Lenobel, Welly reach accord
STEPHEN REID
Editor & Publisher
sreid@lbknews.com
Longboat Key Town Commissioner Hal Lenobel and Longboat Key Club General Manager Michael Welly reached an accord that will allow guests of the proposed hotel to play at the Islandside golf course, a facet intrinsic to the success of the planned 5-star hotel.
If ratified by fellow commissioners, this agreement will successfully amend what is known as the Stipulated Final Judgment, and allow guests to use the Islandside golfing facilities with a series of restrictions.
The move, said Lenobel, protects existing members and their right to tee times, yet will allow hotel guests access and reasonable advance tee time requests.
At issue is the fact that the current stipulation governing the golf course and the Islandside Gulf Planned Development would not permit hotel guest play unless amended. Lenobel, early on in the proceedings, made it clear that if an agreement that protects the nearly 1,000 current members is not in place, he could not consider voting in support of the plan. Welly and Lenobel reached the agreement in the afternoon of Feb. 11.
The details were sent via memorandum to Town Attorney David Persson, who forwarded the proposed conditions to the Town Clerk at 7:45 p.m. and thereby fellow commissioners for consideration at Friday’s meeting on Feb. 12.
The following is the exact wording of the proposed conditions that Lenobel said Welly has agreed upon:
Guests of the ‘new’ hotel, including conference guests, are solely involved with amended agreement.
1. These guests can play at Islandside only.
2. These guests can make advance tee times one day in advance (members have 3 days and Inn at the Beach have 2 days).
3. Guests of new hotel are permitted to play Islandside on any day, providing all 45 holes are open for member usage. The only occasion where more than one-day advance is the case where the hotel has a scheduled shotgun tournament scheduled for a group of more than 50 guests registered to play. In this case, membership must be provided with advance notice to exceed more than one month that Islandside will be closed to members on that date.
4. One Commissioner or the Town Manager, approved by the Loeb group and the Town Commission, shall have the right to examine the extent of all play on the golf courses. (This person will be called Liaison to Club by Town)
5. Finding failure to enforce the agreement will result in no non-members being permitted to play on Longboat Key Club courses.
Lenobel and Welly arriving at this agreement could resolve what for many Club members is a contentious issue. Lenobel said that while the Club is proposing a driving warm-up area, the loss of the driving range is unfortunate, but appears an impossibility given the constraints of the plan.
Special workshop scheduled
As is now known, the Town attorney will likely request a continuation of the hearings Friday, Feb. 12 so Town staff, the Islandside Property Coalition, Road Association and Citizens for Positive Change can study and react to the plan before opining on the revamped proposal next week.
But the Commission will have an opportunity to have a legislative discussion, which allows the commissioners to speak with the public and each other about two issues more freely at a Special Workshop scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on Friday morning, Feb. 12.
The first of two issues on the agenda, the Stipulated Final Judgment would need to be amended in some fashion if guests of the proposed Hotel at the Key Club are to be allowed to use the golf facilities. Currently, they would not be permitted under the Stipulation.
Also under consideration at the Special Meeting is the question of amending the 1979 Open Space Agreement to allow uses currently being proposed by the Key Club.
Lenobel and Welly’s proposed agreement, if accepted by fellow commissioners, would effectively solve the Stipulated Final Judgment debate and put to rest what could have been a deal-breaking point of contention said Lenobel.
Path to decision
Town Attorney David Persson also suggested in a Feb. 9 memo what exactly the Town Commission has to do step-by-step to either approve or disapprove the application.
Here is Town Attorney Persson letter to help guide the Commission through its decision-making process:
“Dear Mayor Rothenberg and Commissioners:
I thought it would be beneficial to provide you with an outline of items that need to be addressed in order for the Town Commission to approve or disapprove the Key Club’s Application as currently constituted.
In order to approve the Application, the Town Commission will need to, as a legislative matter:
a) amend the 1979 Open Space Agreement to allow the uses currently contemplated by Key Club; and
b) amend the Stipulated Final Judgment to allow guests at the new hotel to utilize the golf course facilities.
