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.   Clerk's business offices closed to the public March 29 FRIDAY:  The Clerk of the Circuit Court's business offices at the Historic Courthouse in Sarasota and R.L. Anderson Administration Center in Venice will be closed to the public on Friday, March 29. Normal business hours will resume Monday, April 1. Summer Camp registration begins   MONDAY:  Registration for Sarasota County Parks and Recreation summer camps begins Monday, April 1. Summer camp programs are offered over 11 weeks for children entering grades 1 through 10. Join the 2013 Great American Cleanup Keep Sarasota County Beautiful needs volunteers for the 2013 Great American Cleanup April 27.  www.scgov.net wins 'Sunny Award'  Sarasota County's website,  www.scgov.net , has been named on...

March 21, 2013 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.   Take the 'Tour de Parks Fun Ride'   SUNDAY:  The 16-mile Tour de Parks Fun Ride on March 24 celebrates the fifth Anniversary of The Legacy Trail.  County and state host workshop to address concerns about coyotes MONDAY:  Coyotes are found throughout Florida. On March 25, get information on strategies to co-exist with the species. Help create a 'Healthy Sarasota' Local health and fitness experts will highlight practical ways to achieve a healthy lifestyle during "Healthy Sarasota County 5-2-1-0: What it is and Ways to Use it." The free seminar takes place March 27 at the Sarasota County Administration Center.  County seeks input on Sarasota 2050 Sarasota County wants your feedback on Sarasota 2050, a long-range, overlay component ...

Got a neighborhood project you'd like to lead? You can get a grant from the County, but act soon -- there's a very short window for the next grant. Two useful links: Neighborhood Grant Program Here's the schedule for upcoming workshops - some in the next few days, and they are required. This is very important since the application has to be submitted by mid-April (a full month before due date which is May 13, 2013) Grants are awarded two times each year. You can apply for a grant every six months to continue a project... or new project. Funds available for total of 'all' projects = $99,000. For Landscape projects the contact for help with the grant application is Annemarie Post at apost@scgov.net or 861-9815. Thanks to Francine for the above info.

Quick notes from the March 14, 2013 LSCG meeting: 16 attending. 1. Treasury currently has $439.20. Minor expenses approved for copying documents, and for renewing the 501(c)4, and for joining CONA ($35). 2. A slate of officers was nominated to be the board for the new year beginning at the time the corporate status is renewed, in May. 3. We continue to work with the County on a style of sign and placement for Lake Sarasota after Bee Ridge is widened. Several styles are being considered by the County, which can be seen here.  Those in attendance expressed a preference for the "Silver Lake" sign. 4. The group voted unanimously to join CONA Sarasota . 5. A meeting with the County is being scheduled to discuss the traffic impacts of a planned Racetrac. Racetrac says it is considering pausing its construction due to the Bee Ridge road widening. 6. A meeting with Zoning will be considered to express our community's wishes regarding CN zoning stipulations on the T...

Lake Sarasota Community Group meets Thurs. March 14, 7 pm at Sarasota Alliance Church , 7221 Bee Ridge Rd., Room C106. Design of 6,000 s.f. Racetrac Gas Station at BRPOC Agenda 1. Treasury (Ellie) 2. Racetrac update (Tom) 3. TerraCap Update a. PCD vs CN (Sandy, Francine and Arnis, Tom, and anyone else). b. Options allowed by the process. 4. Security - Citizens Patrol, Sheriff's Report - (Ted) 5. Activities (Sandy) 6. Current State of the Real Estate market (Sandy)

The next regular meeting of the Lake Sarasota Community Group is Thursday, March 14th, 7 pm, Sarasota Alliance Church offices (behind the church). It has been suggested that we in Lake Sarasota identify what we consider as "acceptable kinds of businesses" for the TerraCap development. Why? Because if TerraCap's petition to rezone to CN is approved, a lot of what is now supposed to be medical use can become any of a wide variety of other uses, in some cases needing no approval from the county or the neighboring communities. TerraCap at Mauna Loa and Bee Ridge Rd. Sandy has compiled a very good comparison of potential uses in PCD zoning (the current designation), and those in CN (the designation TerraCap is seeking). (More  here. ) In general, PCD is much broader - e.g., light industrial uses are permitted, so are loud activities such as shooting ranges -- which are not allowed under CN. CN also requires more buffering and landscaping. Gluttons for punishment...

The Bee Ridge Neighborhoods Committee met with Racetrac this morning to discussion ways to mitigate impacts of the planned 24-pump Racetrac gas station that is planned for the Northeast corner of Bee Ridge Rd. at Mauna Loa Blvd. Here are some highlights -- more detailed report will follow. Racetrac representative Tom Hardy fielded questions from the Committee for an hour, then addressed questions specific to Lake Sarasota, as this is the nearest and most exposed community. The top items: 1. The company is looking at possibly reducing the size of the store from 6,000 square feet to 5,200 square feet. This is a result of the realization that the station will be on a "tight site" within a cul de sac.  The smaller store will have all the same amenities, including window counter with wifi and a beer cave, that the larger, 6,000 square foot stores have. 2. Because Bee Ridge Rd. is due for widening, Racetrac is now thinking to push back its construction start until...