—The most consequential rewrite of Longboat Key’s tree code in 52 years finally landed in front of the Town Commission Monday afternoon, and the first debate wasn’t about trees at all. It was about whether the commission was ready to debate.
—Before Ordinance 2026-11 could get its scheduled first reading, Commissioner BJ Bishop asked to pull the item entirely and send it to a workshop, arguing that a document the Planning and Zoning Board spent more than a year building deserved more than a single afternoon.
“As I read through all of the pages of their minutes and Allen’s memo and the code, there are some inconsistencies in the document,” Bishop said. “I think that we would not be doing our citizens, and especially single-family homeowners, a benefit if we don’t take the amount of time, at least some percentage of the time that our Planning and Zoning Board spent working on this issue. I would suggest strongly that we table this to our next workshop and that we spend the time going through it with the detail that it deserves.”
—Asked whether anything could simply be fixed on the spot, Bishop didn’t budge: “No. There are too many long-term issues and there are too many inconsistencies that I think deserve serious debate and discussion.”
—That’s when the friction started.
—Ready now, or not ready at all
“I’m probably the most familiar person on the commission, because I sat through many, many of those Planning and Zoning meetings, and I don’t think there are that many changes,” Commissioner Gladding countered. “I disagree with Commissioner Bishop about this. I think we’re just putting it off, and I really don’t see the need to wait. If we can flush out what these issues are, I’m happy to listen to them today.”
—Commissioner Gary Coffin tried to split the difference, agreeing with Gladding that the board should at least identify the major issues before adjourning. “It’s a voluminous document, absolutely. It’s probably going to take a while to understand it, but I’d rather not just abandon it totally today,” he said.
—Commissioner Nick Brennenham, who said he “was one of those who was really pushing for this change after the storm,” sided with Bishop anyway: “It’s something that is not critical in terms of urgency, so there’s no reason why we can’t push it down the road to our workshop and review it in detail and talk it over.”
—Commissioner Karen, participating remotely, saw “the wisdom on both sides” but said it would be valuable to have time outside a regular meeting to question P&Z leadership directly. Mayor Williams admitted she “could go either way.” And when the roll was finally called, the philosophical divide evaporated: 7-0 to table the ordinance to the commission’s first available workshop.
—What they’ll be wrestling with
—The caution is warranted. As Longboat Key News reported last week, Ordinance 2026-11 arrives dressed in storm-recovery clothing, but its headline change is permanent: the everyday tree replacement requirement drops from two trees planted for every one removed to a minimum of one-for-one, on every permitted removal, storm or no storm. The in-lieu fee an owner pays when replacement trees won’t fit on site more than doubles, from $300 to $700, the first increase since 2010. A new post-disaster section imposes the code’s first-ever obligation on single-family homes, requiring trees destroyed in a declared disaster to be replaced within three years, though each new declaration resets the clock. And staff is asking commissioners to decline the P&Z Board’s recommendation to pursue Tree City USA designation, a credential held by Sarasota, Sarasota County, Manatee County, Bradenton and Venice.
—All of it comes as the island’s canopy sits at its thinnest point in a generation after back-to-back storm seasons, which is precisely why getting this rewrite right matters more than getting it done fast.
—The tabling likely scrambles the original timeline, which had the ordinance headed to a Nov. 9 second reading. Whether the workshop proves to be the serious scrub Bishop wants or the delay Gladding warned against, one thing is certain: the canopy will be waiting on the answer.
