Commission to come together for Dry Dock meeting

You know the seasons of Longboat Key:

There’s tourist season, then turtle-nesting season, most of which overlaps with hurricane season.

But, there’s another season that you might not have heard about: planning season. It runs from September through June. But the town’s charter prohibits action on site-specific plans during July and August.

Four Longboat Key town commissioners — the number needed for a quorum — agreed to come together one last time for the planning season on June 28 or June 29 to consider an application for a site-plan amendment submitted by Dry Dock Waterfront Grill owner Eric Hammersand. Hammersand wants to enclose the area directly above the restaurant’s existing roof, which is used to cover a portion of its outdoor dining area, and construct and enclose a walkway that will lead from a new elevator. Approval of Hammersand’s request would allow him to add 1,107 square feet to the restaurant, enhancing its waterfront dining, but it wouldn’t change the restaurant’s seating capacity or parking requirements.

The application is scheduled to go before the town’s Planning & Zoning Board at its 9 a.m. Tuesday, June 19 meeting. Town Manager David Bullock told the commission that if it heard the application at its Thursday, June 21 special meeting, the town would have just one day to advertise the plan. The commission discussed the possibility of advertising the hearing in advance, however, the plan that the town would advertise a related hearing could change during the P&Z hearing.

Without the meeting, Hammersand would have had to wait until September to get commission approval, which, according to Mayor Jim Brown, could cause him to miss out on tourist season.

Hammersand sought commission input at an April workshop, during which commissioners encouraged him to file an application.