Former Colony property development: a work in progress

The town of Longboat Key, in the form of its Development Review Committee, will discuss and make comments on the redevelopment plan for the former Colony Beach & Tennis Resort at 9 a.m. Friday in Town Hall.

The committee, which consists of Planning, Zoning & Building Director Alaina Ray, Planner Maika Arnold, Planner Steve Schield,  Fire Marshal Lou Gagliardi and Public Works Director Juan Florensa, will comment on Unicorp’s plans following an initial review of the proposal. The meeting is open to the public, though members of the public cannot participate.

After what could be a series of similar meetings, the proposal will go before the Planning and Zoning Board. The board will review the plan, then forward its recommendation to the Town Commission.

Here’s where the proposal stands:

The Neighbors

Developer Chuck Whittall aims to harmonize his July proposal for the former Colony Beach & Tennis Resort site with residents of Tencon and Aquarius.

Speaking on behalf of Aquarius residents, Frank Morneau this week said his community has decided that moving forward with Unicorp’s new proposal is in its best interests and that of the entire town.

On the other side of the property, Tencon Beach Association President Dennis Haley has reservations.

In April, Whittall’s company, Unicorp National Developments Inc., entered into a contract with residents of Aquarius and Tencon. The contract extends “membership privileges” at a future resort on the property.

In July, Whittall submitted a plan that calls for a 166-room five-star hotel, to be operated by St. Regis, and 102 residential condominiums, for a combined 268 units. But, the July plan negates the building setbacks agreed upon in the April contract, which specifies no building will be constructed within 70 feet from the property lines.

Unicorp’s new proposal includes building setbacks of 150 feet from the beachfront line and 45 feet from the neighboring properties.

After discussing the proposal with Haley, Whittall said he is working with his engineers to increase the building setbacks from the Tencon property line. Haley did not return multiple calls seeking comment.

Litigation Cleared

Earlier this month, Whittall announced clearing a hurdle with another group of stakeholders — the Colony Association. On Aug. 7, Whittall and Colony Association President Jay Yablon announced the end of years-long litigation between Whittall’s company and the association.

“All litigation has finally been resolved after seven years and brought to an amicable peaceful end that paves the way for a new resort to be developed at the former Colony,” a joint statement from Whittall and Yablon read. “This settlement is effective immediately. It is not contingent or dependent on any future events.”

Last fall, Whittall agreed to pay Colony unit owners between $130,000 to $200,000 per unit. Despite the failure of the March referendum that would have allowed the development of Whittall’s initial proposal for the site, Whittall affirmed at a meeting between himself and the Colony Association’s development committee in April that he will keep intact the agreed-upon price for units. Sales agreements, though, have not been executed on the outstanding units.

Whittall also agreed to dismiss the appeal of the recent recreational lease ruling in exchange for the Colony Association waiving its sanctions recovery, resulting in final closure of those disputes.

Ballroom Concerns

Despite Whittall scaling down the building heights and density from his original proposal, Preserve Longboat President David Lapovsky said his group remains concerned about aspects of the plan, including the size of the resort’s proposed meeting spaces.

The size of the resort’s ballroom, which Lapovsky often refers to as a “conference center,” was a central issue in Preserve Longboat’s campaign against Whittall’s initial proposal, which called for a 20,000-square-foot ballroom. The size has been reduced by half, but Lapovsky noted the new plan also includes 6,700 square feet of meeting rooms and 2,750 square feet of board room space.

Lapovsky is concerned the additional square footage will be used to augment ballroom space, coming close to the original 20,000 square feet. Crowds and traffic are the group’s key objections.

Whittall said potential uses for the combined 9,450 square feet are still being determined.

Remaining Units

Of the Colony’s existing 237 units, Unicorp owns 25. Whittall’s company needs 90% approval from unit owners to terminate the Colony Association, which is essential to pressing ahead with development. Whittall said his company is moving forward with buying units and working to finalize a deal with Andy Adams, who controls 75 units.