Mistake prompts height-issue delay

After months of discussions on building-height limits and planned-unit developments, it will be another four weeks until the first public hearing of the issue in the form of a town ordinance.

Officials late last week pulled from consideration and rescheduled for May 1 the hearing and first reading after discovering an error in an advertisement meant to notify residents and other interested parties of the Monday, April 3 town meeting.

Town Manager Dave Bullock explained the ordinance regarding PUDs and building heights was given an incorrect heading in a daily-newspaper advertisement, and might have misled readers to think the measure would focus on amendments to the town’s comprehensive plan.

The advertisement, headlined “Town of Longboat Key Notice of Comprehensive Plan Public Hearing Ordinance 2016-32,” appeared as required in the March 27 editions of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and Bradenton Herald.

Bullock said he does not believe the advertisement complied with Florida law regarding notification of public hearings.

“We didn’t feel we met the legal test,” Bullock said. “And we didn’t feel people would be fully informed.”

The portion of the meeting dealing with the comprehensive plan — an overarching document used to guide long-term land use — was discussed as planned and forwarded to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity for review. No discussion of planned-unit development rules took place Monday.

Bullock said public hearing of the ordinance will be properly advertised before May 1.

It was the second such delay connected to the precise legal requirements of municipal government. In a meeting in late March, the omission of one spoken word during a town meeting certifying the March 14 elections required the Town Commission on Monday to recertify the Colony Beach & Tennis Resort referendum result, though there was no effect on vote totals or outcome.

Deliberations about building height on Longboat Key began in 2016, though the Town Commission ultimately settled on a 65 feet above elevation maximum, which is currently the town’s standard.

At a meeting in February, the Planning and Zoning Board approved an ordinance that would have allowed additional height — up to 80 feet over elevation — for new buildings, as long as buildings were set back 2.5 times the height of the building from Gulf of Mexico Drive. In other words, an 80-foot building would have to be no closer than 200 feet from GMD.

But at a workshop in March, the Town Commission rejected that 80-foot recommendation and returned to the 65-foot benchmark while keeping the setback rules.

Chuck Whittall, president of Unicorp National Developments, plans to submit a new proposal for redeveloping the Colony property after the commission resolves and approves a PUD process.