Voters to decide fate of Mote parcel -- again

For the second time in two years, Longboat Key voters will be asked if would-be developers of a Gulf of Mexico Drive lot should be allowed a density increase to build a new-home community. 

Bruce Franklin, president of Land Resource Strategies LLC, on Monday requested a referendum be placed on the March 2019 ballot to set a density level on the commercially zoned land at 5630 Gulf of Mexico Drive. His request was granted. The 1.8-acre site is owned by Mote Scientific Foundation Inc. 

There’s currently no residential density on the site, so the developer needs voter approval for up to four units per acre. 

“I am asking you to authorize us to try again,” Franklin said. 

The first attempt was made in 2017 and failed with a 58% no vote. Voters also had the Unicorp National Development's high-profile Colony Beach & Tennis Resort density request on the ballot, which was denied with an 87% no vote. Previous referendums on density increases have similarly been rejected by town voters.

In fact, developers in 2017 sought to remove their referendum from the ballot in fear of the momentum of the Colony density request. That move was denied. 

The developer wants to build up to 10 homes on the parcel, which sits between Jungle Queen Way to the north and Tarawit Drive to the south.

“The property has been underutilized by Mote and the community,” Franklin said during Monday’s commission meeting.

“We can’t build without a referendum,” he said.