Planning board approves height regulations

Homes more than 30 feet high will be a lot harder to build under new rules passed this week by Longboat Key’s Planning and Zoning Board. The regulations now goes for final approval to the Longboat Key Town Commission next month, which Longboat planning officials believe will pass with little resistance. 

With residents arguing for a change in town regulations, members of the town Planning and Zoning Board in June requested that town staff draft guidelines to prohibit any new construction, including rooftop decks, stairwells or elevator shafts above the town’s 30-foot height limit for single-family homes in any neighborhood zoned R4 or R6. That includes single family, medium density residential communities like Country Club Shores and Longbeach Village.

“I think with this new ordinance we’ve addressed all the concerns that have come up and I think it’s going to be a pretty clean mark up with the commission,” said Planning and Zoning Board Chairwoman B.J. Bishop.

Construction of a new home at 585 Halyard Lane in Country Club Shores first prompted residents to get involved. Located atop the two-story home is a structure that features an elevator shaft and a stairwell that goes above a 30-foot limit, which regulations allowed.

Residents were worried about how this home, or others built in the future, may impact their property’s viewshed. Most of the surrounding homes in that neighborhood are single-story, making the extended height of the home on 585 Halyard more pronounced.

In April Lynn Larson, president of the homeowners association for Section IV of Country Club Shores, presented the planning board with more than 100 signatures from residents of her neighborhood. Residents of the other sections of Country Club Shores, as well as Longbeach Village, provided the board with additional petitions, making for about 300 signatures.

In early March, the Town Commission considered amending the rules based on previous recommendations from the Planning and Zoning Board to minimize the impact these structures have on neighboring properties. The recommendations included reducing the allowable square footage of these rooftop structures from 15% of the roof area to 10%, which is the minimum required by the Florida Building Code.

The recommendations also called for restricting the height of the structures to the “minimum required to provide the allowable uses,” and limiting stairwells to a single run.

After hearing the concerns of residents, the town commission sent the height-rules amendment back to the Planning and Zoning Board for re-evaluation to explore the possibility of more stringent restrictions, which it formalized at its recent meeting.

As for single-family homes in other zones of the Key, exceptions to the height limit would be possible, but only through a special exception. This process would require neighbors within 500 feet of the property seeking the exception to be notified of the proposal. A public hearing would follow.