Club presents counter conditions

Longboat Key Club and Resort officials told the Planning and Zoning Board Friday, Dec. 4 that it has no intentions of agreeing to any conditions for its Islandside project that involve paying the town about $5 million in land acquisition fees or agreeing to an open-ended monetary commitment for a beautification project on Gulf of Mexico Drive.

The comments made by club attorney John Patterson led the Planning and Zoning Board to postpone a decision on the club’s Islandside renovation and expansion project, yet again, Friday, Dec. 4 at Temple Beth Israel until town staff and the applicant can discuss some of the issues with a list of 40 conditions the club was presented just a couple of days ago.

The planning board, which is now headed to a seventh day of hearings on the project 9 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 10, is charged with making a recommendation on the Islandside project to the Town Commission, which is expected to review the project in January or February.

The planning board staff’s recommended list of conditions included at least three conditions that club officials say are deal-breakers.

Those deal-breakers include:

• Ponying up $5 million in land acquisition fees to be used to build a new recreation center at Bayfront Park. Club officials say Arvida already paid those fees.

• The relocation of the Islandside gatehouse and modifications to Longboat Club Road, which must be performed with The Longboat Key Association’s consent because the group owns the road. Club officials say their entire project should not hinge on whether the association agrees to work with them. Although Patterson said the club agrees the gatehouse should be relocated, he said the club should be allowed to keep it where it stands if the association won’t work with the club.

• Agreeing to an open-ended monetary agreement for a beautification project for the south and north entrances to the island and along Gulf of Mexico Drive between them. The club originally offered to offer its design team to work with the town and the Florida Department of Transportation for design purposes only for the southern entrance to Longboat Key.

For more information, about the latest Planning and Zoning Board Islandside hearing, pick up a copy of the Dec. 10 edition of The Longboat Observer.

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected].