Free permits for Longboat storm damage likely to extend

Going against a staff recommendation, the Longboat Key Town Commission signaled they would pass an extension of the town’s waiver of permit fees for hurricane-related repairs.

At the Monday, Sept. 8 Town Commission meeting — the first meeting held in months as the public body adjourned during the slow summer season — the commission discussed a request from residents to extend the permit fee waiver. Town manager Howard Tipton made what he called a “soft recommendation” to not extend the deadline, but many commission members argued that as residents continue to rebuild, the deadline should be extended one more time.

“There are five homes on my street that are going to be rebuilt by the owners. Because of FEMA, because of insurance companies and because of Florida Power and Light, it took us almost 10 months to tear the house down. We have two neighbors that are still waiting for demolition permits, and not because of the town,” Commissioner BJ Bishop said. “There have been numerous delays, and so those people who are going to do the right thing and go up 12 feet into the air, I’d hate to see them penalized.”

The permit fee waiver for work to repair storm damage was first approved by town commission on Oct. 7, 2024. It was extended to last through April and then again through September at subsequent meetings earlier this year.

Longboat North, a group of property owners on the north-end where storm damage from Hurricanes Helene and Milton was most severe, wrote in a letter to the town that several residents are still working through the permitting process due to issues with insurance, contractors and FEMA damage violations. Town manager Howard Tipton said he was empathetic to the delays that some residents are facing, but said the fund balance that was making up for the lack of permit fee revenue was running low, and that when compared to other local municipalities, Longboat Key was the only public body to still have its permit fee waiver in place.

“We’re not through this hurricane season yet, but if there were another similar hurricane, I want to make sure we have the ability to potentially accommodate another fee waiver moving forward,” Tipton said.

Photo by S.T. Cardinal

Ryan Stockton, owner of general contractor Stockton and Sons, spoke in front of the commission explaining that tear-down and rebuilds can be delayed for months at no fault to the resident for things like power meter removal, difficulty finding a contractor and delays in insurance payments. Stockton said pulling permits with the town is a relatively easy process and that the town does an excellent job, but that many of his clients would greatly benefit from extending the permit fee waiver deadline.

“We are used to having on average 12 to 18 months for a new build,” Stockton said. “Normally when we are going to build a new house here on Longboat, we are in a phase of 12 to 18 months of pre-plan, engineering, architectural, as well as design. So we have been feeling the rush, even though it’s been a year of trying to tear down everything, to reapply, get inspections and get the new houses underway, the extra three months would personally benefit our current customers who are in that phase to get it just where Longboat requires it. It’s a lot of work to build a house here on Longboat the right way.”

The commission voted 5-0 to bring forth a resolution at a specially called meeting Sept. 22 to extend the waiver until the end of the year. Two members, Bishop and Steve Branham, sustained from the vote due to conflicts of interest as both have remaining work to do on their home. Don’t expect another extension, though.

“If you’re interested in extending it, we will allow them to have that fee waiver in place as is through the end of this year. But I will say, I think we need to reiterate that there is a time that we need to stop the fee waiver. If you’re going to extend it, we would have a strong recommendation — right now it’s a soft recommendation — but when we get to December 31, it’s a strong recommendation of letting this expire,” Tipton said. “It really is about thinking about if we get hit again, what kind of offer can we make to the community? Our reserves for the building department are okay and can handle another quarter, but I do want to be able to offer this again if, God forbid, we go through this again.”

The resolution to continue the permit fee waiver through the end of 2025 will be voted on at a special called town commission meeting Monday, Sept. 22 with the time to be determined.