Town Clerk - Town Boards and Committees

Town Boards and Committees play a vital part in our community. For information concerning any Town Board or Committee or the appointment process, please call the Town Clerk at Town Hall, 316-1999.

The public is invited to attend and be heard at Town Commission meetings and workshops to ensure open communication between them and their elected representatives. Request to be Heard forms are available to the public and are to be submitted prior to the convening of the meeting or workshop from persons desiring to address the Commission on any matter on the agenda. Failure to submit the form will not prohibit a person from being allowed to address the Commission, but those submitting forms will have a priority over those who do not submit forms.

Taxpayers or residents of the Town and other interested parties or their authorized representatives may address the Commission in regard to any matter concerning the Town's business or any matter over which the Commission has jurisdiction or control, during the portion of the meeting designated on the agenda as "Public to be Heard".

Important Information on Appointments to Boards or Committees

Longboat Key residents are encouraged to submit an Application for Appointment to a Town Board or Committee form.

The Code Enforcement Board, Pension Boards, Planning & Zoning Board, and Zoning Board of Adjustment, Investment Advisory Committee and Salary Savings Committee are continuing boards. At various times the Town has had or may have ad hoc committees such as: Airport Advisory, Beach Advisory, Beautification, Citizens Relations, Facilities Advisory, as well as others.

Most Town board terms are for 3-year periods and expire on the second Wednesday in May of each year on a staggered basis. Vacancies occur throughout the year for various reasons; appointments by the Town Commission to fill vacancies are for the remainder of the unexpired term. Following board appointments each year, the Town plans to hold group orientation sessions covering such topics as Government-in-the-Sunshine Laws, Public Records Law, quasijudicial requirements, parliamentary procedure, etc.

When your Application has been distributed to the Town Commission for consideration of appointment to a vacancy on a Town board, some members of the Town Commission may contact you individually to further discuss your interest and background.

NOTE: Florida's Public Records Law, Chapter 119, Florida Statutes, states: "It is the policy of this state that all state, county, and municipal records shall at all times be open for a personal inspection by any person." Your application when filed will become a public record and subject to the above statute. In addition, any appointed member of a board of any political subdivision (except members of solely advisory bodies) and all members of bodies exercising planning, zoning, or natural resources responsibilities are required to file a financial disclosure form within 30 days after appointment and annually thereafter for the duration of the appointment as required by Chapter 112, F.S.

Request to be Heard Form

Application for Appointment to a Town Board or Committee

(Forms Require Adobe Acrobat Reader)

Please Complete and Return the Application Form to:

Town Clerk
Town of Longboat Key
501 Bay Isles Road
Longboat Key, Florida 34228

Town Code, Chapter 33, addresses the establishment and functions of the Code Enforcement Board (consistent with Chapter 162, Florida Statutes). This Board has the authority to impose administrative fines and other noncriminal penalties to provide an equitable, expeditious, effective and inexpensive method of enforcing any codes and ordinances of the Town, where a pending or repeated violation continues to exist.

The Board consists of seven members, appointed by the Town Commission. All members must be residents and registered voters of the Town of Longboat Key. The Code Enforcement Board shall, whenever possible, consist of persons, experienced in their respective fields, as follows:

Architect
Businessman
Engineer
General Contractor
Subcontractor
Realtor.

Appointments are for 3-year terms and expire on the second Wednesday in May of the year in which the term is set to expire. The Code provides for reappointment of members for successive terms. Any member who fails to attend three consecutive scheduled and called regular meetings shall automatically forfeit appointment, and the Town Commission shall promptly fill the vacancy. Vacancies are filled for the remainder of the unexpired term.

Code Enforcement Board meetings are scheduled monthly unless no cases are scheduled for a hearing.

Town Code, Chapter 33, provides for the establishment and functions of the Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Board. This Board considers all matters referred to it by the Town Commission and reports its recommendations back to the Commission. The Board:

considers and reports on all petitions to change the zoning district boundaries within the Town;
prepares, submits, and makes recommendations for the amendments of a comprehensive road and zoning plan for the Town;
considers and makes recommendations on all proposed subdivision plats within the Town;
may consider on its own motion any matter which seems beneficial with regard to the use and improvement of property within the Town, and consistent with other usual duties and powers of planning and zoning boards, and in general do all things as may secure the recognized advantages of building and zoning regulations.

The P&Z Board consists of nine members appointed by the Town Commission for 3-year terms. The terms terminate on the second Wednesday of May of the year in which the term is due to end. The P&Z Board elects for a 1-year term a Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Secretary from among its members.

Planning and Zoning Board meetings are held monthly or at the call of the Chairman.

Town Code Sections 158.026 and 158.027 address the establishment and functions of the Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA). The Board consists of seven residents appointed for 3-year terms by the Town Commission. No member of the ZBA may be a paid or elected official or employee of the Town. Terms expire on the second Wednesday of May of the year in which the term is set to end. The ZBA elects from among its members, for a 1-year term, a Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Secretary.

The ZBA has the following powers and duties:

To hear and decide appeals where it is alleged there is error in any order, requirement, decision, or determination made by an administrative official in the enforcement of Chapter 158 of the Town Code;
To hear and decide special exceptions to the terms of this Chapter on which the Board is required to pass, as required in this section;
To authorize upon appeal in specific cases a variance when, owing to special conditions, a literal enforcement of a provision of this Chapter will result in unnecessary and undue hardship with respect to lot, yard and bulk requirements.

Zoning Board of Adjustment meetings are held at the call of the Chairman, or at the written request of three or more members, or within 30 days after receipt of a matter to be acted upon by the Board.

The Town of Longboat Key has three separate Pension Boards as of October 1999, in accordance with Florida Law. The Boards are as follows: Firefighters’ Retirement System, General Employees’ Retirement System, Police Officers’ Retirement System.

Each of the three Pension Boards consists of five Trustees. Two Trustees on each Board are appointed by the Town Commission, two Trustees are by Town employees, and the fifth Trustee is selected by the other four Trustees on the Board.

The Pension Boards are required by law to meet at least quarterly. Each of the Pension Boards has the sole and exclusive administration of and responsibility for the Town’s Retirement Systems for Town employees.

For additional information concerning the pension boards
call the Town Clerk's office, 316-1999, extension 226.