—Setting the Stage for 2046—
On February 26, 2026, roughly 150 stakeholders invested in the future of St. Armands Circle gathered at the Mote Marine Keating Education Center. Organized by the City of Sarasota, this structured public feedback workshop invited residents, merchants, and commercial property owners to chart a path forward.
At stake is the City of Sarasota’s approach to licensing, zoning, and infrastructure support for the popular tourist destination and historic residential community. The barrier island is still recovering from the devastating storm surges and winds of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, which inundated the area in the autumn of 2024. Looming in the background are major decisions for Sarasota County Commissioners and the City Council regarding how to manage federal grants and local funding. Key issues include:
• Upgrading flood control systems, including historically failure-prone stormwater pumps.
• Improving roadway evacuation routes from Lido Beach and Longboat Key, which routinely clog with vehicles during flood events.
• Undergrounding vulnerable overhead utility lines at risk during high winds.
—A Visioning Exercise with Sticky Notes and Stickers—
Outgoing Interim Sarasota City Manager David Bullock introduced the event’s moderator, independent facilitator and sociologist Dr. David Brain. Brain challenged the attendees to envision what St. Armands Circle should look like to someone returning in the year 2046.
The City divided participants into small groups of ten or fewer, each guided by a table facilitator. Individuals were asked to write their goals for the Circle on small notes, which facilitators then collected and posted on presentation boards. After reviewing the collective ideas, an elected group leader presented their table’s goals to the wider room. To gauge consensus, each participant was given five green stickers to indicate agreement with specific notes and three red stickers to signal disagreement.
—Consensus on Charm, Pushback on “Hotelization”—
While the workshop was designed to focus on high-level goals and desired outcomes, many participants eagerly used the platform to advocate for specific regulations and methods. Feedback varied by table, but a resounding majority favored preserving the Circle’s century-old tradition: charming residential areas, small boutique shops, diverse dining options, and a quiet traffic flow conducive to walking and biking.
Residents and business owners alike stressed that chronic flooding is an existential threat the City and County must aggressively address. This is especially urgent given strict FEMA “50% Rule” guidelines that force extensively damaged properties to elevate to modern flood codes. Many attendees firmly rejected the creeping threat of “hotelization”—the push by some developers to add high-density, third-floor boutique hotels or short-term rentals—demanding instead that the area retain its quaint, village-center feel.
—Next Steps for the Circle—
Neighbors from Lido Beach and Longboat Key joined St. Armands residents in calling for comprehensive traffic calming measures, better public transportation (such as free shuttles or micro-transit) for both tourists and workers, and strict prohibitions on “hotel houses.” There was also strong support for restricting parking on residential streets, avoiding massive new parking structures, and fostering a collaborative beautification effort between developers and local government.
A follow-up session is scheduled for April 13, 2026, at the Keating Center. This second meeting will feature a presentation of the workshop’s gathered data and offer an opportunity to advance concrete recommendations. As always, the extent to which this community feedback will ultimately shape the binding decisions of the Sarasota City Commission and County Commissioners remains to be seen.
