The Lake Sarasota Community Blog

The Lake Sarasota Community Group - a volunteer group for the neighborhood - plans to meet on Thursday, Dec. 13th at 7 pm at Sarasota Alliance Church - the meeting rooms are in the building behind the church, which is at 7221 Bee Ridge Road , across from Chaucer. Three items up for discussion address potentially significant changes to the area east of  I-75: 1. New Look for Front Entrance The existing entrance to Lake Sarasota at Mauna Loa and Bee Ridge Rd. will be removed when Bee Ridge is widened, beginning a year from now. County planners working on the project wish to meet with representatives from Lake Sarasota to get a sense of what our community would like to see at that entrance after the project is complete. Walls? Fencing with landscaping? Signage?   We welcome ideas and want to know your thoughts. If you can't make the meeting, please share your input with us at lakesarasota@gmail.com. 2. New Commerce Several proposals for a new RaceTrac gas station ...

In addition to the super-sized RaceTrac that is proposed at Mauna Loa and Bee Ridge Road, there are plans to build 100,000 square feet of retail space, and a drug store, and a restaurant. Here's an image filed with the county that marks out the area for these proposals. All are directly north of the front entrance to Lake Sarasota at Mauna Loa and Bee Ridge: A drugstore, restaurant, RaceTrac and retail shops planned

On Wednesday, November 7 several members of the Lake Sarasota Community Group and the Bee Ridge Neighborhoods Committee met with Tom Hardy, project manager of RaceTrac gas stations for Southwest Florida. Mr. Hardy confirmed that the privately-owned RaceTrac Corp. , which is based in Atlanta, is “rolling out aggressively” in Florida. Over the next few months the company plans to open 30 new gas stations around the state. While most Floridians are familiar with the current RaceTrac format, these 30 stores will use a new design sporting a substantially larger footprint. An example of the current design is found on Fruitville Rd., just west of I-75. That station has a 5,000-square-foot footprint for its store. The new models will have a 6,000-square-foot floor plan . New, Larger Format The new stations will have 24 pumps, open 24 hours a day. The larger structure will enable RaceTrac to offer a broader variety of foods, including hot dogs, sodas, burritos, chicken parmesan, quesad...

Here's Ted's breakdown of the October 2012 Sheriff's Dept. Crime report for Lake Sarasota: Vandalism-2; Burglary-5; Theft-6 By street:  Bikini             3 (thefts; 6407, 6408-2) Brentford       1 (burglary at 6920) Honolulu        1 (burglary at 4105) Java              1 (vandalism at 7214)  Lancaster      3 (1 vandalism at 4221, 2 burglaries at 4118, 4272) Lanai             1 (theft at 4203) Marlborough  1 (theft at 3916) Mauna Loa    1 (theft at 7271) Tarawa          1 (theft at 6585) By Day of Week                  By Date Monday - 2                           4 - 1 Tuesday - 3                 ...

Greetings! Welcome to the new Sarasota County Community Connections.  Contact us if you have questions, ideas for articles, or feedback on the system, or just let us know how you like the new look, at  communityconnections@scgov. net.   Tree Advisory Committee seeks public input at Nov. 8 workshop TODAY:  The Sarasota Tree Advisory Council will host the first-ever Tree Convocation public workshop from 3-5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 8, at Twin Lakes Park, 6700 Clark Road, Sarasota.   Residents invited to view Siesta Beach Park improvement design on Nov. 13 The design of the Siesta Beach Park improvements will be the subject of a public meeting Tuesday, Nov. 13, at St. Michael the Archangel Church, 5394 Midnight Pass Road on Siesta Key. There will be no formal presentation at the open-house-style meeting so residents are invited to come anytime during the 5-7 p.m. event hosted by Sarasota County Public Works and Parks and Recreation. County government offic...

The Sheriff's Dept. Crime Report for Sept., 2012 for Lake Sarasota. Here's Ted's analysis: The bad news is that crime is up--twelve incidents (three burglaries, eight thefts, and one juvenile disturbance). The breakdown by  street  is as follows: Allan Drive (2 incidents--2 thefts; 3915 and 3920) Honolulu Drive (1 theft; 4035) Lancaster Drive (3 incidents--1 burglary,                                2 thefts; 4117, 4051, and 4043)  Marlborough Drive (1 incident--theft; 3123) Middlesex Place (1 incident-- juvenile disturbance) Palau Drive (3 incidents--2 burglaries, one theft; 4198, 4193, 4103) Rangi Drive (1 incident--theft; 7234) By  day of the week  the breakdown is as follows: Mondays--  4 incidents Tuesdays-- 1 incident Fridays   --  3 incidents Saturdays-- 3 incidents Sundays  -- 1 incident ...

RaceTrac is proposing a 6,000-square-foot gas station and convenience store at the corner of North Mauna Loa Blvd and Bee Ridge Rd. This is directly opposite the entrance to Lake Sarasota. Potential impacts include: A much busier intersection at Mauna Loa and Bee Ridge. Light and glare from large signs and station lighting 24-hours a day. Noise of cars and trucks. Odors of gas and oil. Attracting traffic from I-75. Large ugly signs. Urbanizing the look of Bee Ridge and the Medical Park at North Mauna Loa and Bee Ridge.. Members of the Lake Sarasota Community Group are meeting with a representative of RaceTrac next week to explore possible methods of shielding our community from some of these impacts. If you wish to share ideas, please send them to LakeSarasota@gmail.com. Here is a detailed traffic analysis done for RaceTrac with more info and images.

The November Lake Sarasota Garage Sale will be held on Saturday, November 17th. Here's a map created by Sandy - and see the note from her after it: View LS Garage Sale - Nov 2012 in a larger map  Hi, All, Please bookmark this site. As it changes, your link will be updated. Good Luck! Send your info to Sandy at SarasotaDreams@gmail.com  Sandy ~ President Lake Sarasota Community Group

Nov. 1, 2012 Greetings! Welcome to the new Sarasota County Community Connections.  Contact us if you have questions, ideas for articles, or feedback on the system, or just let us know how you like the new look, at  communityconnections@scgov. net.   Give your garden wings at UF/IFAS Extension Sarasota County's Butterfly Workshop SATURDAY:  UF/IFAS Extension Sarasota County will host a Butterfly Workshop from 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 3, at Twin Lakes Park, 6700 Clark Road, Sarasota. 'Fall back Nov. 4,' and change smoke alarms and weather radio batteries SUNDAY:  The end of daylight saving time and the start of local standard time on Nov. 4, when clocks get turned back one hour, serves as a reminder that it is time to change smoke alarms and weather batteries.  County government office closings for Veterans Day All Sarasota County government offices, including libraries, recreation centers and the Sarasota County History Cen...