St. Armands Circle Residents Association President Chris Goglia says he wants clear communication between the City of Sarasota when it comes to any initiatives or changes at St. Armands Circle. This follows a private meeting City staff was set to have Sept. 8 with a handful of property owners on the Circle, but was quickly cancelled as other owners and residents were alarmed to not be included in the future planning of the shopping, strolling and dining center.
Last week, a freedom of information act request revealed that the earliest email about the Sept. 8 meeting came on July 22 from commercial property owner Mark Kauffman, who owns the properties across from Speaks Clam Bar where Chase Bank, Garden Argosy, Ancient Olive, and Madison Ave Cafe & Deli used to operate. This is where some developers reportedly want to build a boutique hotel.
In the July 22 email to City Planning Director Steven Cover, Kauffman says that he wants to invite his “activist” landowners and says that Goglia should be invited to the meeting (he wasn’t) and that he would be “outnumbered” and “overwhelmed”.
Kaufmann said in the memo he understands why (residents) would “abhor” a major hotel, but that a “few” boutique rooms should be okay. The “activist” landowners include #1, #2, #3, #7, #9, and #13–by assessed value. Specifically the invite list included: Shore owner Tom Leonard, Daquiri Deck owner Gavin or John Meshad, Columbia Owner Casey Gonzmart, Matt Rozinsky, A Benderson representative and The Met owner Geoffrey Michael.
On August 5, City Planning Director Steve Cover asked his admin assistant to set up the meeting that was slated for Sept.8, until it was abruptly cancelled and the City Manager’s office morphed the approach into an all-inclusive kick-off party to explore all things St. Armands Circle, especially resiliency after storms.
Goglia wrote to City Hall last week: “We (SARA) would very much like to be included in this long series of discussions about the future of St. Armands Circle, which happens to be located smack-dab in the middle of our residential neighborhood. Contrary to what some developers have put out there in the past, residents would very much like to see St. Armands Circle revitalized and successful. However, I don’t feel 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). Residents who are away will start returning in October, with most having returned after the holidays. When people are away, they are less engaged. To maximize resident participation, in-person community workshops should be scheduled in the January-through-April timeframe.”
On Friday, Sept 5, Goglia followed up with the City stating that he had just sent out an email to the commercial property owners on St. Armands Circle to establish a channel of communication, and to specifically ask for their feedback on undergrounding utilities on St. Armands and Lido Keys and on revitalizing St. Armands Circle.
Goglia is also communicating with the Lido Key Residents Association (LKRA), the Lido Shores Property Owners Association (LSPOA), and the St. Armands Circle (Merchants) Association (SACA).
“We’re trying to build a coalition of all stakeholders, and I want you to know that I’ve invited our commercial property owners to be a part of this,” said Goglia.
The City has yet to give dates for its St. Armands series of public meetings to address the issues facing the shopping district and surrounding communities.
