Company shows naked ambition

APRIL FOOLS —

The Colony Beach & Tennis Resort’s white knight may have arrived — only he is not exactly dressed in white. He may not be dressed at all.

The operators of three successful nudist colonies in Pasco County have submitted a proposal to the Colony Beach & Tennis Association Board of Directors and Colony owner Dr. Murray “Murf” Klauber, and apparently it is getting serious consideration.

With Klauber and the association board and the board’s developer, Club Holdings Inc., unable to reach a settlement to redevelop the tennis resort, Klauber told the Longboat Observer Monday the operators of the nudist colonies have submitted a serious proposal to convert the storied tennis resort to “The Nudist Colony Beach & Tennis Resort.”

“The name is perfect,” said a company representative. “We only have to make minimal changes to the resort’s current sign.” 

The nudist colony operators said they would offer Klauber and his mortgage holder, Colony Lender, $25.7 million and an additional $200,000 for each unit owner to acquire all of the 18-acre property and 237 resort units.

Representatives of NudistFLA LLC, based in Trojantown in Pasco County, told Klauber and the association board in a letter they have the financing in place to redevelop the resort and maintain its 237 tourist units.
A spokesman for NudistFLA could not be reached for comment.

NudistFLA is one of a handful of nudist resort operators in Pasco County, which is north of Tampa. There also are more than a dozen clothing-free communities throughout Florida, as well as six nude beaches and 10 naturist resorts. The Nudist Colony would be the first nudist colony south of Tampa.

NudistFLA said in its letter “time is of the essence” for the Colony Association board, Colony unit owners and Klauber to accept its proposal so that redevelopment can begin before the deadline hits at the end of December requiring the Colony to re-open or risk losing its nonconforming tourism zoning.

“So far, there’s no ordinance in town laws that can strip us from moving forward, no pun intended,” Klauber said. “This is not my first choice, but, frankly, if all of the parties involved up to this point cannot agree on a settlement, we were all going to be stripped of everything on our backs anyway.”

“The Colony has always been a top draw to bring people to Longboat Key,” Klauber added. “Can you imagine what this will do for Longboat when our sign out front reads ‘The Nudist Colony?’”

Jay Yablon, president of the Colony Association, could not be reached before deadline.

On April 1, representatives of NudistFLA LLC are expected to begin working with town planning staff to apply for permits for the necessary town approvals for renovations.

At the same time, NudistFLA representatives have sent letters to all Colony unit owners inviting them to spend a clothing-free week at one of their resorts “to experience the wonderful sensations we have created” in Pasco County. The letter said the NudistFLA colonies’ motto is: “Shirt, shoes … no service.”