The Lake Sarasota Community Blog

Those who have volunteered for Citizens Patrol will have a brief training session tomorrow -- Thursday, Nov. 30th at 6:30. It will be in our regular room at Sarasota Baptist Church - Room 100. George Morgan is still looking for a few people who can give a couple of hours every other month to looking after the neighborhood. Vandalism drops by 30% in areas with active patrols. Email or call him: 377-4437 Also: The next Community Group General Meeting will be Dec. 12 at Sarasota Baptist, 6:30 p.m.

The Lake Sarasota Community Group now has a postbox and an email address : LAKE SARASOTA PO BOX 21983 SARASOTA, FL 34276 lakesarasota@gmail.com And make a note: Next general meeting of the Lake Sarasota Community Group is Tuesday, Dec. 12, 6:30 p.m. at Sarasota Baptist Church, Proctor and Hand Rds.

The county is reaching out to residents, asking them to provide input about where it should put its tax dollars. Neighborhood associations along Bee Ridge Road are asking their residents to attend one of the meetings listed below, and to fill out the forms that will be available (they're in the libraries also) with the request that the county give priority to the widening of Bee Ridge, and to making it a Corridor project. Doing so will enable residents to have more say in what can be developed along the road. Here's the county press release: SARASOTA COUNTY (MONDAY, NOVEMBER 06, 2006) - The public is invited to a series of meetings to help develop a project list for the next phase of the penny sales tax for unincorporated Sarasota County. On Nov. 6, 2007, Sarasota County officials plan to place on the ballot a referendum asking residents to continue the penny sales tax from 2010 through 2019. At the same time, voters will be asked to approve a list of projects that will be con...

The November 14th General Meeting offered news and updates on several fronts, and set dates for some future events. Laura Mathis began by offering a mission statement for the Community Group: "The Lake Sarasota group's purpose is to enhance the beauty, safety and sense of community in a positive way through working together in positive roles." Volunteers are needed on Sunday, Dec. 7th at 9 a.m. to finish landscaping the Westminster Entrance. The letters are up, the wall is painted. Bring gloves, long sleeve shirts, and a truck if you have one -- the work will involve moving some bricks (that used to be at the Mauna Loa Entrance) into place. The Beautification Committee also seeks a volunteer to water and keep the Westminster entrance clean. A sign for the Mauna Loa entrance, paid for by the County with a generous additional donation from Mickey Schweitzer, should be ready by the end of the year. Here's a sketch of what it will look like: Citizens Patrol: George Morgan...

The next general meeting of the Lake Sarasota Community Group will be at Sarasota Baptist on Tuesday, Nov. 14, at 6:30 p.m. Issues for discussion will include Beautification, Winter festival plans, traffic calming, developments east of I-75 with potential impact on Lake Sarasota property and quality of life.

The Sarasota County Traffic Advisory Committee meets Monday, Nov. 13, at 1:15 p.m., in the Board Chambers of the Sarasota County Administration Building, 1616 Ringling Blvd. The meeting will address proposed traffic controls for certain intersections on Mauna Loa Blvd. -- specifically, stop signs. More info: 861-5000.

Residents of Lake Sarasota and other areas adjacent to a 39-acre parcel on the Mauna Loa Extension expressed their opposition to a plan that calls for putting 15 three-story buildings on the land, with 22 rental units per building. Stephen Rees, attorney for the developer who is seeking rezoning to residential multifamily (nine units per acre) from the county, outlined the plan Tuesday evening at a neighborhood workshop . Among the concerns voiced: "You're going to kill my property value," one Lake Sarasota resident said, after Rees explained that some undetermined portion of the apartments might fall under the "affordable housing" designation. "'Affordable' gives you latitude and gives us nothing," said a woman who lives on McKown Rd., which runs north of the project. Residents along McKown spoke about noise, light, and the abrupt juxtaposition of the apartments to their five-acre estates, some of which include horses, barns and stables. Resid...

Below are the most recent Sarasota County land use maps for the Ansin parcels, which would be the site of the 330-unit apartment complex proposed for property on Mauna Loa north of Bee Ridge Road -- directly opposite Lake Sarasota's entrance. A county Workshop on this proposed development will be held this Tuesday evening at the Hampton Inn , 5995 Cattleridge Rd., in the Roosevelt Room. It begins at 6p.m. It is imperative we have a strong showing for the first session. Hopefully we will be able to learn what other potential plans might be coming down the pipe for this property and neighboring parcels. Click on the images for a larger size:

The Sarasota County Traffic Advisory Committee will hold a meeting on Monday, Nov. 13, at 1:15 p.m. The meeting will address proposed traffic controls for certain intersections on Mauna Loa Blvd. -- specifically, stop signs. The meeting will be in the Board Chambers of the Sarasota County Administration Building, 1616 Ringling Blvd. More info: 861-5000.

The county workshop on the plan to connect Clark Road to the Landfill south of it was over-attended by a large number of interested persons Monday evening. So much so that at least one quarter of the crowd was asked to leave to avoid breaking fire regulations before the workshop got underway. Why was it so well attended? One man standing in line to get in nailed it when he said, "Anytime something threatens to lower my property value by double digits, I'm there." Another workshop will be announced, a mailing will go out, and those who were unable to get in tonight will have a chance to hear and to comment. No action will be taken by the county before that third workshop will be held (there was one last week in South County). One odd note: This is purely speculative, and might never happen. But....according to some of the people at the workshop, the maps indicated that the Bee Ridge Extension would form part of a linkage extending from Bee Ridge to Clark to the Landfill. ...

A neighborhood workshop will be held this evening (Monday, Oct. 30th) to discuss a proposed plan to allow access to the county landfill from Clark Road, which is north of the Landfill. You can read more about the proposal and how some in the community feel about it by going to SaveClarkRoad.com . Tonight's meeting is from 6:30 - 8 p.m. at Twin Lakes Park. (Next week, on Tuesday, November 7, there will be a workshop to discuss the proposed Apartment Complex for 330 apartments on a tract of land opposite the main entrance to Lake Sarasota. That meeting begins at 6 p.m. at the Hampton Inn , Roosevelt Room.)

Sarasota County east of I-75 is ripe for development, which will mean changes in roads, density, commercial space, housing and population that could affect property values and the quality of life for all those living along or between Bee Ridge and Clark Roads. Here a just two of several projects and proposals for the area: 1. From Joe O'Hara, chairman of the Bee Ridge Neighborhoods Committee: In Saturday's mail I received a notice of a Neighborhood Workshop that I am not sure all of you may have gotten. It is a meeting to discuss a re-zoning petition within or behind the Bee Ridge Park of Commerce. The entry to the project appears to be from Mauna Loa Blvd--although I can not tell from the plans attached. The meeting will be to discuss the application which will seek to change 36 acres within the Park or immediately adjacent-- from OUE to RMF-2. The application proposes to build 330 apartments on the 36 acres. The location of the Workshop is Hampton Inn, 5995 Cattleman Rd.at 6...