Town posts Colony hearing web link

The town of Longboat Key has created a separate website link to help inform the public and all Colony Beach & Tennis Resort parties about a public nuisance hearing scheduled to determine the state of dilapidated buildings on the shuttered site.

The hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. March 4 at Temple Beth Israel, 567 Bay Isles Road.

The website link can be accessed by going to longboatkey.org and clicking on the “Public Nuisance Hearing 1620 Gulf of Mexico Drive” tab in the upper lefthand corner of the town’s website.

The Longboat Key Town Commission will review testimony from staff and Building Official Wayne Thorne on the condition of each building to determine if steps need to be taken to demolish the structures.

The hearing was scheduled after commissioners reviewed a report from Thorne at a special meeting in December, which outlined 782 items that need to be addressed on the closed hotel site. Thorne said 177 of those items are serious, and Town Manager Dave Bullock told commissioners the buildings have started the process of “falling down on themselves.”

Colony property owners are also allowed to testify at the hearing and present evidence showing that the conditions on the site don’t constitute a public nuisance.

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected].