The cottage at the edge of Town Center Green was built in 1926 as the laundry room for the Whitney Beach Resort. It was moved to the Green in 2021. This month it opened again after a summer closure, and the Longboat Key Historical Society now keeps it open Thursday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Society president Michael Drake told Your Observer that donations will first pay for a new front door and artifact displays.
A few steps from that front door is the open lawn where Sarasota County plans to build the first county library on Longboat Key. The design is done and the private money has been raised. The county is working through the town's approval process, and the final town vote is set for Monday, Nov. 2. The next day, voters across Florida decide Amendment 3, and the county has said that if it passes, it will not build the library "at this time."
What's planned on the Green
The project is an 11,324-square-foot building that the county will build, staff, and operate. WWSB reported in September that it will be the first Sarasota County library on the island. Brad Gaubatz, the county's facilities, parks and recreation manager, described the plans to the town's Planning and Zoning Board. They include a community room that seats 200, large "sitting steps" for reading, and a covered outdoor terrace facing the Green.
The community room exists because islanders paid for it. A town-led fundraising campaign enlarged the building beyond a standard branch and added event space. That is why the county's project sheet says private donations fund features beyond those of a typical library.
The county building would stand alongside the Longboat Library at 555 Bay Isles Road. That community library runs on memberships and book donations. Today the closest full-service county branches are all on the mainland. They include Selby Library at 1331 1st St. in downtown Sarasota, Gulf Gate Library at 7112 Curtiss Ave., and Fruitville Library at 100 Apex Road.
The town's approvals are almost finished
The local process has moved quickly since the commission returned from its summer break:
- Sept. 14: The Town Commission takes up the agreement with Sarasota County that covers funding, maintenance, and the land lease.
- Mid-September: The Planning and Zoning Board votes unanimously to approve the county's requested amendments to the planned unit development and site plan, on the condition that a revised site plan is filed.
- Oct. 5: The Town Commission gives first approval to the site and development plans.
- Nov. 2: The commission's final approval vote.
- Early 2027 to summer 2028: The county's targets for starting and finishing construction, according to its capital project sheet.
The main question at the Oct. 5 meeting was parking. According to Your Observer's account of the meeting, the 78 existing spaces east of the Green are twice the 39 the town code requires for daily library use. The 200-seat room is what made commissioners ask. "That's always been a concern of everyone's," Commissioner Gary Coffin said.
The town's answer relies on the neighbors. A survey of nearby lots at Mediterranean Plaza, the post office, local churches, banks, and the tennis center found 603 spaces that could be used for events if the owners agree. That brings the potential total to 681. Assistant Town Manager Isaac Brownman said organizers of large events would need to file a parking and transportation plan before getting a permit. Planning, Zoning and Building Director Allen Parsons said events too big for 681 spaces would need busing or other measures, coordinated between the county and the town.
That plan is what the commission takes into the Nov. 2 vote. Nothing reported from the town's side suggests the plan is in trouble.
The money is raised, and part of it is already with the county
| Funding piece | Amount |
|---|---|
| Sarasota County share | $11 million, with $1 million for design and $10 million for construction |
| Raised privately by the town and the Longboat Key Foundation | $3.8 million, against a $3 million goal |
| Largest single pledge | $1 million from U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan |
| Donated money the county has already received | $1.6 million |
Former Town Manager Howard Tipton said in September that if Amendment 3 passes, "then we'll have to figure out how to refund the money that's been raised," according to Your Observer. No refund process has been announced since then.
Why a statewide vote now carries the most weight
At the Sept. 14 commission meeting, Commissioner Nick Gladding asked what a yes vote on Amendment 3 would mean for the library. Brownman's answer, as Your Observer reported:
"The county has made it very clear because of the magnitude of the impacts of Amendment 3 they will not be constructing a library on Longboat Key at this time if Amendment 3 passes."
He also said the county is moving ahead "full steam, full blast with design, with permitting and with the land use amendment," as if nothing were changing. The county's October 2026 project sheet shows the library in the construction-document stage and does not mention the amendment.
The amendment itself is about property taxes, not libraries. The Legislature placed it on the ballot through HJR 1F, under the title "Save Our Homes From Excessive Property Taxes." Its ballot summary says it "exempts the first $250,000 of a homestead's value from taxation for all levies other than school district levies and requires, through general law, a schedule for full elimination." It also "requires local governments to use remaining property taxes solely for core public needs including public safety, education and schools, infrastructure, and natural resources."
The Florida Division of Elections summary gives the phase-in. The exemption from non-school taxes would be $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, adjusted for inflation after that. The amendment would also lower the annual cap on assessment increases for non-homestead property from 10% to 5%. People who are not Florida residents on Dec. 31, 2026, would get the larger exemption starting in their fifth year of homestead exemption.
Sarasota County's Amendment 3 explainer estimates that county-service revenue would fall by about $87 million in fiscal year 2029. It lists libraries among the services funded at least partly by property taxes. The county says it neither supports nor opposes the amendment. Its example is a homestead with $300,000 in taxable value, whose bill the county estimates would fall from $4,344 to $3,268, or about $90 a month. School taxes would not change.
What each side said this month
WWSB's Oct. 14 report included both sides. County Commissioner Mark Smith warned that lost revenue could affect road, lighting, and beach maintenance and could lead to fees for services that are free now. A resident who supports the measure argued that property owners who have paid off their homes should own them outright and that government could cut projects. Big Waters Land Trust president Christine Johnson and county school board member Tom Edward also described possible effects on services and budgets.
The library is one of the clearest local examples of what is at stake on both sides. It is a single, visible, partly donor-funded project that the county has tied directly to the outcome. Supporters of the amendment see tax relief and room for cuts. The county sees an $87 million gap. This lawn on Bay Isles Road is where one of those cuts would land first.
What follows is general information about a ballot measure, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Anyone weighing how Amendment 3 would affect their own property should check with a qualified tax professional or the Sarasota County Property Appraiser.
The Green between now and then
None of this changes how the Green is used this season. The town began developing the Green as a community gathering place in 2014. A 2023 phase added the event lawn, the oval walkway, and a donor-funded performance stage, and county presentation materials list the Karon Family Pavilion at $800,000. The Historical Society, whose cottage sits behind the pavilion, has been working to secure 602 Bay Isles Road as its address.
The next big night on the lawn will come after the votes. Light Up Longboat is set for Saturday, Nov. 21, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Town Center Green, 600 Bay Isles Road, with vendors, live music, food trucks, a tree lighting, Santa, and a costume contest, according to Your Observer's events calendar. By then, people at the tree lighting will know whether the empty space beside the stage is a construction site waiting for early 2027 or a lawn with no county project scheduled.
If you own property near Town Center Green and want to know how a library and a 200-seat event space next door could affect your home's value, Renne' Rupp can put together a valuation based on what is actually planned for your part of the island. Request a Free Home Valuation, and we'll update it once the Nov. 2 and Nov. 3 results are in.
