Town presents formal denial of proposal to build four homes in Longbeach Village

It appears a proposal to replace six apartments with four standalone homes in the Longbeach Village neighborhood is dead.

On Monday, the Longboat Key Town Commission formally presented its order of denial to Cypress Cash’s proposal to build one home on Broadway Street and three others on Longboat Drive North using provision of the town’s Conformance Overlay Redevelopment District.

“The Town Commission found that it was not in the best interest of the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of Longboat Key to amend the Town’s Comprehensive Plan as requested by the Applicant,” the denial states, referring specifically to polices regarding compatibility, neighborhood and Town character.”

Commissioners voted 7-0 to deny a land-use change request and 7-0 again on a zoning-change request.

“The first order is a legislative denial.” Town Attorney Maggie Mooney said. “We don’t normally necessarily need a written order, but it doesn’t hurt us to have it, and it’s much more vanilla and doesn’t specify all the findings of fact and conclusions of law.”

During the Town Commission’s Nov. 1 meeting, commissioners found the developer did not meet three of the CORD review criteria:

• Consistency with the intent of the CORD;
• Whether the request is compatible with the character of the surrounding area, which is the Longbeach Village neighborhood in this case;
• Whether development is not contrary to the interests of the town and/or does not adversely impact or affect the public interest

Mooney explained to commissioners why formal denials are necessary.

“The reason for the written denials is because for rezoning requests, which is your second denial, it requires by Florida law that we have a written order of denial with specificity stating the facts in the law that justify the basis,” Mooney said. “The first order of denial on the comprehensive plan is a precursor to the second, which is required by the way in which they applied for this particular rezoning application.”

Cypress Cash has 30 days to appeal the town’s decision in circuit court. Last week, attorney Richard Lawrence of SRQ Property Law wrote in an email to the Longboat Observer that he did not have any comments on what his client planned to do.

Lawrence and attorney Robert Lincoln did not attend Monday’s special meeting held by the Town Commission. However, Icard Merrill Attorney David Levin was in attendance. Levin represents two property owners directly adjacent to the denied site at 551 Broadway Street and 7009 and 7017 Longboat Drive North.

“We do not know whether or not this will be appealed,” Mooney told commissioners. “If it is appealed, it could conceivably come back to you in some form.”

Many Longbeach Village residents told the commissioners earlier this month they did not want to see Cypress Cash’s plan approved with four homes, but were amenable to a smaller-scale project.

Manatee County property records show 551 Broadway St. was built in 1946, with a renovation in 1981. It was initially called Lerfald Landing. Including the two Longboat Drive North addresses, the property is about 0.45 acres.

Longboat Key’s CORD process, approved in 2019, provides a way for owners of properties that no longer conform to town planning standards to rebuild in a way that meets modern-day market expectations.