The Lake Sarasota Community Blog

Notices about the proposed  80+ luxury home project with two entrances on Hand Road  have been mailed out, but it's unclear how much of the Lake Sarasota community is included in the mailing. Note that this project poses potential safety considerations for our school children as well as parents driving their kids to Lakeview Elementary and Oak Park Schools.  No traffic study has been done. The County Commission Hearing on Nov. 28th will be the final decision on this project. Here's a  link to the official hearing announcement , which indicates a 9 a.m. time, but this could be updated when the official Agenda comes out. - More information about this project and Sarasota Baptist's sale of acreage to David Weekley Homes, is at these links: We spoke at the Planning Commission Hearing . Two commissioners saw the potential hazard of the design and voted against the proposal.  Does this project invite danger? The Planning Commission is an appointed board  of Real...

An important message from Keith, President of the Lake Sarasota Community Group: Neighbors, we now have a new front on the #SaveLakeSarasota battle: 80 luxury homes proposed for Hand Road, with entrance/exit near the blind curve. More about this here and here . 80 Luxury Homes on Hand Road  Planned exit at blind curve A planning commission meeting is being held Thursday and very few people from Lake Sarasota received notice of a neighborhood workshop held in April 2023. Please, your neighbors need EVERYONE to email the following letter, with your name ***BY WEDNESDAY 9/20*** To Email these planning commissioners, send the letter below, or use your own words. To the Planning Commission: We are asking the commission for a delay on Agenda Items #4 ( SE 1875) and #5 ( RZ 23-19 ) of the 9.21.23 meeting , as the Lake Sarasota community has not had adequate notice of the plans nor of the meeting. Due to clerical errors and to the county's highly restricted notification range of 750 fee...

 Bring a coat to the LSCG January 16th meeting in Hina Point Park at 3 pm. See the attached map. It will be sunny and brisk, but it's COVID compliant. The park has some seating, but bring a camp chair JIC. Any business is welcome, but our agenda:  Repairs are needed to Hina Park and schedule a work day We also need to find a way to keep the LSCG operating Any news on the development across Bee Ridge Hina Point Park

Commercial Center Planned around Racetrac Thursday, Aug. 22 - 7 pm - there is an important meeting to look at the plan for a commercial center behind and East of the Racetrac at Mauna Loa. Why does this matter? For one thing, whatever is built there will be visible, audible, and potentially smellable for the residents of Lake Sarasota who live along Bee Ridge Road. Also, our community has a  legal Covenant  that gives us some say over what kinds of businesses can be there, and their hours of operation. But if we are not watchful, if we do not participate in the planning process, we could lose that power forever. Come to the meeting in the offices at the rear of Sarasota Alliance Church Thurs. 7 pm. A version of the proposed commercial site Meeting Thursday 8.22.19 7 pm Sarasota Alliance Church -- offices behind church 7221 Bee Ridge Rd. Sarasota, FL 34241 To help understand the issue, here's the County's Zoning Use Table that clarifies what can...

The Lake Sarasota Community Group will hold its quarterly meeting on Thursday Sept. 13, at 7 pm at Sarasota Alliance Church, on the north side of Bee Ridge Rd. across from Chaucer. The meeting rooms are to the rear of the church. The agenda will include: A representative of TerraCap, the Canadian owner of the land north of Bee Ridge at Mauna Loa, will attend. TerraCap has been approached by a number of businesses seeking sites on its property, and one or more of them could present a potential conflict with the  Declaration of Covenant signed by TerraCap in 2014 . That document lists a variety of kinds of businesses that might create a nuisance for residents of Lake Sarasota, especially those who live near Bee Ridge Road. The group might be asked to discuss and offer input on these potential neighbors. There will also be an update on the existing developments now on the site. HealthSouth, for example, could be expanding, and Ridgelake, a new apartment complex with something l...

This Thursday, March 1: Everyone's welcome to our quarterly meeting in the main building at Alliance Church at 7 pm: 7221 Bee Ridge Rd, north side of Bee Ridge opposite Chaucer. Make your voice heard and meet some neighbors!   The proposed agenda: Community concerns Voting to renew our license Spring community garage sale date Fresh Start FPL Power line placement on Bee Ridge Bus Stop at Allan Place The men of Alliance Church want to know about any needy residents again. Note that the meeting will be in the Main Building.

Our regular quarterly community meeting was held in Hina Point Park Thursday, 9.14.17. A quick summary: Key points: Hurricane Relief : Alliance Church is offering AC and showers to people without electricity. The church is on the north side of Bee Ridge opposite Chaucer. Purse : LSCG has the grand sum of $273 in its treasury. Yard Sale: The Fall Community Garage Sale is set for November 11, 8 am to 2 pm. The sale will be advertised in the newspaper one time. No maps. Feel free to put out your own signs, just remember to pick them up. Also feel free to post ads on Craigslist. Items you do not need that could be sold to raise $ for the community can be dropped off at Keith and Sommer's - 4032 Westminster. Fall Fest: The community Fall festival date is Sat. Nov. 18 in Lakeview Park, 11 am to 2 pm. Bring food, games. A sign-up message will be circulated via email or text. A planning meeting for the Fall Festival will be held on Oct. 12 - stay tuned for time, place....

Lake Sarasota Community Group (LSCG) Meets Thursday, Sept. 14th, 7 pm in the meeting rooms of Sarasota Alliance Church, Bee Ridge Road. This is a regular quarterly meeting of volunteers interested in bettering the neighborhood. It's open to all residents of Lake Sarasota.

From Luigi Verace of  Stand Up Fight Back SRQ : Stand Up Fight Back  as a group became involved in actively opposing a  proposed dump at the Celery Fields  in Sarasota, Florida, in February of 2017.  I personally had been following the issue from abroad in Sweden and upon my return in Jan 2017 our steering committed agreed to officially proceed. I headed up the Celery Fields wing of our group and immediately began organizing events and public outreach to the County Commissioners. Along with hundreds of activists, thousand of hours and a massive amount of money, we won an impressive victory on August 23rd 2017 in defeating an industrial waste concrete crushing construction and yard debris facility situated within the 450 acres that is the Celery Fields. Dozens of members of our group were actively involved and showed up at every event, town hall, private meeting and all the public hearings. I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart to the top of...

The Lake Sarasota Group (LSCG) set dates for two fall events at its quarterly meeting Thursday: The next Community Garage Sale is set for November 11. Nov. 18th is reserved for the Fall Festival Block Party. More about that to come. Also, a reminder that this Saturday, June 10th, is our annual Lake Sarasota Cleanup - main dumpster will be situated next to the Firehouse on Toro. A secondary dumpster will be next to the dog park on Hand Rd. The LSCG set two meeting dates: Sept. 14 will be the next quarterly meeting, and Nov. 9th is a special meeting for fall events. The Group also got an update on the strong popular resistance to a developer's proposal to put a large industrial waste processing facility on public lands at the Celery Fields. CONA Sarasota will look at next steps and look at the larger question of county stewardship of public lands on Monday, June 12, at 7 pm. Details here .

Residents of Lake Sarasota meet this Thursday at Alliance Church at 7 pm. All are welcome to this community meeting. On the agenda: — Plans for a fall garage sale and community picnic — An update on the  status of the Celery Fields — A potential project to take care of neighbors in need The meeting is at Sarasota Alliance Church, opposite Chaucer, in the conference rooms behind the church.

Hina Park in Lake Sarasota Report from March 16, 2017 LSCG Meeting: It was decided without objection to leave the executive board in place for the next year. Motion was heard, seconded, and carried. The March 25th community garage sale is on, but Keith and Sommer cannot accept any donations because they'll be away. The flag was replaced and there was a report of a pulled post in Hina park. The volunteers for the Hina Park project were thanked and some money was collected if anyone who acquired material (Tammy and John Fultz) wish to be reimbursed. If so, speak to Ellie. Carlos Correa from The Enclaves on Palmer Blvd. came by and spoke passionately about supporting the efforts to block the development near Celery Fields. I for one agree and there seemed to be no dissent at the table. We should think of ways to get involved. I, for one, will spend my spring break annoying Caragiulo about this through email and phone calls. Others are encouraged to write him, attend protests, ...

Tonight at  7 pm  there will be a Lake Sarasota community  meeting  at the Alliance Church  meeting  rooms. (Drive around behind the church.) High on the agenda: election of officers and our next garage sale. All are welcome.

The next regular meeting of the volunteer LSCG will be 7 pm on Jan. 26th, 2017, at Sarasota Alliance Church - the meeting rooms behind the main building. All Lake Sarasota residents are welcome - bring your thoughts about how to improve the place you live. Actually we have a lot of residents.

A new entrance sign has been built and installation is expected in the near future at Mauna Loa and Bee Ridge. In other news, at the Sept. 6th Lake Sarasota meeting, a few plans were set in motion: 1. A new flag and a solar light for it are in the works. 2. A Community Garage Sale date has been set for Saturday, Nov. 19th. 3. The Lake Sarasota Fall Festival is set for Nov. 5. We welcome all who wish to help plan and set up for the event, which will be at the pavilion in Lakeview Park. A meeting specifically to organize the festival is set for Thursday, Sept. 29. More to come on all the above.

Dear Neighbors, My name is Keith Russo. My wife, Sommer, and our boys love this neighborhood. That is why I volunteered to be considered for and was elected chairman by the members of the Lake Sarasota Community Group. Hence why I am now using this ID, rather than my personal one. First, LSCG is not an HOA, as many of you may know. We are not interested in regulating your lives. We are a   volunteer group open to all Lake Sarasota residents that are invested in our neighborhood and its safety and well-being. As such, this group has advocated on behalf of our community to local and county officials, kept the community informed of events and news that affect us, and coordinated community activities. Certain community members, like Tom Matrullo, should be applauded for doing a great deal to help us all. I am committed to continuing LSCG's tradition of advocating for your concerns and building community in every respect. We have noticed that many people have concerns about our neighbor...

A meeting of the Lake Sarasota Community Group is scheduled for Thursday, March 10, at 7 pm in the meeting rooms behind Sarasota Alliance Church. The agenda so far: Update on Entrance Signage Update on roadwork on Bee Ridge Cul de Sac question Retention Pond question Election of Officers for Volunteer Board of LSCG New Business.

The Lake Sarasota Community Group will not hold its regularly scheduled on June 11, as no action items are currently pending. The next regularly scheduled meeting is Thursday, Sept. 10, 7 pm. Keep up with what's going on at the Lake Sarasota Community at Nextdoor and to the neighborhood page on Facebook, where folks regularly share information. At the moment, we are receiving complaints about an abundance of mosquitoes - is this something many are noticing?

Those attending Thursday evening's meeting of the Lake Sarasota Community Group discussed reports of alleged teenage activity, and considered certain security measures. The Group agreed to monitor the situation. While there has been considerable discussion on NextDoor of some young people causing problems, no one at the meeting had any concrete knowledge of the allegations. Curiously, a long thread that reported specifics on NextDoor has apparently been deleted with no explanation. And the Sheriff's crime mapping site  reflect no recent unusual activity in the area. The costs of creating a street lighting district make it difficult to gain the 67% support for creating a district in Lake Sarasota. Those curious about the process can download a brochure from the County here . Individuals who feel their homes or streets would benefit from lighting can make arrangements with FPL for lights where needed. The monthly charges are relatively minor, and the lighting is maintained b...

We have reserved Meeting Room 105 at Sarasota Alliance for Thursday, Jan. 15th at 7 pm. We'll be talking about:  1. Grant projects  2. Updates on Bee Ridge widening  3. Sheriff's Crime Update.  4. Election of Board for 2015 - quorum of Board necessary.