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Longboat Key

Five years later, the 18-acre beachfront property at 1620 Gulf of Mexico Drive remains locked up and vacant.
    By
  • Kurt Schultheis
  • November 11, 2015
Welcome Back: Colony still sits vacant

Making vacation plans? Don’t plan on staying at the Colony Beach & Tennis Resort any time soon.

  • Longboat Key
  • News
While you were away, the 150 peacocks in Longbeach Village didn’t leave town.
    By
  • Kurt Schultheis
  • November 11, 2015
Welcome Back: Town fails to lure peacock trapper

While you were away, the 150 peacocks in Longbeach Village didn’t leave town.

  • Longboat Key
  • News
Longboat Key residents cite seasonal traffic as a top concern.
    By
  • Kurt Schultheis
  • November 11, 2015
Welcome Back: Traffic congestion headed for your roadways

There’s no quick fix for regional traffic troubles.

  • Longboat Key
  • News
Severe sand erosion on the south end of Longboat Key means there’s not much recreational beach left at high tide behind condominiums like L’Ambiance.
    By
  • Jack Short
  • November 11, 2015
Welcome Back: Shoreline projects to watch this season

How much sand will upcoming local beach projects bring? Enough to fill the Empire State Building’s 1.37 million cubic yards — nearly twice. Read on to learn plans for your favorite beach this season.

  • Longboat Key
  • News
Ocean Properties Vice President Mark Walsh says his company plans to investigate traffic issues as part of a future Islandside hotel project.
    By
  • Kurt Schultheis
  • November 11, 2015
Welcome Back: Key Club referendum passes

Mail-only vote could deliver a new Longboat Key Club Islandside hotel.

  • Longboat Key
  • News
A Gulf of Mexico Drive undergrounding referendum nixed new poles on the island.
    By
  • Kurt Schultheis
  • November 11, 2015
Welcome Back: Poles still here, but not for long

Gulf of Mexico Drive utilities are headed underground. Now, the commission surges forward to determine how to bury the rest of the island’s lines.

  • Longboat Key
  • News
Whitney Beach Plaza owner Ryan Snyder will work with town staff to craft a future density referendum that will eventually allow him to convert the plaza’s residential zoning to tourism use.
    By
  • Kurt Schultheis
  • November 11, 2015
Commission allows Whitney Plaza referendum work

Whitney Beach Plaza owner Ryan Snyder received consensus from the Longboat Key Town Commission Monday to craft language for a referendum that would allow him to change the property’s zoning.

  • Longboat Key
  • News
Mayor Jack Duncan hopes for a new Colony Beach & Tennis Resort, revitalized buildings and Gulf of Mexico Drive as a community road in the next 60 years.
    By
  • Kurt Schultheis
  • November 11, 2015
Conversation with Jack Duncan

Jack Duncan is in the midst of his third and final commission term.

  • Longboat Key
  • News
Longboat Key-based MW Development Group principal Manfred Welfonder has been trying to redevelop the Colony Beach & Tennis Resort property since 2007.
    By
  • Kurt Schultheis
  • November 11, 2015
MW Group forms Colony alliance with Naples-based developer

Longboat Key-based MW Development Group and The Lutgert Companies has teamed up and has a vision to build a $195 million hotel project on the shuttered Colony site.

  • Longboat Key
  • News
Armando Linde and others support the construction of crosswalks on Gulf of Mexico Drive this month.
    By
  • Kurt Schultheis
  • November 11, 2015
GMD crosswalk construction begins this week

Four crosswalks are being installed on Gulf of Mexico Drive to make pedestrian crossings safer.

  • Longboat Key
  • News
Florida Power & Light Co. crew members work to repair a power line in the 6700 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive Monday in an area that Commissioner Pat Zunz says has frequent power outages that aren’t documented. (Kurt Schultheis)
    By
  • Kurt Schultheis
  • November 11, 2015
Commission seeks island-wide neighborhood funding plan

A plan to bury Longboat Key power lines and utility poles in neighborhoods and side streets will be decided by the voters March 15. A decision on how to fund it still needs finalized.

  • Longboat Key
  • News
    By
  • Kristen Herhold
  • November 11, 2015
OBITUARY | Kent Lamar Reedy

Kent Lamar Reedy, 65, of Osprey and formerly of Longboat Key, died Nov. 1.

  • Longboat Key
  • Neighbors
Norma Mieras
    By
  • Observer Staff
  • November 11, 2015
OBITUARY | Norma Mieras

Norma Sjaarda Mieras, 88, of Longboat Key and formerly of Saugatuck and Douglas, Mich., died Oct. 19.

  • Longboat Key
  • Neighbors
The unit N-204 condominium at 603 Longboat Club Road has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,560 square feet of living area.
    By
  • Adam Hughes
  • November 11, 2015
Longboat Key Towers condo sells for $900,000

The unit N-204 condominium at 603 Longboat Club Road has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,560 square feet of living area.

  • Longboat Key
  • Real Estate
WINNER: Even monkeys enjoy reading the East County Observer! Wendy Pittman shares her newspaper with a furry friend at the Jemaa el-Fnaa Market in Marrakesh, Morocco.
    By
  • Kristen Herhold
  • November 11, 2015
Meet this year's "It's Read Everywhere" contest winner

You took us around the globe in this year’s “It’s Read Everywhere” contest.

  • Longboat Key
  • Neighbors
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Latest in Longboat Key

1
Though homesteaded residents would gain property tax savings if Florida's overhaul proposal gains 60% of support in the November elections, even non-homesteaded property owners would see new protections from sharply rising property assessments.
  • June 11, 2026
Property tax overhaul: What you should know
2
Longboat Key Fire Rescue has two ladder trucks that can reach 75 feet, including this Sutphen engine built in 2020, which serves as the primary engine at Fire Station 92.
  • June 10, 2026
Cost to replace fire trucks continues to rise
3
The home at 5840 Gulf of Mexico Drive sold for $4.5 million. Built in 2022, it has four bedrooms, four-and-two-half baths, a pool and 4,145 square feet of living area.
  • June 10, 2026
Top residential real estate sales for May 25-29 in Longboat, Lido, St. Armands, Bird Key
4
Metal sculptor John Grammer has honed his crafting skills through various stages of his careers in construction and prop work for film. Now, he said he appreciates getting to fine tune the work he presents at shows like last weekend's St. Armands Circle Craft Festival.
  • June 10, 2026
From movies to metal sculpture, local crafter does it all
5
Family and friends helped Out-of-Door Academy graduate Caleb Rodriguez celebrate his academic accomplishments at the May 22 ceremony. Rodriguez will be departing Longboat Key to attend the University of Central Florida to study mechanical engineering.
  • June 10, 2026
Life is a roller coaster, and this graduate wants to engineer it

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