OUR VIEW | A seminal moment for LBK

As it turned out, the big issue of the night — underground utility lines — wasn’t the most controversial. 

But it was the biggest.

Biggest in the sense that the town commissioners’ 6-0 vote to conduct two referenda on underground utility lines is a crucial piece in the larger mosaic that is determining the economic future and the quality of life on Longboat Key for the next 30 years.

It was a courageous vote, too. Rather than fall into the political habit of asking one group of taxpayers to subsidize another, commissioners opted to ask voters to fund the project via a 30-year annual assessment rather than through an ad-valorem/property tax. Those properties that have underground utility lines now will not be asked to pay for those who do not have them.

That latter issue lurked Monday night as a deal killer, based on feedback from a small group of residents earlier in the year. But the commissioners were forthright in their unanimous vote not to want to subsidize. (Commissioner Pat Zunz was absent for the vote.)

To be sure, there still is a long way to go. The commission vote Monday night only places on a November 2015 ballot and a March 2016 ballot two questions that will determine whether Longboat Key taxpayers are willing to pay for the installation of underground utility lines. 

What’s next will be the details and thoroughly educating taxpayers — a big job and more important than Monday’s vote. You can be sure that when voters see the costs, they will take notice. The price tags are bigger than anything Longboat Key has ever done: $42.2 million. That includes $23.4 million to lay underground lines the length of Gulf of Mexico Drive; and $18.8 million to convert all of the neighborhoods and side streets that currently do not have them.

And when taxpayers see those dollar amounts, you know what they will be asking: “How will that affect my taxes?” And, “What’s in it for me?”

You can expect the answer to the first question to be disseminated over the next five months. Town consultant Tara Hollis, a CPA and principal at Orlando-based Willdan Financial Services, compiled an extraordinary database that calculates exactly how much each property owner would pay over a 30-year period. Town officials expect to make that database available online.

The answer to the latter question — “What’s in it for me?” — is not as quantitative as the first. But Commissioner Terry Gans, who originally opposed the expense of the underground utility lines, may have summarized it best. “This is an equitable way of doing it,” Gans said. “And it keeps the island at the forefront of all of the Gulf-front communities in Florida.”

It may not be evident to Longboaters now, but 2015 and 2016 are seminal moments for the future of the Key.

It took 60 years to create LBK’s codes; patience, all, on the time to fix them

If you have the unfortunate occasion to confront Longboat Key’s zoning codes, building regulations, land-development codes and comprehensive plan, it doesn’t take long to become artist Edvard Munch’s “The Scream.”

Anyone who has ever dealt with Longboat Key zoning issues wants to do exactly that — scream bloody murder. The codes are so confusing and so exasperating, they drive you mad.

Perhaps the best way to illustrate how twisted, onerous and exasperating they are is to remember that it took the former owners of the Longboat Key Club and Resort $2 million, four years, a lawsuit and a judge’s ruling to be told the codes would not allow the Key Club to develop non-residential units on its Islandside property. And after that, it took voters a few weeks ago finally to clarify the law.

So when taxpayers and the Longboat Key Town Commission become frustrated or scoff at how long it is taking the town administration and its consultants to rewrite the town zoning and development codes, a lot of slack should be extended. It took 60 years to create that zoning monstrosity. As the saying goes, they didn’t build or destroy Rome in a day. 

What’s more, based on what we’ve heard from town officials, leading zoning experts from around the state and elsewhere, who have been consulted to help unravel and reconstruct the codes, have all said: “You all have a mess on that island.”

But there’s hope and, apparently, progress. Particularly in the sensitive areas of redevelopment and that arcane subject of non-conforming lots. Here’s why it matters to every Longboat Key residential property owner: The framers of this rewriting process may have cracked the code on how to allow the Key’s old condominium properties to be redeveloped according to modern standards (e.g. with higher ceilings or slightly larger units) and still maintain close to the same density on the island.

It’s complicated, to be sure.

Here’s the existing dilemma:

In 1984, Longboat Key voters approved a cap on the town’s residential density. One of the consequences was the creation of zoning districts with restrictions on units per acre. With that, virtually every existing condominium and hotel property on the Key became non-conforming. Although grandfathered, they had too many units on their site. Which meant, if the condominium owners ever wanted to redevelop, they would have to reduce the number of units on the site. 

Figure that one out.

Of course, one of the consequences of this zoning is it drove up the value of property. But one of the unintended consequences of that density vote was this: None of the properties would ever be redeveloped because owners would never want to give up existing units and density.

In 2008, however, thanks to former Commissioner Randy Clair’s initiatives, town voters approved a charter referendum that would allow condominiums and resorts to be rebuilt to their existing density in the event weather or some other calamity destroyed them — in spite of still not conforming to town codes.

That was progress. 

But that vote still didn’t correct the fact just about every condo, apartment or resort on Longboat Key remained “non-conforming.”

According to Alaina Ray, the town’s director of planning, zoning and building, framers writing a new code are devising a method that would:

• Create 16 new zoning categories (That sounds like a lot. But look at it this way: That means there will be more flexibility);

• Convert all properties to “conforming” status;

• Allow properties to be redeveloped with modern standards and amenities;

• Provide some leeway with slightly increased density allowances to create financial incentive and relief, albeit small, for condominiums to redevelop.

To be sure, the final details will matter. Suffice it to say, rather than rag on the town administration for this process taking so long, put it in context, and put yourself in the shoes of those challenged with rewriting the code.

Think what it takes to solve this conundrum: To simplify Longboat Key’s screaming “mess” of zoning codes in a way that creates economic incentives to redevelop outdated properties and maintains what has been almost inviolable for 30 years — Longboat Key’s current densities. It’s no easy task. 

There are a lot of bromides that fit this situation. Teddy Roosevelt’s: “Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty …” Or that of W. Edwards Deming, the father of quality manufacturing: “Do it right the first time.”

With this emerging scheme to help redevelopment, we should be patient and optimistic.

… Leading zoning experts who have been consulted to help unravel and reconstruct Longboat’s codes have all said: “You all have a mess on that island.”

 

“It keeps the island at the forefront of all of the Gulf-front communities in Florida.”

— Terry Gans