assessor Sam Colding. That solution was for the value of the beachfront park to be apportioned over the entire development since all the residents benefited, as their property was more valuable because of the park. Accounting for the value of the park this way relieved the association from being liable for the taxes on it.

That solution preserved the beachfront park for the residents and I am sure also preserved this association, for I am certain neither could have survived the financial burden had it not been reached.

So you have my tale.

I am delighted to be with you today and to share this anniversary with you!