The Lake Sarasota Community Blog

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...

ReZone Petition 23-19 On Planning Commission Agenda 9.21.23 An 80-home development is proposed to be built on the open space on Hand Road opposite the Lakeview Dog Park. As residents know, Hand Road is basically blocked by school traffic every morning and afternoon as parents and buses usher kids to and from school. The plan raises additional safety issues as well. The 90-degree curve from Lago Street onto Hand Road is basically blind, and it's at this curve that school kids cross the road each weekday to and from their schools - Lakeview Elementary and Oak Park.  Before the 90-degree curve, Lago Street is a long straightaway where drivers enjoy building up speed. During school hours, a crossing guard is posted to make sure cars allow schoolchildren to safely cross. Note Access Point #2 above.  Will drivers coming rapidly down Lago Road be able to see cars entering onto Hand Road at that access point right around the curve?  Will placing an entry from an 80-home project n...

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 re...