Commission won't pursue Gulf-front property

Town Manager Dave Bullock recommended the town purchase a beach-front property at 6541 Gulfside Road, in order to tear down a seawall and create a future public beach access, for $1.17 million. Commissioner Jack Duncan recommended the town purchase the property for one dollar.

Neither recommendation was approved at the Longboat Key Town Commission’s Monday night meeting and the town won’t pursue a property at a foreclosure auction this week.

Duncan made his facetious one dollar motion to thwart any attempt at buying the property and the majority of the commission agreed the property shouldn’t be purchased.

Bullock recommended the town put a bid on the property for $1.17 million, which is the average of two appraisals performed for the property. Bullock needed five commissioners — a super majority vote — to approve purchasing the property.

The house sits on the beach and is just south of the former Yonkers property, which was recently transformed into a Gulf-front estate called Ohana at 6633 Gulf of Mexico Drive that’s on the market for $22 million. The town missed an opportunity to purchase that property years ago to knock down that seawall.

The Ohana property seawall has inhibited sand from staying put on the shoreline for years.

Commissioner Phill Younger said the property in question was not causing a problem and that the loss of sand in the area can be attributed to the larger seawall at the Ohana estate.

For more information on the decision, pick up a copy of this week's Longboat Observer.

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected].