St. Armands Residents Association President Chris Goglia released an update this week in which he enumerates “a few reasons to be hopeful about St. Armands Key.”
Contextually. Goglia is the tip of the spear when it comes to advocating homeowners concerns to the City of Sarasota whether the issue be airbnb proliferation, storm flooding, traffic or anything causing concern. Here is his report:
St. Armands Resiliency & Flood Mitigation Project
The City of Sarasota has asked the County to apply federal funds to four different stormwater and flooding-related projects within city limits. With St. Armands being one of the county’s top tourist destinations, the gateway to the city’s only beach and the only way to reach the Town of Longboat Key from mainland Sarasota, we look to the county to approve the St. Armands Resiliency & Flood Mitigation Project to make us more resilient and able to more quickly bounce back from future storm events.
St. Armands Circle Park and Adjacent Medians
The St. Armands Circle Merchants Association (SACA) is reporting that the city has been planning a landscape refresh project for St. Armands Circle Park and the adjacent medians which is now approved and the work has already begun. All compromised vegetation and trees have been removed. Electrical contractors have been repairing and replacing lighting. And in the next week or two, irrigation work will begin in anticipation of the new plants and trees. There are drawings which show plans for new, lush, and full plantings throughout. By August, there should be a transformation underway. One caveat: the area between storefronts and the curb remains the responsibility of the commercial landowners and/or their merchant tenants.
Overhead Lines Taken Down Between Ringling Bridge and St. Armands
The power lines and poles have been removed from the medians along John Ringling Boulevard. This project was announced during planning to build the St. Armands Parking Garage (pre-2018), and has finally been completed. Goglia reports that he was told that landscape updates to these medians are not immediately planned, but are a conversation within the City Parks and Recreation Department.
