Last Stand, along with a group of citizens, has filed a legal challenge to a [Key West] City Commission decision that threatens several historic Key West neighborhood districts with an increase in transient licenses.

The zoning districts in question, HNC-1 and HNC-3, are "receiver sites" for transient licenses, but only if they do not replace existing permanent housing. A new city resolution enacted Jan. 4 by the commission, sitting as the Board of Adjustment (BOA), permits sale of transient licenses to property owners who have rented to short-term occupants or tourists in the last five years.

Last Stand, a Keyswide environmental and activist group, voted last week to hire attorney Eric Dadd to file the lawsuit. Residents who joined the suit are neighbors of 707 Simonton St., which was to receive the first two of approximately 75 transient licenses recently made available. The transfer was on the February [city] Planning Board agenda, but after 19 nearby property owners objected, the request was withdrawn and tabled until March 15.

The districts run along parts of White, Truman, Simonton and Petronia streets, and include a number of small residential areas on side streets now occupied by owners and long-term renters, and existing apartments above and behind commercial establishments.

The licenses originated when developer Pritam Singh demolished the Hampton Inn. He and partner Cay Clubs plan to build condos on the site and say they will have extra transient units left over. Singh wants to use the ROGO units to build luxury housing elsewhere, then strip away the attached transient licenses and sell them in Old Town.

City Planner Gail Kenson told Singh and his attorney Jim Hendrick that such a move would violate the city's comprehensive plan, and denied approval. Transient licenses sent to these districts must be accompanied by a ROGO unit and they cannot displace existing permanent housing stock, Kenson wrote. She also noted city laws set a maximum number of transient rentals at 25 percent of total city dwelling units. That number has already been exceeded, according to city records, so these excess licenses should actually be extinguished.

Singh appealed Kenson's ruling and convinced the BOA to allow him to go forward with his plan. The public was not allowed to comment about the transient license issue at that meeting.

Dadd, along with attorney Bob Goldman, will argue that the City Commission cannot change the meaning or intent of the comprehensive plan or other city ordinances without due process such as public hearings and proper review by the state of Florida.

The new law, if allowed to stand, could lead to an erosion of transient license regulations in other parts of the city. Last Stand is seeking financial support from the public to help carry this legal effort through to success. Contributions should be mailed to Last Stand legal fund, Box 146, Key West.

Al Sullivan, president, Last Stand, Key West