MANATEE COUNTY – County commissioners and officials from the Town of Longboat Key discussed a petition from the Jewfish Key Preservation Association to de-annex Jewfish Key from the town at a joint April 30 meeting.
If the de-annexation is successful, Jewfish Key will become part of unincorporated Manatee County.
“This is a little unusual and I just wanted to place it on your radar,” Longboat Key Town Manager Howard Tipton said to the commission at the April 30 meeting. “There is a possibility you may have an unusual enclave for county services within the Town of Longboat Key.”
“On Jan. 16, 2024, the Town of Longboat Key received a voluntary petition from the Jewfish Key Preservation Association Inc. for the contraction of the island (Jewfish Key) from the municipal boundaries of the town,” Tipton read from a prepared statement. “The homeowners association submitted the request to examine the town’s levels of municipal service and because the town has land use controls that are more restrictive than Manatee County’s. Specifically, the town has a longstanding grandfathered-in land use regulation that restricts the duration of short-term rentals of residential properties for less than 30 days.
“While there is no role for Manatee County in the statutory contraction process, this information is being shared to create awareness of the pending request and the upcoming Town Commission discussion relating to the future of Jewfish Key within the town’s boundaries or as part of unincorporated Manatee County,” Tipton read further.
“I was a little surprised by the name – the Jewfish Key Preservation Association,” County Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge said. “What is it they’re trying to preserve? It seems like a disingenuous name that’s misleading.”
Tipton said he didn’t have an answer to that question and said there has been no communication between the association and the town outside of the petition.
“It does present a challenge,” Van Ostenbridge. “The island has slowly built up over time. There’s no fire hydrant there.”
“There are no utilities that serve the Island,” Tipton said. “It is a well and septic enclave.”
Jewfish Key is the only part of the Town of Longboat Key that is without water and sewer service and any increased density would raise concerns, he said.
“I think there’s a concern for the property owner for any future commercial use which would be their lack of sewer, their lack of potable water, the fact that they’re on well and septic,” Van Ostenbridge said. “I don’t know that the county would be eager or even willing to run sewer. The expense would be exorbitant. They may want to do it at their own expense.”
Florida Statutes require the town to undertake and evaluate a feasibility study within six months of receipt of the petition. The anticipated presentation of the completed feasibility study to the Town Commission is at a public meeting on Monday, June 3 at 1 p.m., Tipton said.
