Sarasota Livin'

The Palm Beach Post has an article about growth that we should be seeing in Sarasota in about 10 years. WPB had its own Duany Plan for downtown. Buildings limited to 15 floors on main roads 3-5 floors any where else.

Seems they have been so successful the downtown is full:

As envisioned in 1995, the 71-page master plan capped building heights at 15 stories. High-rise buildings would be limited to main thoroughfares, with the rest of downtown limited to two to five stories.

Three major amendments were added over the years, including incentives for building residential units and the option of taller buildings under certain circumstances. For instance, the 26-story Opera Place won extra height by agreeing to build a new venue for Florida Stage.

In 1996, voters made an amendment of their own, passing a ballot measure capping building heights east of Olive Avenue.

Today, the downtown master plan area is flooded with 4,800 residential units. Another 1,300 are under construction and 2,800 are on the drawing board.

Developers riding the crest of this construction wave are pressing for taller buildings, especially along Quadrille Boulevard and Okeechobee Boulevard. Frankel has questioned whether the master plan crafted almost a decade ago can still meet the needs of a fast-growing city.

Better to be too successful that have a dead downtown...