Regarding the quasi-judicial application for Amendment to the Outline Development Plan, the Town Commission would need to find that:
a) the Application is consistent with the Town’s current Comprehensive Plan;
b) the Application is consistent with the Town’s current land development regulations; including the specific findings required under the PUD regulations that include, but are not limited to, the criteria that must be met for departures;
c) the conditions of approval sufficiently mitigate adverse impacts of the development and are sufficient to meet the requirements of the Comprehensive Plan;
d)there is competent substantial evidence of record to support the findings of the Commission and the conclusions it reaches, including but not limited to the evidence from the Applicant to show that it has met its burden to provide sufficient justification for the departures it seeks; and
e) the Applicant approves the ordinance with conditions within thirty (30) days of rendition (second reading).
In order for the Town Commission to deny the Application, the Town Commission can do combinations of the following:
a) deny an amendment to he 1979 Open Space Agreement;
b) deny an amendment to the Stipulated Final Judgment (a and b are both legislative acts);
c) find the Application as presented to be inconsistent with the Town’s Comprehensive Plan;
d) find the Application to be inconsistent with the Town’s land development regulations;
e) find that the burden for justification of departures has not been met;
f) find that the criteria for granting the departures has not been met; or
g) attach conditions to the approval to which the Applicant will not agree.
As we have discussed, once the Town Commission reaches its deliberations, I will provide you, as needed, with my analysis and opinion concerning any legal aspect of these proceedings. Should you have any questions, please contact me.”
David Persson
Town Attorney
Longboat Key Club Attorney John Patterson and Town of Longboat Key Planning, Zoning and Building Director Monica Simpson described the changes that have evolved in the past week of intense discussion between Key Club planners and Town staff.
“We looked at this all along to lessen the objections from the IPOC group. The main thing was the height of the buildings on the golf course,” explained Patterson.
“It was Al Hixon on the Town’s Planning and Zoning Board who liked what we were proposing yet in reaction to protests he said ‘couldn’t you eliminate a building and go higher on the hotel?’”
“Al also brought out the idea that ‘if this is so objectionable, why not move the density over to the lagoon side,’ and so we started looking at that,” continued Patterson. “We looked at all kinds of configurations.”
The most significant change in the revamped plan is the reduction of two proposed golf course condominium towers from nine stories to five. Patterson said that should help alleviate any impact to views, one of the major concerns IPOC has with the project. The lost units would be built along the lagoon to the South, closer to Lighthouse Point.
The revamped proposal adds about 17 units to the proposed hotel, which Patterson said literally ensures its construction.
“Now, there is no way to make the project viable without building the hotel in the Key Club project. By shifting density you have to build the hotel. The hotel units are destined to be the most valuable units,” said Patterson.
Details of the modified plan are as follows:
• Reduction of the two golf course condos from nine stories (each seven-story residential units over two stories of parking) to four stories of residences over one story of parking each.
• The addition of two residential condo villas with 18 units total on the lagoon
• Moving the gate house further west, away from GMD
• Reducing the curb cuts on Key Club Drive from eight to six
• Reducing net density (number of condo units) by about 20 from a total of 176 to 156.
• Adding up to three stories of condo residences to the hotel
The planned hotel is slated for where the existing tennis courts just west of the Charthouse are located. The conference center and parking garage is where the current driving range lies.
Patterson credits some of the input from the Town’s planning and zoning board, in particular Al Hixon, who suggested increasing the hotel height and reducing the condo towers’ impact.
IPOC apprised through counsel
IPOC President Bob White said late Thursday evening that while reducing the height of the towers is a definite move in the right direction, IPOC was not directly involved in the discussions and slowly learned through the week through its attorney, Mike Furen, of the evolving modifications.
“It’s dribbled in over the week through our attorneys what the discussion has been,” said White. He continued: “We have not been involved in this. Their attorneys have kept us apprised. They did ask for input on it and I indicated some things that would be required for us to support the plan. They have addressed height and that is important. But they have added to the hotel. I have not talked to our group yet and the residents at Lighthouse Point. The hotel and villas will impact them. I do not think it will be well received at Lighthouse Point. I question how the Commission will react to such a massive plan.”
Both Patterson and White agree that the proposed modifications to the roadway and re-location of the gate house further west will help the development function more cohesively. It will allow traffic destined for the golf course, which will include members from the community at large, to avoid stopping at the gate. A proposed reduction in curb cuts from eight to six is also being proffered.
