Commission to vote on Key Club referendum tonight

The Longboat Key Town Commission will decide at its regular meeting at 7 p.m. tonight whether the town’s electorate votes on the future use of the Longboat Key Club’s Islandside property in May.

The commission will vote on second reading and public hearing on a proposed ordinance that would place a referendum question before voters in a May 12 special election that asks whether to allow tourism use on the property.

When the commission approved the ordinance on first reading during a special meeting in December, commissioners discussed the possibility of an all-mail ballot because many residents are out of town during the month of May.

The vote is required as the result of 12th Judicial Circuit Judge Lee Haworth’s 2012 ruling in favor of the Islandside Property Owners Coalition (IPOC) in its lawsuit against the town that challenged code changes the commission approved to clarify a past $400 million proposed Key Club project. That ruling required the town to hold a referendum before allowing any use other than residential within three zoning districts, including the one in which the Islandside property is located.

Delray Beach-based Ocean Properties Ltd., which owns the Key Club, has agreed to pay any costs associated with a special election.

For more information, pick up a Jan. 8 copy of the Longboat Observer.

Contact Robin Hartill at [email protected].