Workshop to focus on Colony issues

Don’t make happy-hour plans.

A special workshop scheduled this week to discuss the issues surrounding the shuttered Colony Beach & Tennis Resort property could make for a long afternoon at Town Hall.

The workshop, scheduled for 1 p.m. Wednesday, April 24, has seven agenda items.

The first agenda item is a discussion of “the current understanding of property ownership,” which is listed as a “summary of the property ownership as understood from property appraiser research.”

Commissioners are also slated to discuss resolutions related to the grandfathered tourism use at the property and the property maintenance issues.

Town staff is expected to reveal the findings of a site inspection it performed April 12, at the resort, and outline deficiencies that need to be addressed.

The workshop will also discuss a review of building and zoning codes related to the Colony, which could affect any work proposed for the resort property at 1620 Gulf of Mexico Drive.

A status on the court proceedings related to the property will also be discussed.

Those invited to the workshop are Colony Beach & Tennis Resort Association board members, longtime Colony owner Dr. Murray “Murf” Klauber, the Longboat Key Revitalization Task Force and Bay Isles Association Inc. members. Neighboring properties TenCon and Aquarius Club condominium board members are also invited to attend and/or give presentations. The workshop is open to the public.

Meanwhile, Colony unit owners will continue to submit their votes until May 7, to elect the next board of the Association. At the May 7 unit owners meeting, they will debate whether the right option for the property is a teardown and rebuild or a renovation of the existing property.

According to emails sent to Longboat Key commissioners, some unit owners want to run against current Association board members. Colony unit owner Bud Siudara sent a letter to Mayor Jim Brown dated April 21, explaining he is running with a stance that “there is nothing that can’t be rehabilitated” on the property.

Two weeks ago, results of a straw poll vote released by the Association showed owners favoring a teardown and rebuild, but Siudara and other rehabilitation supporters say the vote is not that simple.

The vote breakdown, as reported April 9, by Colony Beach & Tennis Resort Operations Coordinator Larry Stritzel, showed 118 units are for an 18-acre rebuild and 78 units are for a 15-acre staged rehabilitation of existing units.

Colony Association Board Members
• Jay Yablon
• Bruce Pinsky
• Ruth Kreindler
• Blake Fleetwood
• Barry Spiegel*
• Bob Erazmus*
• Stu Ross*
• Herb Lipton*
• Shelly Rabin*
* The following board member's seats are up for re-election and votes will be counted on May 7.