- April 19, 2024
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A proposal to build two homes at 597 Buttonwood Drive has advanced closer to final approval than any other plan put before town voters under the provisions of a decades-old rule requiring popular approval of additional residential density.
With a pair of votes recommending advancement from the Planning and Zoning Board on March 15, builder Mark Ursini now requires the same approvals from the Town Commission in April before the project gets a green light.
Ursini is only the second landowner to win voter approval for the potential of more residential density on the island and is the only developer to move forward to request land-use and zoning changes to make the project possible. The project was approved 62% to 33%.
"I wanted to congratulate you on getting through the referendum process on Longboat Key," Planning and Zoning Board Chair David Green said. "That’s a gauntlet."
Since 2016, voters have rejected five of seven developer requests for increased residential zoning, though Unicorp National Developments Inc. found an alternative route to win approval for its St. Regis project, now under construction. Voters also approved density changes on a parcel at 5360 Gulf of Mexico Drive, though specific plans for development of that land have not yet been submitted to the town.
Ursini, the owner of Brista Homes, has proposed a pair of 4,000-square-foot single-family homes on the 0.86-acre lot, situated at the corner of Buttowood Drive and Gulf of Mexico Drive, immediately adjacent to Winslow Place.
The land has been cleared in preparation for construction, along with a second plot just to the north that was not subject to the November density referendum. That land, zoned for commercial use, and a proposal from Ursini, who also owns it, is likely to appear before the Planning Board next month.
Ursini’s proposal sought a change in the town’s comprehensive land-use plan, which would then open the door for a change in zoning from commercial uses to residential uses, limited to three units per acre.
Town planner Tate Taylor said the surrounding Buttonwood Harbour neighborhood is zoned for four units per acre, and a commercial use of the property would bring still more intensive uses to the land.
"These businesses if they were to develop the property would be much more intense, definitely have much more traffic volumes associated with them than with the single family land use that’s being proposed," he said.
Tate added that a residential use, such as the one Ursini proposed, would require no more than 50% of the available land built upon. The standard for a commercial site would be 80%. Part of the application called for a master drainage system that tied together the still-to-be-developed land to the other with the residential land. But even if the commercial project didn’t come to fruition, the residential project’s drainage mechanisms could stand alone.
Drainage is a critical concern in the neighborhood that has experienced stormwater flooding.
"As you go through this, that area has such a history of drainage issues and flooding and impacting other properties," Green said. "Your sensitivity to addressing the drainage concerns and creating a transition from your commercial properties over to residential is really important."
In a letter to the Planning and Zoning Board, Town Commissioner and Buttonwood Harbour resident BJ Bishop praised Ursini as a builder and complimented him for “including providing funds for the homeowners association to hire their own engineer to address stormwater issues. I fully support Brista Homes’ comprehensive plan amendment and change of zoning. I will also remind you the voters of Longboat Key clearly support this change of zoning."
Ursini said he's been doing business on Longboat Key for about 10 years, remodeling a condominium at The Pierre as his first job. His company has remodeled and built new homes around the island since then and is building a home for his family in Triton Bend.
"Longboat Key has always been a special place for us," he said.
