The Lake Sarasota Community Blog

  Dear Neighbors, Thanks to everyone who attended the LSCG meeting on 7/27. The information to be distributed is too much for a post or an email. Please, read the summary of the meeting and the next steps moving forward. If you wish to help or have questions, please email  keithcrusso@gmail.com Thanks. First, an open letter, then more details below. To no one’s surprise, the attendees of the Lake Sarasota Community Group meeting on July 27th unanimously decided to fight the new development proposed by developer Josh Graber and his agents. We are opposed to this type of development, not to the current zoning for single-family dwellings. No number of amenities or concessions offered by the developer in the neighborhood workshop were persuasive to the twenty-thirty people who came or attended via video last night.  The community  wanted me to share this message, too: please, know that this and other developments in the area will affect every one of us, from Molokai to B...

NOTE: This meeting has been postponed to Thurs. July 23, 6 pm, on Zoom. A plan for the land behind the Racetrac at Mauna Loa Blvd. - and for four commercial parcels along Bee Ridge - has been submitted to Sarasota County.  See the data below for some detail. It appears that TerraCap, which owns the property, intends to build 270 multi-family apartments - with allowance for more than 500 parking spaces. Additionally four commercial buildings on Bee Ridge Rd. are planned - no uses specified. Lake Sarasota and TerraCap have a Covenant that places limitations on lighting, noise, kinds of businesses that are acceptable.  Use this link to ccess the Covenant . A few residents may have received notice of a Neighborhood Workshop on Wed. July 15 at 6 pm. ONLINE. The Workshop is an opportunity for neighbors to ask questions, express concerns. How will this impact traffic, noise, lighting, and more? More details about accessing the Workshop will be posted o...

Residents of Lake Sarasota - not all, but a few hundred - have received a letter notifying them of a lawsuit. Apparently someone wishes to develop more than 100 lots between the current western boundary of Lake Sarasota and I-75. Below are comments from NextDoor regarding what it all means: The letter, as people have pointed out, is confusing and difficult to understand. But here's what I've gathered from reading it: There are a bunch of people who own undeveloped wooded lots in Lake Sarasota abutting Route 75. These landowners (of the wooded lots) want to sell their properties to developers. A "Development Review Committee" has already met (on July 19, 2018) and seemingly approved the development of the wooded lots. BUT...residents of Lake Sarasota had created the "1988 Declaration of Restrictions for Lake Sarasota, the 1995 Amendment to the Declaration of Restrictions for Lake Sarasota, and the 1996 Declaration of Restrictions for Lake Sarasota", wh...

Windfall for developers? Public Notice Proposed Amendment to the Sarasota County Comprehensive Plan The Sarasota County Planning and Development Services Department will hold two public meetings on proposed Comprehensive Plan Amendment No. 2015-G. Both meetings will present the same information.  These are not public hearings.  The purpose of the meeting is to inform the public about the content of the proposed amendment and to seek comments and suggestions regarding the amendment. The public meetings will be held on: Date:                   January 18, 2017 Time:                  6:00 p.m. Location:             Gulf Gate Library, 7112 Curtiss Ave., Meeting Room B, Sarasota Date:                  January 25, 2017 Time:                ...

REMINDER: Public Hearings for Comprehensive Plan Update on June 8 and 10 Public hearings for the Comprehensive Plan Update will be held on  June 8 at 1:30 pm  and on  June 10 at 9 am . These hearings are for Board of County Commissioners to consider transmitting the Comp Plan to the State for review. Adoption by the BCC will take place after the State review, with target dates of October 2016. Documents have been posted online for the public hearings. The documents include: 1. Comp Plan Volume 1 Draft - June BCC Hearings, updated 06/06/16 2. Comp Plan Volume 2 Draft - June BCC Hearings, updated 06/06/16 3. Errata Tracking Sheet, updated 06/01/16 - contains policy information 4. Errata Tracking Sheet, updated 06/06/16 - contains map information 5. Planning Commission Recommended Policy Language, uploaded per public request  Please take note of the public hearing dates, times and topics listed below. Meetings will b...

The major hearing on the "Fiscal Neutrality" component of proposed changes to the Sarasota 2050 plan is this evening at the County Commission Chambers in the admin building on Ringling Blvd. Members of the public will have the chance to voice their views - each person is given 3 or 5 minutes. More here , and see links below. Cathy Antunes The Growth Machine: Sarasota’s USB, 2050 and Portland, Revisited Ron Saba on 2050: Putting New Development Costs on the Blood Sweat and Tears of Taxpayers is Unfair Bill Zoller: The Process is a Travesty Cathy Antunes: Free Market or Free Ride? County 2050 Plan Site County 2050 Maps William Zoller: Protect 2050’s “Fiscal Neutrality” Strong Towns Sarasota County Sustainability Factsheet Sarasota County Chugs Along with More Changes to 2050 It's not NIMBY, it's NIMP-B (Cathy Antunes’ video about infill) Observer: County Takes Another Look at 2050 County eyes changing ‘2050’ Eastern grow...

This is one perspective on the County's ambitious plans to change the 2050 Comprehensive Plan for the rural areas of Sarasota - mostly East of the highway. The comments have been submitted to the County planning department. If others have comments that they wish to share, they can send them to LakeSarasota at gmail dot com and we'll post them. An important public hearing about these changes to 2050 is set for Wed. Aug. 27th, 5 pm at the County Commission, Ringling Blvd., Sarasota. August 19, 2014 Anyone who looks back at how Sarasota County’s 2050 Comprehensive Overlay was developed has to be impressed by both its inclusiveness and its methodical approach. The county took years to work with residents, developers and commercial interests to produce a vision for East Sarasota County looking out to 2050. It hired the distinguished Urban Land Institute to provide a broad perspective and in-depth analysis. The result didn’t please everybody, but it brought order to ...