The Lake Sarasota Community Blog

UPDATE from the County: Bee Ridge Road Improvements - Temporary Lane Shift Postponed: The contractor has postponed the temporary lane shift to Friday evening, October 17. Both the east and west bound traffic will be shifted slightly to the south from Mauna Loa Boulevard to Hidden Glen Drive. There will be signs posted directing traffic through the new pattern. You've seen the blinking notices, here's what they mean: You

The date for the Autumn Lake Sarasota Community Yard Sale is Saturday, Nov. 15th, 8 am to 1 pm. (Of course it can continue beyond 1 pm if people wish). More to come.

We've just found out that Lake Sarasota still has $331 left of grant money that was never used - it was from an old Neighborhood Grant that helped pay for mulching and planting in the medians, and for the pocket park at Hina. The money is there if we want to use it for a project. Any ideas? One suggestion has been to put a bicycle rack in near a bus stop used by kids going to school. If you have an idea, post it here or send it to lakesarasota (at) gmail (dot) com.

A Lake Sarasota resident has been tracking the resurfacing schedule for our area. He's learned that a number of our neighborhood streets that feed onto Bee Ridge Road are scheduled to be resurfaced as the widening project approaches completion. Chris Sharek provided a spreadsheet of resurfacings and says: As you can see, there are quite a few roads that are planned in Lake Sarasota for resurfacing. This is FANTASTIC news. It looks like they are currently in design and will be done in 2015. Even if they slip with the schedule, Bee Ridge won’t be done until 2016 anyway, so we’re in good shape.  Chris added: Second, I was chatting with a neighbor the other day and they seemed to think that Laurel Oaks and Bent Tree put up a bunch of $ to keep their light on Bee Ridge. I have confirmed that this is NOT the case. There is a round-about planned for that intersection. Just wanted to put an end to that rumor.

Many of us have enjoyed the lovely oak hammocks of Rothenbach Park at the east end of Bee Ridge Road: Rothenbach has developed a reputation as one of the most beautiful shaded walks and bicycle paths in Sarasota County. Now there's an initiative to make it even more beautiful and user friendly. Here's the beginning of a letter that went out to Lake Sarasotans and to other East Bee Ridge neighborhoods recently: What makes every community special is not that it is “perfect” from the very start, but that there is a consistent effort on the part of its citizenry to identify areas that need attention and to bring them up to the standards of the rest of our fine community. We are fortunate to have a wonderful Sarasota County Parks Department that has re-developed a “less than attractive” portion of our neighborhood (the landfill) and created a park and wildlife sanctuary that offers walking and biking trails as well as playground and picnic facilities with clean rest...

Welcome to Sarasota County's community e-newsletter. If you have questions, ideas for articles, or feedback on the system, contact us at  pubcom@scgov.net .    Volunteer for National Public Lands Day  Sept. 27   SATURDAY :  Sarasota County will host a volunteer event from  9 a.m. to noon  at Arlington Park in Sarasota Wallenda to help commemorate new marker honoring bayfront's history High-wire daredevil and Sarasota native Nik Wallenda will help the county's Historical Commission honor the rich history of the Sarasota Bayfront with a new historical marker  Voter registration deadline nears for Nov. 4  General Election Sarasota County residents must be registered to vote by  Monday, Oct. 6  to be eligible to vote in the General Election on  Nov. 4 . Take a 'Magical Mystery Tour' Discover the hidden gems of Sarasota County as you enjoy a guided tour on an open-air trolley pai...

A new blog is now consolidating information, background resources, and current conversation surrounding the proposed changes to Sarasota County's 2050 Comprehensive Plan. The blog is SarasotaVision2050 , and it can be found here: http://sarasotavision2050.blogspot.com/ The stakes are not trivial for communities East of I-75. If developers get the green light to start building all at once, not only will they choke our roads and land with excessive housing, but the new housing will dilute and degrade the market of existing homes - yours and mine - in Sarasota County. What's more, the developers will be competing against each other for a very limited resource - the high-end retiree market. Instead they should be planning a knock-out beautiful public vision of East Sarasota - and let the developers consider all kinds of housing - for working people, families, as well as rich retirees. If the changes to 2050 pass, and it is expected they will at a County hearing on Oct. 22 (...

Annual Coastal Cleanup returns  SATURDAY:   Keep Sarasota County Beautiful will help clean coastal and other areas during the 2014 International Coastal Cleanup from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday, Sept. 20, at sites throughout Sarasota County (rain date: Saturday, Sept. 27).   Laurel Community Cleanup scheduled SATURDAY:  Keep your home looking spiffy by taking part in the Laurel Community Cleanup, 8 a.m. to noon Saturday, Sept. 20.   Manasota Beach Youth Fall Fishing Tourney set for Sept. 20 SATURDAY:  Sarasota County will host its third annual Youth Fall Fishing Tournament, Saturday, Sept. 20, at 8:30 a.m. at Manasota Beach in Englewood. The event is for children ages 14 and younger. Tax-free shopping for energy-efficient products this weekend Save money, energy and water on the purchase of ENERGY STAR-qualified appliances and WaterSense-labeled products during the Sept. 19-20 Tax-free Holiday.  Sales tax will not be ...