STEVE REID
Editor & Publisher
sreid@lbknews.com
A private closed door meeting between a handful of St. Armands property owners and Sarasota City Planning staff and its Director slated to be held on Sept. 8 was abruptly canceled after a flurry of emails questioning exactly why it was not a public meeting and why both the President of the Merchants Association and other St. Armands property owners were unaware of its existence.
The issue started on Wednesday, Aug. 20 when St. Armands Merchant’s Association President Rachel Burns wrote Sarasota’s Director of Planning Steven Cover as well as the City Commission and City Manager questioning if the Sept. 8 meeting that she became aware of was open to the public, St. Armands Property Owners, Merchants or residents. She also wished to know who received a “special invitation.” Burns also asked if the meeting would be recorded in the Sunshine and sought clarification as to why representatives from the St. Armands District were not invited.
Planning Director Cover responded the same day at 4:58 p.m. to explain the purpose of the meeting. Cover wrote that after the hurricane damage last year and the impact on St. Armands, the City “recognized that maybe we should take a look at the commercial area and how it could be more resilient to severe flooding in the future, rebound from severe damage and investigate how maybe our regulations inhibit restoring St. Armands.”
Cover went on to write that the Sept. 8 meeting is with “many of the largest property owners.” He added that there would be future meetings with businesses, the residential community and tourism entities. In closing, Cover said the meeting is “just for those who are invited.”
Five minutes after Cover’s letter was sent, Deputy City Manager Pat Robinson sent a memo to Cover and Burns and everyone else on the email list. Robinson said if there was another group or groups that would like to set up a meeting, the City would be happy to accommodate them. He said there will be a long series of discussions between interested parties and City Staff.
At that point on Wednesday, the closed door meeting scheduled for Sept. 8 between large property owners and the City Planning Director and staff was still on, but by Friday morning there was a complete reversal.
We shall be inclusive…
Assistant City Manager Robinson sent out an email at 9:47 a.m. on Aug. 22 stating that after receiving numerous inquiries about the meeting, it was going to be canceled.
Robinson’s email goes on to say that instead of a small group meeting, the City will be holding “a community conversation kickoff” meeting that will be open to all interested parties for all short and long term improvements to St. Armands. Robinson says smaller charettes will then be scheduled based on feedback from the kickoff meeting. Those meetings will all be open to the public, he added.
Then Robinson added urgency and said the City Staff would like to “make haste” in scheduling the initial meeting. He then added that many residents are gone for the summer but that staff thought that an online meeting might be appropriate. He asked for thoughts on that issue. Robinson closed his email by stating staff will be looking for dates and locations the following week for the meetings and that he will make sure the resident and business community is noticed of the meetings in ample time to get the word out.
Unsettled business
The fact that an unannounced, closed-door meeting with a handful of major property owners was discovered and then canceled left many in the community unsettled, especially given the fact that twice in the last five years, there’s been a concerted push for increased density, height and development rights and entitlements by those who wish to see either residential units or hotel uses on St. Armands Circle.
St. Armands Resident’s Association President Chris Goglia reacted to the flurry of emails in stating that the Resident’s Association “Would very much like to be included in the discussions since St. Armands Circle is located smack-dab in the middle of our residential neighborhood.”
But Goglia completely disagrees with the idea that the discussion of an issue of this magnitude – the future of St. Armands Circle – should be done “in haste or in a closed door meeting.”
Goglia said that residents who are away are less engaged and to maximize participation in community workshops and such meetings in the January through April timeframe.
And nobody is more aware of the importance of St. Armands Circle to the region than Goglia. In many ways, much of his job as President is to stay completely connected to any issues affecting all of the surrounding homeowners. He suggested that the City discuss issues such as traffic, parking, infrastructure, and how these problems might be impacted by loosening regulations to allow increased size, density and intensity of use.
Déjà vu development
Then Goglia brought up two ghosts from the recent past. He reminded Deputy City Manager Robinson that the City had already hosted two community workshops regarding increased development and larger buildings on St. Armands Circle within the last four years.
Goglia said that the City Commission voted 5-0 to reject taller buildings on St. Armands Circle in November 2022.
“Apparently the developers are trying again, less than three years later,” Goglia added.
Goglia finished by saying that all stakeholders need to be in the conversation including St. Armands Key and Lido Key residents, Circle businesses and property owners as well as the Town of Longboat Key, all of whom have a vested interest.
Jim Ludwig who lives on Lido Key and serves as the Vice President of the Coalition of City Neighborhood Associations as well as a Lido Key Resident Association Board member was clear in his feelings after learning of the cancelation of the closed door meeting.
“St. Armands is too important to not spend the necessary time and effort to look at its future viability,” said Ludwig.
The entire issue of adding height and hotels and density to the Circle also falls on the heels of additional battles that residents have had to fight over recent years. First the Lido Beach Pavilion plan which was endorsed by City staff and was eventually derailed after public outcry at the idea of turning the publicly-owned asset over to the owners of the Daiquari Deck to turn into a restaurant and bar.
Then a push to add an amusement park including putt putt golf to City Island was fought and went away. And then there was the push to change the zoning on the Circle and develop the Fillmore Parking Lot into a hotel and gourmet supermarket.
Also along the way, the St. Armands Business Improvement District was disbanded after it spent months lobbying for increased development rights and zoning changes on behalf of a handful of the Circle property owners.
In all of the battles against increasing development and changing uses and intensifying uses, several themes have emerged. Primarily the concern for traffic gridlock, the concern over evacuation, and the attitude that the entitlements primarily benefited the property owners rather than the community, all came to the fore.
