Sarasota Livin'

I don't live or work in Newtown so I don't know the "pluse" of the community there ... but I understand the feeling that nothing has happened on a large vacant piece of city-owned city-polluted land for a long time.

That certainly needs to be cleaned up. Seems the Wal-Mart study says it would take way more than the value of the property (even if it were clean) to fix it. -- which would seem to make sense since no one has been able to come up with a better plan.

I wonder what a survey of the residents within a mile of the site would show?

I wonder what a survey of the taxpayers of the whole city would show (since we would have to kick in the extra clean-up money)?

I almost never shop at Wal-Mart I don't really like the big box concept (except maybe Home Depot) -- but I certainly don't like a big piece of a neighborhood sitting polluted (while city owned) for years.

What do you think? Tuesday (at yet another special meeting) we will find out what the City Commission thinks..

I guess I will go out on a limb and say I am 53% YES 47% NO on this issue...

Here is the "What's Up" section of the recent SHT article ...

City commissioners will meet Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. in City Commission chambers, 1565 First St., Sarasota.

They are expected to vote on whether to sell a contaminated 18-acre Newtown property to Wal-Mart for a planned Supercenter.

Deal highlights:

Wal-Mart would pay the city about $4.9 million for the property off U.S. 301 and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way.

The retailer would then use that money to partially clean up the site, which was used for years as an unofficial town dump.

If the cleanup cost exceeds $4.9 million, which it likely will, Wal-Mart has asked the city to pay an additional $1.7 million.

Groups concerned with Wal-Mart have urged residents to pay close attention to details specifying what kind of benefits Wal-Mart would bring to the community, and whether the retailer could walk away from the deal at any time.

I attended the opening meeting of the Innovation41 charrette on Feb 8th. I wanted to at least catch the closing to see what they came up with but was unable to make it..

Innovation41 is an exciting initiative for the US 41/North Tamiami Trial Corridor in Manatee and Sarasota Counties. The US 41 Corridor is a critical gateway to the region's most culturally and economically significant resources. The goal of this initiative is to create a master plan that will redefine and reposition the corridor to be a truly identifiable place with an unique sense of identity and cohesive character.

Lots of consultants from several different firms. Someone from Development Economics in Washington DC told us that housing in Sarasota is pretty expensive... but I won't make fun since there were also some good ideas.

I liked the way they thought about the "subject area" which is about five and a half miles - from 10th St north to just past the airport.

They broke up the length into segments based on the majority use

• Cultural District / Entrance to Downtown
• Mixed Use Neighborhood
• Commercial Corridor
• University Gateway
• Airport

Then started to develop "marketing plans" for each segment. Think about some of the small crappy motels being remodeled into "boutique" hotels and branded like "Route 66"

I wish this process luck. North Sarasota (especially along the trail) needs some freshening up. The colleges, museums, theaters and other establishments are a great asset to Sarasota. I would love to see many more Ringling / New College students stay in Sarasota after they graduate.

Urban Review - St. Louis blog has a good discussion of "Parking Spaces / Community Places: Finding the Balance through Smart Growth Solutions." Steve cites a new EPA report and relates it to St. Louis...

Consider the density of the development. Research shows that each time residential density doubles, auto ownership falls by 32 to 40 percent (Holtzclaw et al. 2002). Higher densities mean that destinations are closer together, and more places can be reached on foot and by bicycle—reducing the need to own a car. Density is also closely associated with other factors that influence car ownership, such as the presence of good transit service, the community’s ability to support stores located in neighborhoods, and even the walkability of neighborhood streets.

Lots of good comments follow that article...

Should residential density double in downtown Sarasota? Double again? Would more roads help anything?

Below is an email I sent this morning...

Mayor, Commissions,

I wanted to pass along my personal support for this project continuing forward. I think that the vitality, parking spaces and decent paying jobs that this project will bring to downtown are worth the effort to make it happen.

Of course, mine and most peoples' concern is that the City not "over pay" for this to happen. I would like to see the City and the developer reach a "deal" that is fair.

I think that the City of Sarasota has committed to and should build parking for the downtown area. I also think that this is a good location for it to happen - at the "right" price.

There are many issues that our City is facing that are very important but having a healthy economy with jobs available is an important part of any solution.

--
Joe Moraca
http://www.moraca.org

Article in today's Sarasota Herald Tribune about an alternate plan to build a conference center at the Fair Grounds that would include a sports arena, conference center and five star hotel. This plan competes with the Chamber of Commerce backed plan on the bayfront.

Personally I don't want to give up public bayfront views and definitely don't want ongoing taxpayer support for any deal - but I would love to see a quality conference center in Sarasota.