65 Feet: Is it high enough?

After about a year of deliberations about building height on Longboat Key, the Town Commission is heading toward a vote that would keep the maximum at 65 feet above elevation, which is currently the town’s standard.

At a meeting in February, the Planning and Zoning Board approved an ordinance that would have allowed additional height — up to 80 feet over elevation — for new buildings, as long as buildings were set back 2.5 times the height of the building from Gulf of Mexico Drive. In other words, an 80-foot building would have to be no closer than 200 feet from GMD.

But at a workshop last week, the Town Commission rejected that 80-foot recommendation and returned to the 65-foot benchmark. The ordinance will have its first reading and public hearing at the May 1 Town Commission meeting.*

“I have never heard a criticism of the 65-foot number,” said Commissioner George Spoll, who also serves as the president of the Federation of Longboat Key Condominiums. “But I’ve heard an incredible amount of pressure on going to 80 feet.”

Spoll’s sentiment was supported by recently re-elected Commissioner Jack Daly, who spoke of hearing the concerns of the public while campaigning. He said voters questioned whether increasing the town’s height limit is necessary.

“I share their concerns,” Daly said.

One of the central issues driving the discussion is a feeling around the Key of avoiding a so-called “canyon effect” of tall buildings close to the town’s main north-south artery. Throughout the election campaign, during which Unicorp Developments Inc. proposed a revamped Colony Beach & Tennis Resort with taller than existing structures, residents spoke up about building heights and the character of the community.

Former Commissioner Pat Zunz addressed the commission, stressing the height regulations in question do not include the base heights required by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, adding the actual height can be deceiving.

“In reality, you’re talking about 80 feet and 95 feet,” she said. “That’s very different.”

Planning, Zoning and Building Director Alaina Ray explained that the first residential level on new construction along GMD must be built about 14 feet above ground because of existing flood laws. The first story cannot house living space, but can be used for parking and storage.

The required height of the first story is based on the property’s relation to the mean high waterline, Ray said, so the necessary height varies depending on what section of the island the property is being built.

Ray confirmed that height regulations, regardless of whether the limit is 65 feet or 80 feet, does not take into account this non-livable first story.

Though the height limit has been decreased by the commission, Ray said the ordinance will still require buildings be set back 2.5 times the height of the building from GMD.

The Planning and Zoning Board’s 80-foot recommendation came as part of the conclusion of about a year of discussions about planned-unit developments, or PUDs, which are designed to encourage redevelopment of old properties through a voluntary zoning process.

The ordinance also includes adding more distance from neighboring properties and providing plans to show no effects on the shadowing from taller buildings, planting vegetation to minimize the “canyon effect” from GMD, and even a determination from the Town Commission that the proposal is “consistent with the character of the surrounding area.”

Ray added that, under the proposed PUD process, developers would be allowed to redevelop buildings up to their existing heights, meaning a building that is 120 feet could be rebuilt to that same height.

However, any additional buildings on the property would need to comply with the 65-foot height limit, Ray said.

*The original date of first reading and public hearing was April 3. It has been postponed to May 1 due to an advertising error. Click here for the full story.