STEVE REID
Editor & Publisher
news@lbknews.com
In the end, opponents won when the Sarasota City Commission voted 4-1 last Tuesday to uphold an appeal against the 327 – foot, 18 story residential tower proposed for 1260 N. Palm Avenue.
It took approximately about five hours of debate before the vote that supported what Bay Plaza Owners Association has long asserted — the structure as designed was not suitable in the chosen location.
The vote overturns a vote last February by the Sarasota Planning Board wherein they decided the city’s Development Services staff correctly applied the city standards in approving the project.
Mayor Liz Alpert was the only city commissioner to support the project. She said, “I don’t see where it doesn’t fall within all of the requirements of Downtown, our City Plan. However, it’s very obvious that we have four people here who don’t believe that.”
City commissioners ultimately concluded the project was incompatible with key provisions of Sarasota’s comprehensive plan and zoning code, including sections that govern development compatibility, building scale and design.
Vice-Mayor Debbie Trice and commissioners Jen Ahearn-Koch, Kyle Battie and Kathie Kelley Olrich supported the appeal, filed by the Bay Plaza Owners’ Association. Mayor Liz Alpert cast the lone dissenting vote, maintaining that the project met legal standards and should have been allowed to proceed.
The decision overturns approvals previously granted by city staff and the planning board and halts the project, at least temporarily
The project, submitted by developer MK Equity Corporation, called for 14 residential units atop two floors of amenities and two bottom levels of commercial space.
It remains to be seen whether the applicant changes the project or challenges the decision legally.
