ULI: Impact Statement

One year ago, an eight-member Urban Land Institute panel conducted a comprehensive study of the Key. Panelists took a 173-minute tour of the 10-mile island, interviewed more than 80 citizens and spent five days immersed in Key issues.

Was it worth the $133,816.35 cost to the town for the study and related expenses — plus countless hours of staff and citizen time?

Recommendation recap
The panel’s report included these and other recommendations to the town:

Relax rental restrictions.
Progress: The commission almost immediately opted to nix this suggestion.

Implement early actions at opportunity sites, particularly the Colony Beach & Tennis Resort and Whitney Beach Plaza.
Progress: Redevelopment at the Colony remains ensnared by ongoing litigation. The commission granted an extension of the property’s tourism use until 2016 and the town’s involvement has been limited to law and code enforcement. The commission has not pursued additional action at Whitney Beach Plaza.

Focus on the future; replace the town’s Comprehensive Plan and codes that date back to the 1980s.
Progress: The town is beginning the process of rewriting its codes and Comprehensive Plan by addressing nonconforming structures. But addressing nonconformities is just one step in the process, which could take several years.

Complete the town center at the center of the community.
Progress: In March, the commission approved the $1.5 million purchase of a 2.8-acre parcel of land near Publix to enhance the town center concept. The town hired the firm Tindale-Oliver & Associates to design plans for a town center in August and will hold public open houses to discuss concepts by the end of the year.

Locate the community/cultural center at the town center.
Progress: The town held an open house Oct. 30 to discuss plans for Bayfront Park, which has been discussed as the location for a future community center for more than a decade. Although the latest plans for Bayfront Park don’t include a community center on the property, the town has not ruled out the possibility of placing a community center at Bayfront Park instead of the town center or separate community and cultural facilities.

Improve mobility on the Key. 
Progress: The Urban Land Institute Implementation Advisory Committee provided a report on Oct. 2 to the commission that recommended gateway improvements, an enhanced bicycle and pedestrian network, increased frequency of transit service and improved bus stops and enhanced landscaping.

Why did the town seek ULI’s services?
In December 2011, Sarasota Judge Charles E. Roberts ruled that the town violated its zoning regulations and Comprehensive Plan when the Longboat Key Town Commission approved the Longboat Key Club & Resort’s $400 million expansion plan in 2010.

For the town, the ruling highlighted the need to clarify what’s permitted under town regulations and update its codes and Comp Plan.

Town Manager Dave Bullock suggested an Urban Land Institute (ULI) study in early 2012, but commissioners directed staff to put out a request for proposals (RFP) for a study. The town received six proposals from community consultants but commissioners ultimately directed Bullock to work out a ULI contract.

Committee report
The Longboat Key Town Commission formed the Urban Land Institute Implementation Advisory Committee shortly after the study to explore the study’s recommendations for the Key.

The committee last met Oct. 2 and submitted a report about Key mobility to the commission.

The committee has not scheduled additional meetings, although the commission has not disbanded the committee.

Commissioner report cards
We asked current Longboat Key Town commissioners two questions: What letter grade would you give the town’s progress in putting the ULI report to use? Was the report worth $125,000 plus expenses?

Mayor Jim Brown
Grade: A
“We’re in the process of implementing the code changes they suggested, and we’ve hired a consultant to help us lay out and design the town center. We’re moving forward on Gulf of Mexico Drive and Bayfront Park. Everything is moving in a forward direction…I’d like to see it work faster, but government doesn’t work fast.”

Worth it? Yes. “I believe it brought the community together on a number of issues.”

Vice Mayor Jack Duncan
Grade: B+
“I think the ULI Study piggybacked extremely well with the mission-vision planning we put in place. We are really starting to think strategically, and we’re looking at things from a more futuristic standpoint than we ever had.”

Worth it? “Absolutely. ULI helped us to get into the strategic thinking. It allowed us to move forward with outside expertise.”

Commissioner Terry Gans
Grade: B
“One of the most important parts of the process is to approach things together and not to have this divided mentality for common sense types of programs. I see that happening.”

Worth it? “The question is 20 years from now, will it show it was worth it? I think time is going to show that it was a bargain price.”

Commissioner Lynn Larson
Grade: C-
“Even though we got recommendations, what have we done about them? … They came in, they took our watch, and they told us what time it was. The best thing it did was organize those thoughts that the public was telling them. They repeated it back, but if we hadn’t done it, then we would be criticized because we haven’t done anything. We bought that land (for the town center) but what else have we done?
Worth it? “No. I thought it was overpriced from the beginning.”

Commissioner Irwin Pastor
Grade: A
“It’s one thing to sort of have a vision; it’s another thing to capture what the electorate wants. It sort of set the perimeters going forward in terms of priorities.”

Worth it? “Absolutely. It created a lot of value. It was a very wise expenditure. I don’t believe we’ve ever had so many projects going forward.”

Note: Pastor was not on the commission at the time of the study, however, he participated in stakeholder interviews.

Commissioner Phill Younger
Grade: A-/B
“It created a dialogue, and I think that’s a healthy thing…It showed the necessity to do that which was long overdue. We were moving at a snail’s pace on the codes and Comprehensive Plan. For a while, we lost focus, but I’m happy that we are better focused.”

Worth it? “I think the commission deemed that it was worthwhile when it elected to move ahead with it.”

Commissioner Pat Zunz
Grade: NA
Declines to give a letter grade; says she would give “high marks”

“Tindale-Oliver will begin to hold meetings for the public about a town center. The ULI committee has worked up things for Bayfront Park, and that’s probably in the final stages of what’s going to be in it. We also discussed Gulf of Mexico Drive, and what came out of it was undergrounding…While it’s been a long time coming, but we are also looking more into our Comprehensive Plan and codes.”

Worth it? “Definitely. I didn’t think we would accomplish as much as we did in a year.”