St. Regis arched sign dispute enters next chapter

A lot was discussed, but little decided, at Monday’s Longboat Key Town Commission meeting when it comes to St. Regis’ arch.

In a 4-3 vote, what commissioners did decide was to instruct staff to draft an ordinance to amend the town’s sign code to allow the arch. That does not bring the sign into compliance right now, but would pave the way for the Commission to change the code to include it in the future. 

Commission’s decision Monday was a backtrack from November when town leaders voted not to fulfill St. Regis’ request for a sign code amendment to be written.

At that time, it looked like the issue would head to court, but after St. Regis developer Chuck Whittall came to Town Hall for a workshop and made his case for the sign, Mayor Ken Schneier said he would be willing to debate the issue once more.

Schneier was one of four votes needed to potentially allow the arch.

“The process we’re talking about here is a somewhat unusual one,” Schneier said. “It’s not really how we make the decisions about an issue on the merits. It’s about whether we agree at the request of a person of interest, which in this case is the St. Regis, to propose into a process a change in our town of ordinances.”

Commissioners Sarah Karon, Penny Gold and Gary Coffin joined Schneier in the majority, each also advocating for “the process” to proceed ahead. That will mean an ordinance being put on the agenda, discussed and voted on at a future meeting.

“We are now in a position where we can avail ourselves of the process that has been established here to meet our citizens’ and business’ requests and look dispassionately on the merits,” Karon said. “I trust the process. I have no leaning whatsoever as far as what the process will bring forward.”

Karon elaborated that the vote was not on whether the town should alter the sign code or make a special exception, but to “go back to the process that I wish we had simply and calmly engaged in the last time we met.”

The next step in the aforementioned process is for town staff to write an ordinance that would tick one box on the checklist of bringing the arch into town compliance.

“If we go the other route and we authorize staff to work on an amendment there's an opportunity there for the staff and town to talk again or more for how to avoid nuclear war,” Schneier said.

It’s been a hot topic on the island, and commissioners Steve Branham and B.J. Bishop both shared that they have heard complaints from many residents all opposed to allowing the arch to remain.

“We are talking about our land use code. Our land use code and our sign ordinance are very conservative for a reason,” Bishop said. “Our citizens are very clear on how they feel about signs, and quite honestly, our citizens hate signage. Our beach is one of those glorious, protected, quiet places where people can be on the beach and enjoy peace and quiet without any commercialization.”

The dispute between St. Regis and the town centers around a stainless steel arch the resort installed on a groin that extends into the Gulf. Planning and Zoning Director Allen Parsons said the town originally asked the resort to remove the structure because it did not meet town code and no permit was issued by the town to allow the structure.

Photo by S.T. Cardinal

Whittall and his lawyer, Brenda Patten, say the resort did not need town approval, arguing that a Florida Department of Environmental Protection permit that was issued for the arch suffices.

“The state gave us a permit to build it,” Whittall said Monday. “We were told that the authority to put this arch up — which I consider a memorial because we like it for the weddings and people want pictures underneath it — was through the state of Florida.”

Whittall also argued that the structure maybe isn’t even a sign at all.

“I don’t really consider this a sign. It’s more of a memorial,” he said.

The town has provided a grace period to St. Regis. As the St. Regis arch dispute continues, future Longboat Key Town Commission meetings could lead to changes in the sign code broadly, narrowly or not at all.

“What we’re looking for is code compliance but at the same time, our codes are older, and they can be looked at,” Coffin said. “Times change. People's knowledge change. Studies change. Understandings evolve. Maybe it’s a chance or a time to take a look at this policy and maybe make some adjustments.”