Variance settlement reached

The Longboat Key Town Commission approved a settlement agreement at its Monday, May 4 regular meeting that allows Key property owner Peter Swain to build a home closer to the Gulf of Mexico.

Swain appealed a decision by the Zoning Board of Adjustment to deny him an amended variance in late 2007, which would have allowed him to build no closer than 68-feet landward of the Erosion Control Line at 2913 Gulf of Mexico Drive. Town code states that homes should not be built no closer than 150-feet from the Erosion Control Line, unless an undue hardship exists on the property.

While several properties on the Key are too small to comply with the town’s requirement and are granted variances, the zoning board did not believe Swain had a hardship.

The commission, in a 4-3 vote, begrudgingly granted Swain a variance that 73-feet, six inches from the control line at the north lot line and 70-feet, two inches from the control line’s southern lot line. The majority of the commission believed it was better to grant an amended variance than pursue the case and accrue further legal fees.

For more information, pick up a copy of the May 14 Longboat Observer.