Nicole Himmeroeder likes the idea of sidewalks in Indialantic. In lots of places throughout the country, it would be unheard of not to have sidewalks.
“I’d like to see sidewalks on 7th Avenue, my street,” she said. And on 4th Street, 6th Street and beach access roads.
But in Indialantic, Himmeroeder’s views are probably in the minority. Many residents believe that sidewalks – with few exceptions – will destroy the nature of the town.
Whether Indialantic opts to increase the number of sidewalks could be decided April 12 when the City Council will wrestle with the results of a sidewalk master plan developed after a forum on the subject in December.
“Council can either accept their recommendation or make changes to it. My guess is it will be modified and then voted on,” Mayor Dave Berkman said.
Lee Guthrie attended the forum. “I don’t think every street needs a sidewalk, as this is an established neighborhood with mature landscaping,” she said. “I believe sidewalks could potentially add to problems with drainage into the lagoon.”
Residents like Himmeroeder understand the reticence even if she disagrees to an extent.
“They do not want sidewalks because they think you’re taking away the part of their yard that they don’t own,” she said.
Indeed, the lawns on many homes go to the street edge, but the portion closest to the street is not owned by the homeowner. Rather it is a public right of way. Still, Berkman says tradition in Indialantic is a powerful thing when it comes to sidewalks.
“This town was laid out a very long time ago, and they didn’t include sidewalks for some reason,” he said. “Residents’ use their own property and the easement to the street. Folks don’t want to give up the easement and pave it. People supporting sidewalks are far out-numbered by those who don’t want them.”
Guthrie doesn’t want sidewalks on Melbourne Avenue, where she resides.
But she believes nearby Shannon Avenue could benefit. “It is a busy street and it would just be completing what already exists on Shannon. And the street drains into a drainage system so I don’t think the water into the lagoon is as much of a factor.”
She would not mind more sidewalks in the downtown area around Fifth Avenue, either. “Sidewalks might help encourage customer traffic for the merchants, although I think as developers and merchants improve properties, they should be required to make improvements to parking, landscape and sidewalks.”
Vinnie Taranto Jr. agrees adding sidewalks to the commercial areas like 4th Avenue and 6th Avenue makes sense to increase foot traffic on roads that “see a higher level of vehicle traffic. The uniformity of having continuous sidewalks in the business district would also improve its curb appeal in my opinion,” he said.
In some places now, there are sections of sidewalk that end abruptly and do not lead to any destination.
The forum, funded by the state Department of Economic Opportunity through a $15,000 community planning technical assistance grant, helped set sidewalk priorities.
“Over the years, what we’ve done is interconnect the existing sidewalks to have more of a network so people could use them,” said Indialantic Town Manager Christopher Chinault. “We’ve done eight different linkages recently but they are bits and pieces. This is a much larger goal.”
The more immediate priorities spelled out in the master plan include sidewalks from South Palm Avenue to Fifth Avenue; Gross Pointe to North Palm Avenue; Beach access roads like Watson Drive and Tampa Avenue; and Sixth Avenue.
“The plan lets citizens know that someday there could be sidewalks in their neighborhoods, which will be good for some and not as positive for others,” Chinault said.
Even if the town had unanimous support for sidewalks, funding could be a holdup. “This is simply a plan to see what we might fund in the future,” Berkman said. “People who have small kids and want sidewalks now probably won’t see them in time for their kids to use them.”
Councilwoman Mary Jo Kilcullen said sidewalks on certain streets could enhance walkability and safety for the young and old. But there’s another problem: stormwater infrastructure.
“The town’s stormwater infrastructure plans are more than 26 years old,” she said. “Adding sidewalks that may be required to be removed and replaced if aging infrastructure beneath them needs to be accessed for repairs or upgrades may not be a wise use of tax dollars.”
For Taranto, too many people want to keep Indialantic just as it is.
“As a town, we’ve talked about safety as a goal. I don’t think anyone would argue against the importance of safety, especially for children, but people move to Indialantic because they feel it’s already safe. From what I’ve heard, a majority of the residents are concerned town-wide sidewalks would detract from that,” Taranto said.
Add to that the concern that sidewalks don’t look good on many of the small streets that populate the town.
“I’d have a hard time informing a resident who lives on a narrow road that their taxes are going up and they’re going to lose a large percentage of what visually appears as their yard without exhausting all other options,” Taranto said.
Staff writer George White contributed to this report.
