P&Z Board approves development plan for Buccaneer Restaurant

The Longboat Key Planning and Zoning Board unanimously approved a site development plan and a special exception for the proposed Buccaneer Restaurant.

Tampa-based Columbia Restaurant Group President Richard Gonzmart, partner Jeffrey Shannon and Matthew Campo of Campo Engineering Inc. spoke before the P&Z Board on Friday morning. Gonzmart said the Buccaneer Restaurant will pay homage to his late father. 

“This is the last major project I will do in my career,” Gonzmart said.

The proposed restaurant is at 4120 Gulf of Mexico Drive just north of Bayfront Park and just south of Harbour Square commercial center, which the Columbia owners bought in September 2017. It is the former site of Pattigeorge’s, which was demolished in June 2018.

The plan is to build a 196-seat restaurant.

Because the Buccaneer restaurant submitted its application to the town in April 2020 before the June 2020 restaurant parking changes took effect, the project is subject to the town’s previous parking rules. It means instead of requiring one parking space for every 150 square feet of floor area, the Buccaneer must have one parking spot for every four seats.

With 196 seats, the Buccaneer Restaurant will need 49 parking spots instead of the 101 that would be required under the new parking rules.

The town calculated 101 parking spaces using 15,161 total square feet of the combined restaurant area and outdoor dining areas. Town leaders sought to revise the rules in response to complaints over parking on Broadway Street. Objections focused on restaurants not being required to account for parking of patrons waiting for tables.

P&Z Chair David Green mentioned how if the Buccaneer Restaurant wanted to undergo renovations or modifications, such redevelopment could trigger the new parking rules.

“I’m trying to look at it from a perspective of, one: putting them on notice that if you want to do certain types of modifications, that’s going to trigger parking requirements,” Green said. “But on the other hand, certain changes that seem like an onerous result.”

P&Z Board members did express concerns about the overflow of parking, especially considering the proximity to free parking at Bayfront Park.

Shannon said the Columbia Restaurant Group has parking challenges it has addressed throughout the establishments it owns in the region.

“We are very creative about solving those problems, so I really this is as not a challenge that we are throwing at your feet to solve for us,” Shannon said. “This is a challenge that we’ve known about since we acquired this property in Longboat Key a number of years ago.”

Planning, Zoning and Building staff added a condition stating the Buccaneer group must submit an overflow parking plan before the town will issue a building permit.

“Overflow restaurant parking shall not create a nuisance or unsafe conditions to area property, including, but not limited to town property,” the condition reads.

The town must accept the plan and it must address overflow using “multiple mitigating approaches,” including water taxis; employee parking; valet, delivery and take out parking; patron parking; ride share and “other mobility solutions.”

A total of 19 parking spaces will be located underneath the restaurant building, which will be built on an elevation because it lies on a FEMA-defined flood zone.

The restaurant has restored 10 boat slips with the intention to add six more, according to Campo. The boat slips could also help to alleviate vehicular traffic.

“That is a driving force of this project,” Shannon said of the boat slips.

The P&Z Board also approved a special exception to allow an elevator shaft that exceeds the maximum height by 3 feet and outdoor dining. The maximum height is normally 30 feet for buildings.

Shannon did not put a timetable for when the Buccaneer Restaurant would plan to open. However, Campo estimated the group would submit documents to acquire a building permit in about two years.

New P&Z Board members sworn in

The P&Z Board swore in three new members on Friday morning: Paul Hylbert and Margaret Nuzzo are set to serve three-year terms. Michael Warnstedt is set to serve a one-year term.

“I want to welcome everyone in, especially our new members being sworn in,” Chair David Green said.

Hylbert and Warnstedt attended Friday’s meeting in person while Nuzzo participated using Zoom.

The P&Z Board unanimously voted to reappoint Green as chair of the P&Z Board. The board also voted unanimously to appoint David Lapovsky to serve as vice chair and Jay Plager as secretary.

On Friday, the P&Z Board also congratulated Planning, Zoning and Building senior office manager Donna Chipman to celebrate her 34th year working for the town.

“She was 4 years old when she started,” P&Z Board member Lapovsky joked.