Not yet blessed by staff
Simpson said the Key Club made definite progress in some areas, but she still has reservations and sees conflicts with codes and is not ready to bless the proposal.
One area of increasing concern for Simpson is the proposed elimination of the driving range. Part of the Commission’s decision, said Simpson, is to decide what is in the overall ‘best interest’ of the Town at large. At issue is whether granting density and departures is compensated by a revamped golf course or exacerbated by losing the driving range, which she says might be construed as a significant component of the golf course and a popular recreational amenity for Longboat golfers.
Simpson said she is going to recommend the Town Commission hire an independent golf expert to opine on the true significance for golfers regarding a driving range or lack thereof.
Patterson says that the Key Club is constrained with only 110 acres to redevelop a course and that it is not possible, however configured, to develop a driving range.
“Ideally we would have 140 acres to work with. But we have been assured by expert course designers that the golfing experience will be complete and the course will be a vast improvement,” said Patterson.
Simpson questions if that reasoning will be enough to justify losing what now is in place.
Commissioner Hal Lenobel has suggested using one of the proposed water hazards as an aqua driving range, but Patterson said the tight configuration of the course precludes the idea. Patterson did say the Club is completely willing to negotiate the usage agreements and details to help preserve the rights of members and sooth worries over access and priority of tee times.
Lenobel also has called for a guarantee that if the Islandside course is open to hotel guests, all 45 holes of the Harbourside Course must be operational for members.
For Simpson, the compromise and all the time spent is a move in the right direction. She takes the stance that “if we are going to do it, let’s do it right.”
But Simpson adds that she still has issues with the gate house and the mass and overall scale of the buildings. Simpson says she does not base her conclusions on public opinion and sentiment. She says the application of the Town codes and land regulations is paramount. Ultimately, the revised plan does not increase open space and does not decrease the land intensity or the scale of the project. It does remove some of the fundamental obstacles such as the view corridor issue for some Islandside residents and the improvement of traffic circulation.
White said IPOC wants reductions.
“We want to see the number of units reduced to what would be needed to finance the project, which is about a four to one ration of condos to hotel rooms,” said White. “Both The Four Seasons and Ritz Carlton used a 4 to 1 ratio,” he added.
White calculates that with 196 hotel rooms you would need 50 condo units to serve as financing. He suggests if the Key Club deleted the golf course towers entirely from the plan, they could place 34 on the hotel and two villas with six and four respectively for total of 44. We suggested adding a floor to hotel and using their figures that equals 17 condos more. It gets them to 61.”
The Key Club proposal prior to the revised plan requested 176 condo units. The latest compromise reduces the number to 156.
Simpson is due on Friday to describe the changes and alternatives and the considerations the modifications bring to the Commission. Patterson said he expects Friday’s meeting to be brief and will ask for a consensus or indication that the board likes what they see and that the Club is moving in the right direction.
He said the Key Club and the Town can then finalize and refine the plan and IPOC and the Road Association can weigh in as well. He will ask that the plan then be brought back at the next day slated for hearings, Feb. 12.
Patterson anticipates that if the Commission is amenable to the plan in February, the process on voting on the plan will likely be broken into several decisions starting with a vote on whether the proposal is in compliance with the Town’s Comprehensive Plan.
Next, he said a vote on whether the proposal is compliant with constraints and parameters of Town Code would be likely, followed by a final vote on the binding concept plan itself.
Both Patterson and the Town Attorney say the process, whichever way it goes, should be over prior to the election of a new Commission in March.
White says he and IPOC are not in favor of any delays.
“I prefer this be expedited and decided as soon as possible. It will be very awkward to split the decision between two Commissions,” said White.
Commissioners have told Longboat Key News that they will not tolerate a delay that serves the purpose of stalling a decision to a newly elected Commission. Two commissioners said that they will halt any attempt to stall the process if the Key Club hopes to get in front of newly elected commissioners.
By the same token, Patterson said the Key Club does not wish to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars modifying its plans if the Commission clearly is not interested.
“What we want is a sense of direction that we will not be wasting time and a $100,000 more in expense to get to them a modified plan ready to vote on by Feb. 12,” said Patterson.
“We are going to ask for a consensus that they give serious consideration to the new modifications.”
