Longboat Key Club and town to appeal writ ruling

The Longboat Key Club and Resort and the town will appeal Judge Charles G. Roberts’ ruling that granted a writ of certiorari to the Islandside Property Owners Coalition (IPOC) and the L’Ambiance and Sanctuary condominium associations in their challenge of a development order related to the Longboat Key Club and Resort’s proposed $400 million redevelopment-and-expansion plan.

Key Club Associates attorney John Patterson told the Longboat Observer that officials from Loeb Partners Realty in New York, which owns the Key Club, decided during a conference call Friday afternoon to appeal the ruling to the Second District Court of Appeals in Lakeland.

“We feel there are solid reasons for taking the appeal,” Patterson said. “The primary reason is, we believe Judge Roberts applied the incorrect standards of review.”

The Longboat Key Town Commission unanimously approved Town Attorney’s David Persson’s request to join the Key Club at the end of its Monday, Jan. 9, regular meeting.

But at the beginning of the meeting during the public right-to-be-heard portion of the meeting, IPOC President Bob White asked the commission to deny the impending request.

“You’re going to be asked to join a desperate, Hail Mary gamble, which we believe is designed to force our members to spend tens of thousands of more dollars in the hope that we’ll exhaust our funds,” White said.

White urged the commission to put an end to the case that has “divided this community, cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and resulted in what should be an embarrassment to this commission.”

More than four hours later, Persson made his request and told the commission that an appeal would be difficult for the Key Club without the town and said that “because it’s the town’s regulations that are being challenged, it’s better that we step up and defend those regulations.” The commission also agreed to Persson’s request to hire a special counsel because of the amount of time involved in filing such an action, technically known as a second-tier certiorari petition. The Key Club and town have 30 days from Dec. 30, 2011 — the date Roberts granted the petition — to file the appeal. The Key Club will continue to reimburse the town for its legal expenses with the case.

Persson also recommended that the commission make changes to its code so that property owners can clearly understand what constitutes a permissible use for properties under regulations and suggested that the item be placed on a workshop agenda as quickly as possible.

According to Patterson, if the commission makes changes to its code, the Key Club could re-file its application. Patterson said the appeal will “be filed on a timely basis.” The appeals process could take up to a year, according to Patterson.