Simpson recommends ‘No’ for Key Club plan

Longboat Key’s Planning Director summed up the effect of the Key Club’s requested departures as producing ‘inappropriate bulk, mass and scale’ at Islandside.

STEVE REID
Editor & Publisher
sreid@lbknews.com

Longboat Key Planning and Zoning Director Monica Simpson issued a searing staff report that recommends denial of the Longboat Key Club’s application as submitted.

“The proposed redevelopment too drastically departs from the intent and criteria of the applicable sections of the code,” wrote Simpson in her analysis of the amended application.

Simpson’s role is to act as the town’s professional paid expert in determining compliance with its zoning and land-use regulations. What is at stake is the outcome of a public process that was started more than a year ago in considering the redevelopment of The Longboat Key Club’s Islandside Development on southern tip of Longboat Key.

The Key Club proposes a $400 million redevelopment at Islandside with more than 200 condo units, a hotel with condos atop, a fitness center and spa and a conference center.

The Town Commission is slated to consider the Key Club’s redevelopment plan June 7, and Simpson’s analysis is her culmination in considering the Key Club’s application against the recently amended zoning code.

Although the code amendments passed make the Key Club application more in harmony with Town Code, the size and scale of the proposal are still at a threshold of non-compliance that Simpson points out on numerous occasions.

Simpson said that while some of the concerns she had with the proposal were addressed by the Key Club, most were not addressed completely. She also said the manner in which they addressed the issues often resulted in the creation of a new concern or problem.

“This is indicative of a redevelopment proposal that would result in a site that is potentially overbuilt: too massive, too intense, too dense,” said Simpson.

Simpson also writes that much of the difficulty involved in reviewing the Key Club’s request is because a full site plan, with all the details associated with a site plan review, does not accompany the redevelopment application.

Simpson was not all negative by any means. She writes: “It should be made abundantly clear that staff is not opposed to the general mix of land uses that are proposed for the redevelopment. Rather, it is the magnitude of the land uses and the manner in which the interrelationship of the land uses is designed.”

Simpson cites the hotel meeting center, spa fitness center, golf clubhouse and residential units all as compatible and consistent in the zoning district. But she said the following issues force her to not recommend approval:

Magnitude of departures
Simpson writes that on Longboat Key, departures have generally allowed minor adjustments to the zoning code to create a better outcome relative to another code requirement or to address a unique character issue associated with the subject parcel. Simpson said that the proposed Key Club redevelopment requested a total of 25 departures that she says when taken as a whole, “Will result in overbuilt parcels that are not consistent with the intent of the planned unit developments as outlined above.”

Simpson cites the applicant’s requesting a departure from the allowable height limit of 50 feet to 129 feet. Additionally, the applicant wants to increase the allowable lot coverage from 15 percent to more than 36 percent. Simpson writes that usually with a departure in height, one would see a corresponding decrease in lot coverage. But in the Key Club plan a departure is being requested in both directions. Simpson sums up the effect of the requested departures as producing “inappropriate bulk, mass and scale.”

For Islandside Property Owners’ Coalition President Bob White, who is opposed to the size and scale of the redevelopment plan, Simpson’s report is a positive.

“Simpson has brought a voice of reason and logical thought. She is recommending denial for practically all the reasons we have said are problems,“ said White. “I think the Town Commission will be very hard pressed to approve the plan based on her analysis. She has called attention to fact that there are too many departures.”

Comprehensive Plan issues
Simpson concluded that the redevelopment proposal is inconsistent with the town’s Comprehensive Plan by not including adequate recreation and open space. The driving range on the golf course is eliminated to allow more development.

Simpson also writes that the proposed separation of associated uses by Longboat Club Road does not provide for a cohesive redevelopment site. In short, the plan as proposed is to have the hotel and meeting center separated by Longboat Club Road. Simpson says the roadway impedes the functionality and inter-connectivity of the two uses. Simpson writes that the requested departure for density on the south parcel is extreme.

Town commissioners were each delivered a copy of Simpson’s staff report Friday, May 28.

When the Town Commission convenes to consider the proposal, it has many options. Commissioners could heed Simpson’s recommendations and deny the proposal or vote in support of a less intensive proposal. The commission could also, while understanding Simpson’s concerns, vote in support of the plan.

Ultimately, the overriding mandate for the commissioners is to do what each believes is in the best interest in furthering the health, safety and welfare of the community.

For some, that means adding economic stimulus as quickly as possible to the community. While that is not supposed to be a factor in land-use determination in the GPD, economic stimulus has been cited as one of the main concerns by many in the community. For others, keeping in scale is seen as maintaining compatibility with surrounding residential areas.

In the end the commission can craft an approval that differs from the application. Or the commission has the option to say “yes” or “no” to the plan as submitted. If the answer is “no,” then the process is back to square one. If “yes,” the plan moves forward to second reading in June.