Voters supply questions, demand answers at debate

The economic impact of the Longboat Key Club and Resort’s proposed $400 million redevelopment-and-expansion plan boils down to supply and demand for both Longboat Key Vice Mayor David Brenner and District 3 Town Commission seat challenger Ray Rajewski.

Brenner believes that the increased supply of hotel rooms will increase the number of affluent buyers exposed to the Key, eventually increasing demand for island properties and upping property values.

“Who’s going to buy your condominium when you want to sell it?” Brenner asked Monday night of a resident who described the project as “over expansion.”

Rajewski thinks that the project’s additional condominium units will increase the supply of condominiums without increasing the demand, and possibly decreasing property values.

“You have supply and demand, and you’re going to add 250 units that are going to be the same,” Rajewski said.

With just eight days left until the election for the District 3 Longboat Key Town Commission election, incumbent Vice Mayor David Brenner and challenger Ray Rajewski debated for the first time Monday, March 12, at Bayfront Park Recreation Center.

And, although questions covered the gamut of Key issues, including pensions, a proposed community center and possible cellular tower, the most pressing issue on the minds of audience members was clear: the implications of the Key Club Islandside renovation-and-expansion plan approved by the commission in June 2010.

“It’s the elephant in the room,” one audience member muttered.

Brenner doesn’t regret his vote in favor of a development order approving the plan. But, although he wasn’t on the commission when the process began, he said that some things should have been done differently.
“With the benefit of hindsight, it would have made sense to make sure that it was supported by the Comprehensive Plan,” Brenner said.

Rajewski wasn’t at the dais when the decision was made, although he estimated that he attended about a half-dozen of the public hearings at Temple Beth Israel leading up to the June 2010 approval. But, he said that, if faced with another plan for a planned-unit development (PUD), which could, like the Key Club application, include many requests for special exceptions, he would rely more on the input of the Planning, Zoning & Building director “who would have more impact and knowledge than I would.

“I’m not a professional planner,” Rajewski said. “I would look at a project and rely on the expertise of the people you employ in the town.”

Rajewski made it clear, however, that he believes the Key Club’s project could have negative impacts.
“Imagine driving over New Pass and instead of seeing open space and condos far off in the background, you see a massive hotel tower,” he said. “I don’t see the benefit.”

One resident asked the candidates about a closely related issue, asking them whether they believed the Key has too much commercial property, as suggested by a town study conducted approximately 10 years ago.
Rajewski said that Longboat Key has approximately 12 restaurants, along with amenities such as a cleaners and barbershop.

“As a full-time resident, I’m serviced very well by the businesses out here,” he said.

He described how many businesses have survived by serving residents while also adapting to seasonal patterns, with many restaurants closing for a month or two or only serving dinner during summers.

Brenner said that the marketplace will determine how much commercial property is needed.

“We’re trying to get a level of commercial activity here that supports us,” he said. “That’s gotta come from more than just us because we don’t provide the economic fuel needed to keep those guys in business.”