Planning and Zoning Board gives thumbs down to St. Regis arch

Longboat Key Town Commission will soon, once again, take up the issue of whether to allow the stainless steel arch St. Regis installed on a privately owned beach groin. 

But this time around, there will actually be ordinances to vote on, and they will come with negative recommendations from the Planning and Zoning Board. Unicorp President and St. Regis owner Chuck Whittall spoke out against a March 17 decision by the board.

“I think they 100% made the wrong decision,” Whittall said. “The whole point of having hearings like that is to listen to each individual property owner’s needs (and) determine if it makes sense for the market.”

The metal arch was placed on the groin in August 2025 without a permit from the town, though Unicorp did go through the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s permitting process. 

The town ordered the removal of the arch as it did not adhere to the town’s sign code. It has been allowed to remain in place while a zoning amendment to allow the arch is considered by the town. 

The topic of whether to draft an ordinance to alter the sign code has been discussed since Unicorp’s lawyers sent a letter requesting a zoning amendment in October, but no such ordinance had been introduced until the March 17 Planning and Zoning Board meeting.

Two ordinances came before the board at that meeting.

The first ordinance, crafted by St. Regis, amends the zoning code. It reads:

“On a privately owned and permitted groin structure that includes a pedestrian walkway and that extends from the public beach into the Gulf of America (formerly known as the Gulf of Mexico), a single archway structure with an embedded sign identifying the responsible entity for the structure and groin may be allowed seaward of the erosion control line."

The second ordinance, initiated by the town, includes much of the same language but amends the sign code.

The arch requires both ordinances to remain. The first governs where the arch is, while the second allows for that type of sign.

The arch has grabbed the attention of those across the island as well as neighbors of the resort like Diane Canney who lives at the Beachplace condominium complex nearby. Canny said she is worried about the structure being blown away by a storm and becoming “flying shrapnel” and said the pier changes the character of the public beach. Her main concern, though, is the precedent it sets. 

“What would keep other developers from building their own pier?” she asked. “I think the lack of over-commercialization is what makes Longboat Key so beautiful and special. There is a concern across the island that this will set a precedent.”

Planning and Zoning Director Allen Parsons said during the meeting that although there is only one privately owned groin, if the ordinance were passed, it could pave the way for similar structures if another privately owned groin were built.

“This is going to be applicable to any Gulf-facing properties that would have a privately owned groin with a public pedestrian walkway,” Parsons said during the meeting. “Currently in the town there is just the one, but at some point in the future if there was another one, it too would be eligible to have an identifying archway type of sign.”

Parsons told the Planning and Zoning Board that staff recommended approval of the ordinances. One of the reasons cited in a memo by Parsons was “for purposes of assisting the public and first responders with an identifying marker and location to aid in public safety responses to the structure.”

The board went against the recommendation of town staff. Paul Hylbert, Nick Gladding, David Lapovsky and Margaret Nuzzo voted against the first ordinance, which failed in a 4-1 vote. Hylbert, Gladding and Lapovsky voted against the second ordinance in a 3-2 vote.

“I am troubled with this ordinance, both of them. I do not think it’s a good idea for a variety of reasons. I don’t think it will be deleterious to St. Regis. That’s my own opinion, maybe it will, but I don’t think so if we say no. Not withstanding the great work that our council and staff did, I’m not convinced that this is really a public interest proposal,” Gladding said. “It’s basically a commercial single entity benefit, and I think we’d be setting a very bad precedent.”

Whittall argues that allowing the arch to remain would not be a slippery slope due to the specificity of the two ordinances.

“We are the only pier in the entire market that is privately owned, so I don’t know why they would think that,” Whittall said.

Another private entity constructing a beach groin is something that would be an arduous task to complete now with many regulations. The St. Regis groin was built in the '60s when the Colony Beach and Tennis Resort was in its early days.

Jay Plager voted to recommend both the zoning ordinance amendment and sign code amendment and Nuzzo voted to recommend just the sign code amendment.

“With all due respect to my colleague that finds it offensive, what we’re doing here is we’re easing some of our rather strict regulations. I am generally in favor of easing unnecessary and restrictive regulations,” Plager said. “This move, although it’s certainly tailored to this particular owner is not offensive to me because the next owner who is in this same position, I’ll probably be supportive of that too if that’s where the town is heading.”

Board of Zoning Adjustment decisions are merely recommendations for when they appear before the Town Commission. Parsons said the issue is scheduled to appear before Town Commission on May 4 and June 1. The commission needs to approve ordinances at two separate meetings for them to become law.