- May 12, 2026
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Unicorp President Chuck Whittall drove to Longboat Key Friday afternoon to spend the weekend at the St. Regis Longboat Key Resort for Mother’s Day with his family.
While at the resort, he took the time to make a statement. A day after Longboat Key Town Manager Howard Tipton’s deadline to take the stainless-steel arch on the property down passed, Whittall posed for a picture, arms crossed, leaning against the arch that adorns a groin extending into the Gulf. The statement is this: the sign is staying up, and he will see Longboat Key in court.
“We understand the town is going to try to file a lawsuit against us Monday for this sign,” Whittall said. “We are prepared to litigate to whatever extent necessary.”
On May 4, the issue of the sign was raised at a Town Commission meeting where Town Attorney Maggie Mooney said a lawsuit would be filed in district court “to force the structure to be taken down by the property owner.”
On Monday, Mooney said the town waited "to be 100% sure that the St. Regis was actually not going to take down the arch by the town's 5:01 p.m. Friday deadline" before preparing a lawsuit. That work is now underway, and she expects it to be filed by the end of this week or the start of next week.
The town originally asked the resort to take the sign down in August, claiming that the structure violates the town’s sign code. After St. Regis’ lawyers sent a request for the town to amend its code to allow the 14-foot-tall structure, the town allowed it to remain as long as the top of the sign with the St. Regis logo and “St. Regis Longboat Key” are covered. Meanwhile, Unicorp’s stance is that the company’s request to have the sign code amended was a courtesy to the town and that it received sufficient permission to install the arch from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. “It’s in sovereign waters,” Whittall says.
“We’ve been accused of not obeying the town’s rules by erecting the sign,” Whittall said. “The state of Florida permitted the sign for us, and we got confirmation from them this past week that the sign was permitted correctly and that we do have a correct permit for the sign.”
When Whittall posed for his picture Saturday — and for other photo ops under the arch — the faux flora adornment that covered the text and logo were removed.
When Whittall came to a Town Commission workshop meeting in November, he made a case for the arch to town leaders, saying it’s a popular spot to take photos, hold ceremonies and commemorate stays at the exclusive resort. Speaking to a reporter, he called those pushing for the removal of the sign “not forward thinking” and “the type of people who say no just to say no.”
“I think this is absolutely, ridiculously insane, especially with how much we’ve contributed to that town financially, with jobs, taxes, hurricane relief providing a place for the authorities to stay during the hurricane,” Whittall said. “It’s a sign where people can commemorate memories. A few people who don’t like it, for whatever reason, they probably wouldn’t like anything for that matter. They probably don’t like their own families. But that these people are causing a commotion is ridiculous.”
Businesses squaring off over signage are a Longboat Key tradition. Some memorable examples of past feuds between the town and businesses over signs include Lynches Landing Bar & Grill and the Buccaneer Inn. The Colony Beach and Tennis Resort, which stood for decades where the St. Regis now sits, had more than its share of spats with the town. All those businesses share one thing in common, Whittall says.
“The places you all just mentioned all went out of business. Is that what they want to see is shuttered businesses because they don’t give businesses a chance to thrive? Do they not look at other oceanfront developments in other communities around the nation and see what people have done successfully, or do they get mired down in their old ways and say 'it’s my way or the highway?,'” Whittall said. “When they say it’s my way or the highway, businesses fail.”
