Longboat Key Town Commission plans to pass Mar Vista resolution

The Longboat Key Town Commission plans to pass a resolution at its regular meeting tonight that will rescind a site plan amendment for Mar Vista Dockside Restaurant & Pub.

That site plan approval granted Mar Vista owner Ed Chiles the ability to increase the restaurant’s seating by 11 spots and add a meeting room and deck to the historic Rufus P. Jordan House.

In April, Chiles only sent notifications to parties who had previously requested notification of all town actions. But property owners within 500 feet of the Mar Vista site should have been notified via certified mail, as required by the town’s zoning code.

Town staff investigated issues with the notification process, after several Village residents told the Longboat Key Town Commission at its May 20 workshop that they lived within 500 feet of Mar Vista and didn’t receive proper written notice that the Planning and Zoning Board and the Town Commission were reviewing the project.

Town staff identified errors in the Mar Vista process, meaning that Chiles will have to go back before the planning board for a review of the project.

Also at its meeting tonight, commissioners will decide the fate of a summer beach renourishment project that’s in limbo because the town only received one bid for the project that town staff believe is too expensive at more than $13 million.

Commissioners will also:
Consider passing:
• A resolution that allows for Comprehensive Plan changes to the telecommunications portion of the plan.
• A resolution that declares a maintenance area at the shuttered Colony Beach & Tennis Resort to be a public nuisance area that’s no longer habitable or safe in its current condition.

Consider approving:
• The cancellation of the commission’s July and August regular workshops and the August regular meeting.

Consider approving on first reading and public hearing:
• An ordinance that allows an additional story and 15 feet of additional building height for site plan proposals utilizing tourism units.
• An ordinance that allows for Comprehensive Plan amendments for tourism properties that allow for six tourism units per acre.

Consider adopting:
• An ordinance that will change the compositions of the current General Employees’ Retirement System Board of Trustees. The commission is also slated to make appointments for the new pension board.

Consider executing:
• A contract with new town attorney Maggie Mooney-Portale.