Colony dispute near an end?

The Colony Beach & Tennis Resort, a Longboat Key icon and once one of the top tennis vacation destinations nationwide, has been closed since 2010 — the chief casualty in a bitter and lengthy dispute over maintenance costs.

But with a unanimous vote by the resort's homeowners association board earlier this month, an end to the long-simmering stalemate may be in sight.

The board's 9-0 vote on March 2 paves the way for unit owners of the 237 Colony condominiums to decide whether to accept a development agreement with Orlando-based Unicorp National Developments Inc.