P&Z Board recommends zoning change

Victor Levine tried to sell his commercial property at 5440 Gulf of Mexico Drive for 15 years. First America Bank has also tried to sell the commercial property at 521 Broadway in the Longbeach Village.

Both properties are vacant, and both owners had difficulty selling because of their commercial zoning.

They seek to have their properties rezoned to residential.

Now, the properties are two ordinances closer to residential status. The Longboat Key Planning and Zoning Board recommended approval of two ordinances for each property at its May 27 meeting that change the future land use and zoning of the properties from commercial to residential.

Levine hopes to put four single-family homes on his property, while First America Bank plans to build two homes on its property.

Land-use consultant Peter Dailey represented both property owners at the meeting.

He told the board that Levine, who purchased the 5440 Gulf of Mexico Drive property in 1993, tried to sell the property to three separate sets of owners of the adjacent Centre Shops to no avail and also marketed the property through commercial real estate agents.

“He’s tried really diligently to get people to have interest in that property,” Dailey told the Longboat Key Planning & Zoning Board.

The property once held the home that Longboat Key’s first mayor, Will LePage, built in 1946.

The building was a residential home for more than 30 years, and part of the building was used as apartments for more than 10 years. Then, during the 1980s, the zoning for the front part of the parcel was changed to commercial.

Several businesses operated out of the property, including Harry’s Continental Kitchens —which opened there in 1979 but moved to its current location two years later — the Longboat Observer, an African gallery and most recently Coco’s Boutique.

The property has been vacant since 1997, and Levine demolished the building in 2010.

Town staff didn’t recommend approval or denial of the request, which also included a .12-acre portion of the lot at 5442 Gulf of Mexico Drive that Levine also owns.

Planner Briana Ozor wrote in a memo:

“Due to the location of the subject property between a heavily trafficked commercial use (Centre Shops) and a fire and police station, staff cannot provide a conclusive recommendation in favor of Ordinance 2014-17.”

Staff recommended, however, that if the zoning changed that it be limited to medium density instead of high density, which would prevent development from expanding to adjacent property that Levine also owns.

Planning Zoning and Building Director Alaina Ray expressed concerns about placing the residential development between two different uses.

“Staff’s not in love with the idea of residential being at the location,” Ray said. “There’s not a cohesive identity in the area.”

However, staff also sought to look at reasonable uses for the property.

“Do we let it sit vacant for another 20 or 30 years, or do we give the applicant some reasonable use of the property?” Ray said earlier in the meeting.

Board member Len Garner made a motion to deny the request, citing “basic zoning philosophies of compatibility” and the fact that the property was already commercially zoned when Levine purchased it. The motion failed 3-6.

Board secretary John Wild’s motion to recommend an ordinance changing the future land use to medium-density residential passed 6-3. A motion for an ordinance that modified the zoning code to allow the changes also passed 6-3.

The future land use and zoning changes for the Broadway parcel, which town staff recommended, citing its consistency with the surrounding residential community, both passed 8-1 with significantly less discussion.

Voters approved two referenda questions in November 2012 that allowed both properties to change from commercial to residential use with up to six dwelling units per acre. However, in 2013, the Florida Legislature passed a bill that nixed the referendum process statewide and rendered any referendum passed on or after June 1, 2011, moot.

The Legislature passed a bill in its most recent session excluding Longboat Key from the ban that is awaiting Gov. Rick Scott’s signature. Scott’s signature will reinstate the town charter provision about density.

However, because the town received and deemed complete both applications before the latest legislative action, the Town Commission retains the authority to approve or deny the request for an increase in density without a referendum.

Contact Robin Hartill at [email protected]