P&Z still has familiar faces

And then there were seven. 

The Longboat Key Planning Zoning Board that the Longboat Key Town Commission selected Monday afternoon at a special meeting has a new number — seven, down from its previous nine members — but that board consists of mostly familiar faces.

The commission chose the following seven members out of 12 applications it received for seven seats: Former planning board members Jim Brown, B.J. Bishop, George Symanski Jr., Ken Schneier, Leonard Garner and Andrew Aitken. The only newcomer to the board is retired attorney and Country Club Shores resident Stephen Madva. 

Former Chairman Al Hixon and Secretary John Wild were not chosen for the new board. Walter Hackett Jr. did not seek reappointment. Jack Daly is also no longer a member because of his recent election to the commission. 

“This was tough,” said Commissioner Phill Younger after the commission made appointments. “I think everyone that applied qualified. I want to thank outgoing members for their service. They have served well. For members that had been on the board, I hope you maintain interest and continue to look for ways to serve the town.”

In April, the commission gave unanimous consensus to whittle down the  board’s membership.

The decision occurred after much discussion the past couple of years by both the commission and the planning board, which has been described as “unwieldy” in its current form. 

New planning board members also have something they’ve never dealt with before: term limits. 

Planning members have term limits of three, three-year terms for a total of nine years of service. 

But the terms needed to be staggered when the board was created Monday so all members aren’t up for terms at the same time to create continuity on the board.

After Monday’s selections, their names were placed in a hat, and the first three members whose names were drawn — Brown, Bishop and Symanski — received three-year terms. Schneier and Garner drew two-year terms. Madva and Aitken received one-year terms. Madva and Aitken still have the right to nine years of service after their terms are up next May because they were only chosen for one-year terms.

On Tuesday, the commission and the new planning board held a special joint workshop to discuss code revisions and nonconforming property issues. The planning board’s seven new members were sworn in for their terms at the start of the meeting. 

“Welcome, and I think (the selection process) went about as good as it possibly could have went Monday,” Mayor Jack Duncan said to the board Tuesday. “It was a difficult and emotional process, but we accomplished our goal of reducing the membership and creating a better working environment moving forward.”