County Commission to conduct its first hearing on draft Comprehensive Plan amendment on Sept. 11 in Sarasota
Leaders of the Siesta Key Association (SKA) and the Siesta Key Condominium Council (SKCC) have been alerting their members about the scheduled Sept. 11 County Commission hearing regarding a proposed Comprehensive Plan amendment that they contend would result in higher residential density on the barrier island.
Formally — as proposed by Commissioner Mark Smith before he was elected to the board in November 2022 — the measure would permit the voluntary demolition and reconstruction of condominium complexes. The goal, Smith explained when he introduced it to the commissioners seated in January 2022, would be to allow condominium homeowner associations faced with structural problems in buildings completed prior to Jan. 1, 2000 to tear down those buildings and then construct new ones with the same number of units and the same height.
Smith’s remarks to the commission came just months after the June 24, 2021 collapse of the 12-story beachfront Champlain Towers South building in Surfside, near Miami. That incident resulted in the deaths of 98 people. Reports said that the tower had had significant maintenance issues that had not been addressed. The building was completed in 1981, Wikipedia notes.
Representatives of Sea Club V on south Siesta Key brought the idea of the voluntary demolitions to Smith, as concerns had arisen about the structural integrity of the buildings in that complex, Smith told the commissioners in January 2022. Referring to the Sea Club V owners, Smith added, “They’ve been putting Band-Aids on their buildings for years.”
However, when the proposed amendment and corresponding modifications to the county’s Unified Development Code (UDC) — which contains all of the land-use and zoning regulations — were presented to the county Planning Commission on June 20, those board members expressed concerns about “unintended consequences” if the amendments were approved. They voted to recommend that the County Commission vote against proceeding with the changes.
Planning Commissioner Jack LaCivita told his colleagues, “If [this proposal] were redone, where it was like for like, footprint for footprint, height for height,” with the necessity of complying with modern construction standards, “I think it’d be a great solution” and motivator for people to tear down decades-old structures and erect new ones.
He indicated that one of his primary worries was that even a seven-story condominium tower could be torn down and replaced with seven stories of habitable floors over two levels of parking.
The county allows a maximum height of 45 feet over two levels of parking for a building with residential multi-family housing, County Planner Everett Farrell had reported during the hearing.
Last year, representatives of both the Siesta Key Association (SKA) and the Condominium Council sent correspondence to Commissioner Smith and county Planning Division staff, opposing the amendments.
On Sept. 11, the commissioners will decide whether to forward the draft Comprehensive Plan amendment to the Florida Department of Commerce for its review. Four commission votes are necessary for that transmittal to take place. If the amendment is forwarded to the state after the hearing, Department of Commerce personnel will analyze it for consistency with the county’s Comprehensive Plan policies — which guide growth in the community — and then send it back to the county with any notes about concerns.
If the state personnel find no problems with it, then a final hearing would be scheduled before the County Commission, with four votes needed again to add the measure to the Comprehensive Plan.
The Sept. 11 hearing is listed as No. 7 on the agenda, with the meeting beginning at 9 a.m. on the Commission Chambers of the county Administration Center standing at 1660 Ringling Blvd. in downtown Sarasota.
‘Another assault’ on Siesta Key
In an Aug. 28 newsletter, leaders of the Condominium Council wrote the following under the heading, “Why It Matters to Everyone who cares about Siesta Key”:
“This is another assault on the Comprehensive Plan’s protection of Siesta Key against increased density and intensity that threatens resident safety, hurricane evacuation and emergency vehicle access. It adds New Policy 1.2.2(E) that negates FLU 2.9.1 and removes Comp Plan protections. It would perpetuate non-conforming density and height, add two stories of parking, increase footprints, allow larger and lock-out rooms, and variances of the Gulf Beach [Setback Line]. These would increase density and intensity in violation of the current Comp Plan. The changes also remove public scrutiny of development of non-conforming properties, eliminating workshops [and] Planning Commission and County Commission hearings.”
The newsletter added, with emphasis, “Proposed Changes Promote Development at a time when residents realize current infrastructure cannot support increased density and intensity. Traffic congestion is already a constant problem and complaint of residents and visitors. During the last two storms, including [Tropical Storm Debby], the Siesta Drive bridge was closed because its access road flooded, reducing hurricane evacuation and emergency vehicle access to only the Stickney [Point Road] Bridge, which is under extensive repair by [the Florida Department of Transportation] to extend its life. Traffic will be reduced to two lanes somedays during this process. There is discussion about a bridge replacement, which would require downsizing to two lanes for an extended period. Stormwater and sewage infrastructure failures, like those during Tropical Storm [Debby], are occurring with increasing regularity. One of the largest spills occurred at the Siesta Key Master Pump station, totaling 309,000 gallons, as reported to [the Florida Department of Environmental Protection]. The cumulative effects of rebuilds from over 137 non-conforming [residential multi-family] properties would overwhelm roads, bridges, evacuation routes, stormwater and sewage facilities.”
The newsletter stressed, “Your Voice Counts. This hearing is scheduled when many residents are away or on vacation. To express your opinion, email County Commissioners HERE.”
On the SKA website, one of the top items under the heading SKA PROJECT NEWS, regards the Sept. 11 hearing. That item says, “On September 11, yet another Comprehensive Plan amendment that will have far-reaching impact on Siesta Key will be considered by the Sarasota Board of County Commissioners (BOCC). The intent behind the amendment, referred to as SK Condo Voluntary Rebuild, seems like a good idea — to allow condominiums built prior to [the implementation of] new building codes to voluntarily rebuild before some disaster destroys them. Unhappily, the crafted amendment could result in significant unintended consequences, even leading to many being rebuilt as hotels similar to the ones that were just ruled as illegal under the current Comprehensive Plan.”
Correspondence in the Sept. 11 agenda packet for the hearing includes an email exchange in April 2023 between county Planner Everett Farrell, who has been handling the amendments, and Tony Rateni, manager of the Sea Club V Beach Resort. Rateni referenced a stakeholders meeting that Farrell had conducted as part of his work on the draft amendments.
After talking with the members of the Sea Club V board of directors, Rateni wrote in his email, he was providing suggestions from the board.
Among those points, Rateni stressed, “ALL structures built before the 2000 [Florida Building Code went into effect] will be substantially damaged in a major storm event. They are not designed to withstand hurricane force winds and storm surge.”
He added, “It would be better to encourage structurally non-conforming buildings to voluntarily be demolished and rebuilt to today’s codes than to have them destroyed in a major storm event where loss of property is definite and loss of life a possibility.”
Further, Rateni noted the following comments from the board:
- Only the same number of residential unit types should be allowed; “e.g, 2 bedroom/2 bath, 1 bedroom/1 bath, efficiencies, etc. This information would be required on the demolition permit drawings and verified by the [county] Zoning Administrator. Condo association approval and building permits would be required to modify units after new construction completion.”
- “The square footage of the new units would be constricted” by the allowable building lot coverage, allowable height and the daylight plane specified for the applicable zoning.