—The battle over the St. Regis Longboat Key Resort’s beachfront archway reached a boiling point on March 17, resulting in the town’s Planning and Zoning Board officially recommending a denial of the ordinances designed to save the structure.
What began as a highly technical hearing over “private groin signs” quickly dissolved into a fiery, philosophical showdown. Accusations of “legal gymnastics,” fears of turning Longboat Key into the “Jersey Beach,” and a real-time fact-check over hurricane survival dominated the room.
Ultimately, the board voted to recommend the Town Commission deny both Ordinance 2026-07 and 2026-08, delivering a significant blow to the resort’s attempt to retroactively legalize the 14-foot metallic arch constructed over the Gulf of Mexico.
—The Public Safety Argument Fails
To circumvent strict local sign codes, town staff and the resort’s legal counsel leaned on a specific legal strategy: claiming the archway serves a “public safety purpose” by identifying the responsible entity (St. Regis) for emergency responders.
The board wasn’t buying it.
Board Member David Lapovsky called the justification exactly what he thought it was. “The explanation, the justification for this being public safety responses is kind of silly,” Lapovsky stated bluntly during the hearing. “When I read that in the material, I put BS in the margin because it was so obviously bull.”
Brenda L. Patten, an attorney with Berlin Patten Ebling representing St. Regis developer Unicorp, candidly acknowledged that the safety argument was primarily a legal maneuver to satisfy state law, which requires a “public purpose” for legislative zoning changes.
“The courts have said if the board approving such an ordinance has any public purpose… the courts will accept that determination,” Patten explained. “You can have a hundred people in the audience saying, ‘We hate this. It’s terrible. It’s ruining my property values.’ The court doesn’t care. If there’s one legitimate public purpose in the ordinance, the court can ignore everybody who says this sucks.”
—A Clash of Visions: “Tasteful” vs. “The Jersey Beach”
The debate deeply divided the board on what Longboat Key’s aesthetic future should look like.
Unicorp President and CEO Chuck Whittall pleaded with the board to view the arch not as advertising, but as a world-class amenity for a five-diamond resort. “It’s recording a memory,” Whittall said, noting that guests frequently use the arch for engagements and sunset photos. “I don’t think I’ve heard one single guest or one person who’s been there say they don’t like it.”
St. Regis Hotel Manager Cara Hardman delivered an emotional defense of the structure, calling her team “memory makers” and displaying photos of proposals and families under the arch. “It’s not just an arch or a sign. It’s the commemoration of life’s best moments,” she said.
Board Member S. Jay Plager emphatically agreed, offering his full support for the resort. “This particular sign is tasteful and I congratulate the gentleman who developed it,” Plager noted. “The die was cast back then to have a major commercial entity established on our otherwise little residential island… this little bit of archway and sign shouldn’t come as a surprise to anybody.”
But Board Member Nicholas Gladding led the fierce opposition, warning of a slippery slope where other waterfront resorts like Zota would demand their own massive beachfront signs.
“I don’t think it’s good policy. I think it’s bad policy for us as a board to do this,” Gladding warned. “We don’t want to see Longboat Key turn into the Jersey Beach.”
—The Hurricane Fact-Check
Tensions further flared when developers attempted to praise the arch’s structural integrity. During his presentation, Whittall noted the arch was built to withstand 150 mph winds and claimed it had already survived Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
He was quickly fact-checked from the dais. The board pointed out that the hurricanes devastated the Gulf Coast in September 2024, but the arch wasn’t erected until August 2025.
“The statement that it survived two hurricanes is just false,” the Chair corrected. Whittall apologized, stating he had been misinformed by his team.
—Residents Push Back on “Developer Overreach”
Local residents also took to the podium, urging the board to hold the line against corporate exceptions.
Former Town Commissioner Maureen Merrigan characterized the ordinances as “legal gymnastics to carve out an exception” to the town code. “The problem that’s being asked to be solved was actually self-created,” Merrigan argued. “If we make this kind of exception or carve out, the next developer or business walks in and says they got one, and they will be right.”
Diane Canny, a resident of neighboring Beach Place, echoed the frustration of locals. “It’s a developer overreach on a private, unique groin,” she said, raising concerns about metallic glare and the precedent it sets for the island’s pristine beaches.
—The Outcome
Despite the impassioned pleas from St. Regis leadership, the Planning and Zoning Board ultimately refused to play ball.
Calling the proposed code amendments a “convoluted and silly process,” Board Member Paul Hylbert joined Gladding and Lapovsky in voting against the measures. The board ultimately passed motions to recommend denial of the sign code amendment (3-2) and the zoning text amendment (4-1).
The St. Regis arch is not ordered for removal just yet. The board’s votes are strictly advisory, meaning the ultimate fate of the controversial structure—and Longboat Key’s famously strict sign code—now rests entirely in the hands of the Town Commission, which will take up the issue in May.
