Will 80 Homes proposed on Hand Road Create a Traffic Nightmare?

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As seen on Hand Road:


Site Plan for 80 homes on Hand Road 

The Baptist Church on Hand Rd. plans to sell some 26 acres north of its church and school to a home builder who plans to build 80 single family homes. The layout calls for two entrances/exits onto Hand Rd. from the new cluster, to be built by David Weekly Homes. 

The development proposal, which can be found in full here, raises questions.

For example, what will be the impacts on traffic on Hand Rd., a narrow two-lane road which has two schools - Lakeview Elementary and Oak Park - that attract large numbers of cars and buses on weekday mornings and afternoons?

In addition, Lake Sarasota is currently facing another developer's initiative - a 208-unit condo proposal called West Bridge that would squeeze into the wooded land between Molokai and I-75. This project. would add some 400 cars to Lake Sarasota's internal streets, primarily Jarvis, which leads to Hand Road. 

The Sarasota County Planning Commission will review the Hand Road proposal on Thursday, September 21, at the Administration Building 1660 Ringling Blvd. (These meetings begin at 5 pm.) The project is identified as "Sarasota Baptist Residential Development." Anyone who wishes may sign a card to speak for 5 minutes to the Commission. (The speakers cards are usually in the rear of the chamber - fill it out and hand it to the secretary at the front.)

The Planning Commission consists of nine appointees, all made by members of the Board of Sarasota County Commissioners. For decades the pattern has been to appoint development industry insiders. 

In keeping with that "tradition," two recently vacated seats have just been filled with two builders: Adam Maio, a builder and the son of former Sarasota County Commissioner Al Maio, and John LaCivita, the president of Willis A. Smith, a $100 million building contractor based in Lakewood Ranch.

Another concern:




The turn from Hand Rd. to Lago St. is a 90-degree curve. During school hours, a crossing guard is posted to make sure cars stop to allow schoolchildren to safely cross. Lago Street is a long straightaway where drivers enjoy building up speed. Will cars entering and leaving the Baptist development be easy to see around the blind curve?  

A Neighborhood Workshop conducted by Bo Medred was held in April - but few residents were aware of it, thanks to Sarasota County's extremely limited notification requirements. The Workshop audio file can be listened to here.

Before approving this Baptist Church proposal, it would make sense to look at the combined impact of both these proposed developments, and perhaps get some input from the schools themselves.






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