An Old Key West Walking lane needs your help! Tucked away in Bahama Village, Mickens Lane beyond the paved street area, has been a narrow walking lane ever since it existed. It used to be a green oasis, overgrown by trees, unpaved and typical Old Key West-please help us save it !!! The lane is still home to families with children, local artists, musicians and many have lived here for decades.

As in so many instances on this island, Real Estate Developers are trying to take control over our beloved walking path and turn it into someone’s driveway - someone who does not live on the lane and has ample off street parking at their actual address. Due to a 90 degree angle, motorized vehicles would obviously be an huge safety concern but it would also considerably affect our way of life and everyone commuting through here. Who on earth needs a 3rd (or is it 4th) parking space at the expense of an entire neighborhood?!  And the main question is - why is the City supporting this? Why is noone listening to an entire neighborhood?

The entire lane's opposition was brought to our City's attention over 9 months ago, and repeatedly after that, after a local contractor illegally took down a historic protected City wall on City property, without a permit, and in direct violation to the Certificate of Appropriateness the City issued. 

This illegal demolition that should have been stopped in its early tracks spiraled into endless discussions about changing the historically pedestrian status of our lane, removing the historic wall altogether, widening the lane and paving it over. Instead of holding them accountable, the City's Code Compliance Department has been turning a blind eye to even the most obvious violations, including endangering neighborhood children by leaving a filled pool unsecured with a 2 foot wide opening directly onto a City Right of Way for several months. Neighbors were threatened for calling Code, then legally threatened by a local law firm that is directly tied to the violating property’s owner, with fabricated accusations. 

We know many on this island have had a similar experiences of being silenced and it is time to speak up!!! Our lane is just one of many examples of what is happening everywhere on the island. 

Join us in expressing how tired we are of the rich vs working class divide that this creates - we deserve a voice (and safety) too! Our lane should have remained untouched had the City actually enforced its own Ordinances and applied its own laws as they would for anyone else! 

For months we have been trying to get the following answers from the City:

• Why there was no Stop Work Order issued immediately upon a private entity altering a City property, until all questions and concerns were addressed? 
• Who signed off on additional, different plans that showed up later and are going against the issued Certificate of Appropriateness?
• Why was no official process involved in those modified plans and why were they not subject to a new COA and Public Input?
• Why were residents asked to leave City Hall when requesting Public Records?
• Why was the Contractor doing illegal work notified every single time prior to the instances where Code did show up? 
• Why are the violating owners' names not even mentioned in any Code Complaints, when those calling Code are named in detail? 
• Why does the City's Etrakit system use the previous owners' name as Contacts instead of the updated ones? And why has it still not been amended? 
• Why has the illegal demolition, and refusal to rebuilt the historic wall, still not been subject to the regular Code Compliance Hearing and Special Magistrate procedures with a clear timeline, as would have been the case for any other property owner and/or contractor?
• Why does the City not apply its own ordinances to everyone equally?

Please sign this petition and share your own experience in the comments - WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! Help spread the word. Talk to your neighbors. Post on social media.

One Human Family means EQUALITY for all. With a brand-new City Manager on board and the support of some amazing Commissioners, now is the time for the voices of the actual PEOPLE to be heard!