The Lake Sarasota Community Blog

Greetings! Welcome to Sarasota County Community Connections.  Contact us if you have questions, ideas for articles, or feedback on the system, at  communityconnections@scgov. net.   History Center puts 'Florida  in Context'   FRIDAY:  An exhibit of fine art photography by Virginia Hoffman, Matt Allison, Salvatore Brancifort, Brian Braun, Dale Ann Clancy and Richard Porter will be on view from March 1 - April 10 at the Sarasota County Visitor Information Center and History Center Museum. Mowing schedule for Feb. 25-March 8 The schedule for Sarasota County's roadside mowing and median maintenance program for Feb. 25-March 8, subject to weather conditions. Sarasota K-9 Search and Rescue seeking volunteers  If you're interested, attend the "Meet and Greet" session for potential recruits at 9 a.m. Saturday, March 9, in the conference room at Animal Services, 8451 Bee Ridge Road, Sarasota.  Need a neighborhood grant? Sarasota County will offer a

Thanks to Lewin for some helpful research on location issues with large, busy gas stations. The full article is here . Good & Bad Convenience Store-Station Locations Given the impacts and corrective measures described above, an optimum convenience store-gas station location would have the following characteristics: At least 300 feet from the nearest home; or Buffered so the store cannot be seen or heard from the nearest home; For ultra-high volume gas stations, a minimum if 300 feet away; Not within view of historic resources; Away from highly sensitive ground or surface water resources; Accessible by foot and bike as well as cars; Located in a downtown or neighborhood commercial area; Well lit, but not to the point of causing light trespass into nearby homes; In an area with many passersby and few escape routes for criminals; and In an area where the market can accommodate a new store without putting existing ones out of business.

A video of the recent Neighborhood Workshop for TerraCap's proposed rezoning of 7.7 acres of the Bee Ridge Park of Commerce, directly across from Lake Sarasota's front entrance.   The video is posted to Youtube . Here are a few brief highlights from the meeting.

Does anyone remember the 2050 plan? The idea was to respect and preserve the rural character of Sarasota County east of I-75. There was general agreement in favor of a concept -- that landowners could create master-planned communities east of I-75, in exchange for meeting higher standards of development and enhancing environmental protection. And, by supporting this alternative, environmentalists and others would accept development that protects and connects valuable natural assets.  Those were the goals then. How can they be remembered and embraced again? Source; Sarasota Herald Tribune 2.17.13 How's that working for us, facing the prospect of Racetrac 24 hours a day, 7 days a week?

The topic did not come up at the Neighborhood Workshop, but aside from the 90,000 square feet that TerraCap is seeking to rezone to CN for retail, offices and restaurants, there are other parcels totaling another 85,000 square feet which are already approved for a bank, drugstore, etc. Yet another parcel of unspecified size is approved and designated for a hotel. Here's the letter from Peter Dailey stating all this - click to enlarge:

The TerraCap Rezoning Neighborhood Workshop of 2.20.13 was attended by roughly 65 residents of the East Bee Ridge Communities. The point of most pressing interest to many at the meeting -- the size of Racetrac , and the potential nuisance and safety factors of its 24-hour operation -- was not addressed, because Racetrac Petroleum Inc. recently chose to remove itself from the rezoning petition. TerraCap’s first act, upon purchasing 40 acres of the BRPOC for $3.2 million in 2011, was to sell two acres at the intersection of North Mauna Loa Blvd. and Bee Ridge Rd. to Racetrac for $1.35 million . The rezoning petition is limited to 7.7 acres which TerraCap, the Canada-based developer, is asking to change from PCD to CN. See more about those two kinds of zoning here. The Workshop disclosed little in the way of new information. Peter Dailey of Dailey Design, who represented TerraCap and is the consultant working for them on permitting issues, said the rezoning to CN would replace an

Click on an image to make it larger: About 60 Residents of E. Bee Ridge Communities attended Peter Dailey of Dailey Design represented TerraCap Plan for Offices, retail restaurants, and Racetrac

A developer is going to build up to 90,000 square feet of retail on 8 acres across the road from Lake Sarasota's entrance. They've applied to the County for rezoning in order to break ground. What will it look like?  How will it affect traffic at our entrance? What sorts of businesses will it attract other than Racetrac? How will it affect the character of Bee Ridge east of I-75? If you're wondering about these and other questions, you're not alone. The Feb. 20th public meeting is our one chance to listen, ask, and comment. Racetrac won't be there -- they plan to build under the existing zoning, but we hope to meet with them separately. The meeting with the developer is: Wednesday Feb. 20th, 6 pm , at the Disabled Vets Hall on Bee Ridge Rd., opposite Middlesex. Bring copies of your written questions. Hand them in to the County and to the developer.

The Neighborhood Workshop regarding Rezoning of Bee Ridge Park of Commerce is now scheduled for Wed. Feb. 20th, 6 pm. at the Disabled Veterans Lodge. Here's the confirmation from County Planning: Peter Dailey contacted our office this afternoon to confirm that the neighborhood workshop IS ON for February 20th at 6 pm at the Disabled American Veteran’s Lodge located at 7177 Bee Ridge Road (the lodge is located approximately a ¼ mile east of Mauna Loa Blvd. on the north side of Bee Ridge Road). Note: As of this posting we still do not know whether Racetrac, which plans a 24-pump gas station on this site, will be included in the proposed rezoning (in which case it will need a special exception to have more than 4 pumps), or whether it will stay with the PCD, which allows for 24 pumps. If built as planned, it will be the largest Racetrac on the West Coast of Florida. Here is a letter to Racetrac from local neighborhoods  (also here ) - as yet we have received no response from the

As many know, a Canadian investment firm, TerraCap, is seeking to rezone 10 acres that front on Bee Ridge Rd. directly across from the Mauna Loa entrance to Lake Sarasota. The site is known as the Bee Ridge Park of Commerce , or BRPOC, for short. TerraCap and its representative Dailey Design are seeking to change the designation of these fronting 10 acres from PCD to CN, and in order to do this, they must hold a public meeting, called a Neighborhood Workshop. A meeting date will be set and announced soon, we're told. The governing land use and zoning codes are very detailed, Some members of the community have attempted to make a side-by-side comparison of what is permitted in PCD vs. what can go into a CN. None of us is an expert, but the information has been drawn from an authoritative source, the Municipal Code of Ordinances of Sarasota County . Generally, a PCD allows for a broader range of uses - including bars, liquor stores, warehouses, lumberyards, extreme sports,

UPDATE: The rep for TerraCap, the Dailey Design Group , has postponed the Neighborhood Workshop on rezoning the Bee Ridge Park of Commerce .  They expect to announce a new date soon - the earliest date would be Wed. Feb. 20th. The date for the "Neighborhood Workshop" for the Bee Ridge Park of Commerce Rezoning has just been announced. It will be held at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 13th, at the Disabled American Veterans Hall, 7177 Bee Ridge Rd., which is a small building east of Aberdeen, on the north side of Bee Ridge opposite Middlesex. This meeting is the one point in the development process where the neighborhood has the chance to listen to and speak to the developer, TerraCap , a Canadian investment firm . The developer will present his plan, which was outlined for the County in December. It involves a rezoning that would allow larger and more intense development of the Bee Ridge Park of Commerce, a 54-acre site at Mauna Loa Blvd. and Bee Ridge Rd. that up to now h

Lots of things for folks of all ages - nature walks, talks, gardens, wildlife, bicycling, hikes, and classes on botany, history, and landscaping. Find out all about the activities for February in our parks - click here for the February Friends of Sarasota County Parks (FOSCP) News .