Applicant agrees to give ZBA another chance

An applicant who was looking for a variance to build a home on a small lot and ended up giving up after the Zoning Board of Adjustment couldn’t get together to hold a meeting has agreed to give the town of Longboat Key another chance.

The couple gave up after they couldn’t get a hearing and ended up putting their lot on the market.
Planning, Zoning, and Building Director Alaina Ray informed Town Manager Dave Bullock in a Jan. 29 email that the applicant has agreed to try again.

“I just had a really nice talk with the couple who decided not to build on Longboat Key because of the ZBA delay,” Ray said. “They read the news articles regarding the changes to the ZBA and they’ve decided to give us another chance.”

Ray said the applicants took their lot off the market and will resubmit a variance request to the town. Ray has already informed ZBA members the hearing will come before them in March or April.

Earlier this month, the Planning and Zoning Board agreed to take on ZBA duties if the board can’t meet and is recommending to the commission that most of the ZBA’s duties be stripped of the ZBA until the town can figure out how to do away with the board altogether.

The ZBA met in January for the first time in more than 10 months and the commission and town staff has expressed frustration with the lack of quorums and how it has affected the ability of zoning applications to be held in a timely manner.

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected].