REVITALIZATION TASK FORCE’S ANALYSIS OF DENSITY VOTE

The Longboat Key Revitalization Task Force authored an analysis of Longboat Key’s residential density history and how it relates to Unicorp Development’s referendum March 14. Below are excerpts from the analysis.

Click here to read the full analysis.

— Editor 

Since its incorporation in 1955, the residents and elected officials of Longboat Key have been resistant to densely populating the island. The density referendum scheduled for March 14 seems simple: either a yes or no vote for 180 new residential condominium units at the Colony Beach and Tennis Resort property.

A “yes” vote would approve a change in the Colony property from tourism use to mixed use (tourism plus residential).

What’s more, by approving 180 residential units, Longboat Key’s voters unwittingly will indicate a willingness to overturn 60 years of strict density control — the very issue Longboat’s voters believe is their exclusive purview … 

The proposed Colony developer argues that the financial viability of the project is enhanced by the income resulting from the sale of the 180 new residential units. However, at least 47 other nonconforming properties on Longboat Key can make the same argument.

For example, one nonconforming property … has approximately 400 units on more than 40 acres. Using the same density as proposed in the March 14 referendum, that property could ask for approximately 450 additional units.

Over time, every aging property on the Key could make the same financial and density argument … 

A “yes” vote March 14 automatically … would attach permanently the right to ask for up to 180 residential units to the Colony property in perpetuity. 

The question is: Do Longboat’s voters understand that more than 60 years of controlled density is at stake, and the character of the entire Key could change permanently? 

It is true that the applicant must still gain approval of all the density issues (height, setback, footprint and so on). But the voters will have already forfeited their ability to control density on the Key if the referendum is approved. 

The ensuing arguments will not be based on more density because a “yes” vote answers that question. It says voters approve increased residential density …

While more density at the Colony is an issue of its own, that issue is not the only concern …  As one of the Unicorp attorneys recently stated to the town commissioners: “You also have the obligation to treat [the developer] equally as you have done for others.” …