Conversation with: David Lapovsky

It might be weeks before David Lapovsky sits with his six new colleagues for his first Planning & Zoning Board meeting, but his name should be familiar to both sides of the dais.

Before his nomination and approval to the board by the Town Commission earlier this month, the retired market research executive with Arbitron was a vocal opponent, along with the Preserve Longboat group, of the early version of a redevelopment plan for the Colony Beach & Tennis Resort. Today, he says the scaled-down plan is good for the town, and that the public process worked.

In our conversation, he said he has not even thought about elected service and thinks the island is a place “worth preserving.’’

What got you involved in opposing the Colony proposal?  I got involved in Preserve Longboat because the original proposal was something like 418 units on a piece of property that is zoned for 96 and by right for 237 — 418 was a gross overreach. I realized then there was something about this place that was worth preserving. Coincidentally, around that time, we went to a meeting in Hollywood, Fla., and it’s a classic concrete canyon. And I said, “That’s what developers could do on Longboat Key,” and I wanted to see what could be done to preserve the low-density, lowish-rise character of Longboat.

What brought you to Longboat Key in the first place? A lot of things brought us here, but there was something about the balance of less density and nice beach amenities. If you go to Siesta, it’s dense. There’s something about the character of Longboat Key and the emptiness of the beach that brought us here. And I think it brought a lot of people here. And I’d like to do my part to help maintain that in an intelligent way. That doesn’t mean no development. It means “intelligent” in keeping with the character of the island.

What started you thinking about public service?  I tend to gravitate toward things that need a little bit more of my mental capacity. And I’ve also sort of wanted to do public service in my own way, and my own way has been leadership of condominium boards. In that process, I’ve gotten involved in some issues related to planning and land use.

Is this appointment a  natural progression? A natural progression? I’d say it was a progression, in that it got me interested. I had never attended a planning meeting (here) before Preserve Longboat. So I guess you can say it got me interested in the process. And as I got interested in the process, I learned some of the issues.

Does it take planning expert to serve? Expert? I hope not. I certainly hope not. We’re blessed in this community to have, I think, a lot of people who are qualified who have chosen to come here from fields in which they have tremendous expertise, and some of those were planning. This was my third time being considered for the planning board, and I will tell you the candidates who were chosen ahead of me have a lot to offer. I would like to think a citizen without a lot of in-depth training and background has something to offer. I’ll buy you a cup of coffee in a year and you can ask me that question again.

How important is the notion of redevelopment? I’m by no means immersed in the subject. I do know I have a lot of respect for the work the Town Commission and the planning and zoning staff and board have done to take steps to prepare us for the eventual need to rebuild some of these properties. It seems to me to be a good step in the right direction.

What do you bring to the table? I do have an understanding of land-use law. I don’t want sound completely naïve. I believe in fact-based decision making. Cut to the core of the issues. Eliminate the fluff and the noise and make a decision on facts. That’s what I did in my business career, that’s what I do in my condominium board work, that’s what I did on the planning board in New Jersey, and that’s what I hope to do on Longboat Key.

Are you interested in elected office?  Never even crossed my mind.