We are willing to ignore, twist, bend and break our rules for certain VIP applicants, while the bottom feeders get treated as if they have no standing or significance — they are the Rosa Parks of our business community.

What is occurring on Longboat Key involving the Key Club litigation could be a very costly zero-sum game. Since the commissioners have once again unanimously decided to adhere to their stance on the Key Club expansion proposal, they have created a situation where a developer stands to gain tens of millions of dollars from government-sponsored added value to what is currently golf course acreage. By doing so, the town government has inadvertently placed a huge financial burden on some residents, as they are now in the position of having to protect the value of their property.

Snowbirds returning to our island paradise undoubtedly know that things remain unsettled in the Middle East and that in Iraq the Shias and Sunnis are still killing each other because of a disagreement over the proper way to worship Allah.

The IPOC/Loeb Realty Partners decision gives the town the opportunity to retake control of their own destiny. The proposal by Loeb for a $400 million extravaganza of condos, hotels and a conference center was too much for a group of untrained community volunteers to assimilate so they just said ‘yes’ without considering the full extent of their folly.

The Longboat Key Club redevelopment approval has been overturned in a Sarasota courtroom, and both Town Attorney Dave Persson and Key Club attorney John Patterson are confident an appeal would be met with success for a number of reasons.

The judge in the case of the IPOC against the major expansion of the Longboat Key Club has been rendered and probably to no one’s surprise, the judge came down on the side of the residents. There are many facets to this decision but a basic one is the issue I have been pounding at from the beginning; how can the Town Commission allow an individual developer to come in and walk all over the great majority of the adjacent landowners when the codes say otherwise?

Florida Circuit Court Judge Charles Roberts called the entire effort by the Longboat Key Town Commission, including ignoring existing building codes and the town’s Comprehensive Plan, “a miscarriage of justice.” He is right. The commission did this in order to grant Loeb Partners the right to expand onto protected PUD (Planned Unit Development) land, and thus abridge the property rights of Islandside property owners for Loeb Partners’ exclusive profit.

The Longboat Key Club redevelopment approval has been overturned in a Sarasota courtroom. On Friday, Dec. 30, 12th Judicial Circuit Court Judge Charles E. Roberts entered an “Order Granting Petition for Certiorari” which granted IPOC’s petition for certiorari against the Town of Longboat Key’s approval of Key Club’s development proposal. Judge Roberts found for IPOC on all of its claims, quashed the ordinance and remanded the matter back to the Town for action consistent with his ruling.

This is the order by Judge Charles E. Roberts qaushing the Longboat Key Club development order with instructions on what the Town must do as a remedy.

The Islandside Property Owner’s Coalition (IPOC) has been busy this year trying to undo the town’s passing of the Key Club’s redevelopment application. According to IPOC President Bob White, the coalition filed a motion in December to amend the de-novo complaint, dropping counts that the development order was inconsistent with the town’s Comprehensive Plan. IPOC maintains [...]