Commission talks role in Colony dispute

When the Colony Beach & Tennis Resort was in operation, it was the home of 232 tourism units, a source of sales-tax revenue and the site at which some of the Key’s future homebuyers got their first glimpse at the island.

But although resolution of the Colony dispute would be good for the town, does the town have a role to in its resolution?

Commissioners debated the issue at their Dec. 5 meeting after former Mayor George Spoll, who now chairs the Longboat Key Revitalization Task Force, warned the commission about the Colony’s ticking clock.

In May, the commission extended a continuance of the town’s tourism abandonment requirement for the Colony to Dec. 31, 2012. (Without the extension, the property could have lost 85 of the resort’s units by Aug. 15, 2011 — exactly one year after the resort closed — because they were built on the property before town code limited tourism units to six per acre.) The parties don’t appear to be any closer to resolution — but by March, they must go before the commission to provide a status update.

“The Revitalization Task Force feels that both sides of the Colony dispute need to get together and resolve their differences — and very soon,” Spoll said, reading from a prepared statement. “This isn’t just about them anymore but about the entire community of Longboat Key, our future, our island. Please encourage, as best you can, some forward movement toward a resolution of differences and a re-opened and revitalized Colony.”

Vice Mayor David Brenner said that he and many others would like to “try to jump in with both feet and get these folks in a room … and not leave that room until they’ve negotiated something.”

But he asked Town Attorney David Persson whether they, as commissioners, could take on that role.
The short answer: no.

Persson said that the parties were ordered into mediation and that hopefully that dialogue would continue.

“But right now, there is no role for the town except as the regulatory agency to review whatever plans are brought forward … ” he said.

Persson said that Colony Beach & Tennis Resort Association representatives have approached commissioners about meeting with them individually — which, according to Persson is now “perfectly legal” because no applications have been filed with the town. After an application is filed, Persson said he would ask commissioners not to have such discussions because proceedings would be quasi-judicial.
Spoll suggested that the task force could play a role by having discussions with both sides and provide them with information about town regulations, as well as press for negotiations.

But Commissioner Phill Younger wasn’t optimistic about an agreement.

“It’s a little more complicated than getting everyone together and singing ‘Kumbaya,’” he said.

Persson agreed that an agreement between the parties would be the only way to resolve the situation.

“If I was a law professor and I was teaching land-use law and I wanted to flunk all my students, I would give this as the example, because there is no right answer,” he said.

Persson suggested that the commission could lay out options for the parties if they haven’t made progress by March. But he said that, for now, he cautioned against involvement.

“One of the philosophies is to try to steer you away from joining this expensive, long-term litigation,” Persson said. “I’ve been trying to pull the town away from that.”

Mayor Jim Brown expressed frustrations with what he described as the parties’ refusal to compromise, despite receiving an extension.

“They’re supposed to be occupied by next December,” he said. “Not just have a good idea by next December, (but) they’re supposed to have that place opened up. If they started today, they couldn’t have that place opened up.”