L A I C E P S
The Observer
B U L C Y E K NEWS
Happy Father’s Day!
PROPERTY SOLD
A&E: ALMOST FAMOUS
Longboat Key’s Wicker Inn sells for $4.2 million. PAGE 12A
In this issue Austin Abrams is poised to make the jump to A-list movie star.
LONGBOAT
KEY LIFE 1B
Return trip The Energetic Travelers revisit Dubai .
You. Your Neighbors. Your Neighborhood.
OUR TOWN PEOPLE, PICS & PLACES
THURSDAY, JUNE 17, 2010
islandside project by Kurt Schultheis | City Editor
Dead or Alive? The Town Commission approves a plan the Key Club rejects. Welly: ‘There is no plan B.’
Courtesy photo
Justin Iannello and Maanasi Chandarana
+ Wedding bells will ring in 2012 Justin Iannello, son of Longboat Key residents Dr. Joseph and Karen Iannello, recently got engaged to Maanasi Chandarana, daughter of Dr. Himanshu and Surekha Chandarana, of Pinellas Park. Iannello is a third-year medical student at Kansas City University, in Kansas City, Mo. Chandarana is a thirdyear medical student at Nova Southeastern University, in Fort Lauderdale. The couple plans to marry in 2012 after graduation.
+ Plaza could find slippery slope Manatee County resident Bobby Edington and Whitney Beach Plaza owner Andrew Hlywa have a plan to use the Whitney Beach shopping center as a command center in case oil from the BP spill reaches Longboat Key’s beaches. According to Edington, the plaza’s location and size make it an ideal command center. Edington filed the idea with BP June 10 but has not heard back yet.
INDEX Building Permits......................2B Calendar.................................16A Classifieds.................................8B Cops Corner...........................15A Crossword................................7B Deal Us In................................6B Key Real Estate.......................2B Opinion.....................................6A Vol. 32, No. 47 Three sections www.yourobserver.com
Photos by Brian Blanco
Longboat Key Club and Resort General Manager Michael Welly, left, and Loeb Partners Realty Chief Operating Officer Michael Brody quickly depart Temple Beth Israel after the Town Commission held a vote and ended the Islandside hearing Monday, June 14. Stunning representatives of the Longboat Key Club and Resort, the Longboat Key Town Commission approved Monday, June 14, a renovation-andexpansion project that Key Club Resort officials repeatedly warned would not work. In a 4-3 vote, the majority chose a plan drafted by the town attorney that would require the Key Club to eliminate 70 condominium units from the north side of Longboat Club Road. Club officials said those units are required to finance the project and without them it would not be able to go forward. Afterward, Key Club and Resort General Manager Michael Welly said, “We’re folding up the tents. There is nothing for us to do at this point. There is no plan B. There’s a strong possibility
that our redevelopment is done.” The Monday morning hearing began with the Key Club presenting third revisions to its plans. They were crafted over the weekend after meetings with the town attorney and planning director and representatives of the opposition, the Islandside Property Owners Association. For at least two hours commissioners picked at the revisions — including reducing the land mass of the two golf course condo buildings and the meeting center. But the commissioners did not appear willing to accept the changes. Instead, Mayor George Spoll and Town Attorney David Persson unveiled a redevelopment plan that Persson crafted over the weekend after discussions with Spoll and commis-
sioners. Some of the commissioners had not seen the plan prior to the meeting. It included: • No residential or tourism units built north of Longboat Club Road • Giving the club the option to move the proposed spa and wellness center to the north parcel to accommodate a condominium tower being built on the south parcel. This option would only allow the club to build a maximum of 24 residential units in a seven-story tower over one level of parking and would create a net loss of 46 units for the club. • A contribution of $4 million by the club for the loss of town
See KEY CLUB page 2A
INSIDE: Ω Photos from Monday’s hearing / PAGES 2-3 Ω Timeline of the Longboat Key Club and Resort’s Islandside project / PAGES 4-5 Ω Reactions from members of the Longboat community / PAGE 8 Because of the Longboat Key Club and Resort’s Islandside project hearing decision Monday, June 14, The Longboat Observer was published two days early on Tuesday, June 15.