Longboat Key Association hires new attorney

A day after the Longboat Key Club and Resort re-filed its $400 million Islandside application plan, Longboat Key Association President Bob Goodman sent an e-mail to the Town Commission alerting it that the association had selected a new attorney to represent its interests in Longboat Club Road, the guardhouse at Islandside and other common elements.

The Key Club dropped plans for the guardhouse after The Longboat Key Association, which owns and maintains the road, refused to sign off on the Islandside application.

The Key Club filed a new plan Wednesday, June 10 without any changes to the guardhouse on Longboat Club Road as part of its plan.

In a letter dated April 30 that that was sent to Goodman, the association’s former attorney, Robert Moore, stated that, in his legal opinion, the town can approve curb cuts modifications to Longboat Key Club Road without approval from the association.

Goodman, however, told the Town Commission in his Thursday, June 11 e-mail that Moore’s statement “was made without the approval of the Longboat Key Association Board.”

The association’s new attorney is Sarasota attorney Richard Ulrich, of Judd, Ulrich, Scarlett, Wickman & Dean, PA.

“At this time, the association board with the assistance of Mr. Ulrich are reviewing our legal position as to granting access to and from the Longboat Key Road (Longboat Club Road),” states Goodman in his e-mail to commissioners. “At this time, I will inform you that in the past when property owners have requested additional curb cuts from their original, the board of directors has denied, and the property owners have accepted the board’s decisions.”

Planning, Zoning and Building Director Monica Daigle, with the assistance of town counsel, will decide whether the revised application is complete and if the town can approve changes to the road itself without approval from the Longboat Key Association.

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected].