Chiles Group moves L-shaped historic cottage

The two historic cottages that sat at 521 Broadway St. are in their new locations, but one of them still requires approval from the town to remain.

Crews moved the larger L-shaped cottage early in the morning on Jan. 21 to temporarily sit on cribs at 6920 Gulf of Mexico Drive just north of Whitney Beach Plaza.

Unlike the Longboat Key Historical Society’s move earlier this month of its cottage to the Town Center site, crews did not need to use Gulf of Mexico Drive for the move of the larger cottage. Instead, crews used Palm Drive.

The larger cottage will sit on cribs near its final location via a temporary-use permit approval, according to Planning, Zoning and Building  Director Allen Parsons.

The Chiles Group bought the historic cottage late last year from the Longboat Key Historical Society, and plans to use it instead of building a proposed 300-square-foot office building.

The town’s Planning and Zoning Board must first approve the Chiles Group’s amendment to its site development plan. The P&Z Board’s next meeting is scheduled for Feb. 18.

Whenever the P&Z Board hears the Chiles Group’s proposal, Parsons said the board will review it for compliance with zoning code requirements such as setbacks for the building, percentage of open space and parking lot design standards.

It's unclear what kind of impact, if any, the cottage would have on the parking capacity at 6920 Gulf of Mexico Drive.

The Chiles Group owns Mar Vista Dockside Restaurant, and had initially planned to build a 98-spot parking lot and an office on the land near Broadway and Gulf of Mexico Drive. 

Chiles Group CEO Chuck Wolfe estimates it will cost between $50,000 and $100,000 to establish the cottage on the land on a permanent foundation with utilities.

 Both historic cottages were built in the late 1930s and were among the original structures of Whitney’s Beach Resort.

In November 2020, JB Holding Co. owner James Brearley submitted a $45,000 bid to purchase the larger L-shaped cottage. However, Brearly and a friend did not feel comfortable with the amount of road noise coming from Gulf of Mexico Drive on their preferred lot in Longbeach Village and backed away from the purchase.