Development would have 36 units priced to be attainable under City of Sarasota guidelines
A member of the project team behind a proposed 324-unit, multi-family housing structure that would stand at 1899 Fruitville Road in Sarasota put emphasis on saving two Grand Trees on the site when the team had its first meeting with the City of Sarasota’s Development Review Committee (DRC) on March 18.
Yet, the plans call for the removal of five Grand Trees to make the construction possible, the application shows.
The DRC comprises representatives of all of the city departments that deal with land-use applications, plus the Sarasota County Fire Department.
In written and verbal comments provided to the team, Jackie Hartley, the city’s senior arborist, has made it clear that, in accord with Section VII-310 of the city’s Zoning Code, “Any proposed grand tree removals must meet the removal of grand tree criteria.”
The application for the development, which Philip DiMaria, a certified planner with the Kimley-Horn consulting firm in Sarasota, submitted to the city in February, notes that 36 of the planned apartments — 15% of the total — would be priced as attainable under the guidelines of city regulations that the City Commission approved in 2023.
The building will range from four stories in height along Fourth Street to a maximum of five stories, the application also notes.
The company behind the proposal is Bristol Development Group LLC of Franklin, Tenn., the application says. Altogether, 22 parcels comprising approximately 3.44 acres were identified in that document as making up the development site.
The property is bordered by Gillespie Avenue to the east, North Osprey Avenue to the west, Fourth Street to the north, and Fruitville Road to the south, the application explains. The site is home to one residential structure, “multiple commercial buildings,” off-street surface parking and vacant lots, the application adds.
Among the commercial structures is the Breakfast House, which stands at 1817 Fruitville Road. Other buildings targeted for demolition for the project are businesses that have been established in decades-old homes along Fruitville. In at least one case, The Sarasota News Leader learned from the records maintained by the staff of Sarasota County Property Appraiser Bill Furst, Quantum Care, a holistic medicine practice, is located in a 1925 building; it stands at 1837 Fruitville Road.
The structure located at 1843 Fruitville Road is even older; it dates to 1922, Furst’s records show. It is home to Soho Downtown, a hair salon.
‘Two significant Grand Trees’
During the City of Sarasota DRC meeting last week, DiMaria told the committee members, “We’ve spent a lot of time on the site plan … There are two major constraints on the site that we really tried to pay a lot of attention to.”
The first, he explained, are “two significant Grand Trees.” Another project team member, Patrick Seidensticker — an attorney with the Icard Merrill firm in Sarasota — says those tees may be “the oldest, potentially, in the city,” DiMaria added.
The narrative in the application that DiMaria submitted to the Development Services staff explains that those trees stand “just northeast of the center of the site. To ensure their long-term protection, the building footprint and overall site plan were purposely shaped around the trees, creating a generous courtyard space that showcases them as defining natural features of the project. This courtyard not only preserves the trees but also reduces the building’s frontage along 4th Street, resulting in an enhanced pedestrian environment and a softer, more inviting edge for those walking along 4th Street.”
One tree has a diameter at breast height — the standard measurement for trees — of 70 inches; the other, 67 inches, the application says. The certified arborist working with the project team, Phil Smith of David W. Johnston Associates in Sarasota, has confirmed both are in good condition, the application adds.
Nonetheless, another section of the application points out, “[I]t was determined that preserving the two (2) grand trees results in a total reduction of approximately 56,720 square feet of buildable area …”
Therefore, that section explains, Bristol Development is seeking administrative adjustments “that are directly proportional to the loss of [that] buildable area resulting from efforts to preserve the two (2) grand Live Oak trees …” The application notes that the city’s Zoning Code “allows an applicant to request an adjustment equal to the decrease in buildable area caused by modifications necessary to retain protected trees.”
Those proposed adjustments are as follows:
The application further explains that, because of the property’s “unique configuration and its position bounded on three sides by primary streets, there is no feasible location on the site to transplant the two existing Live Oak grand trees. It adds, “Even if an attempt were made to relocate them elsewhere on the property, their mature canopy spread and root protection zones would conflict with required building footprints, fire access, utility corridors, drainage infrastructure, and pedestrian/vehicular circulation. The same spatial conflicts that exist at their current location would simply be replicated elsewhere on the site.”
The News Leader did learn from the application that the plans call for the removal of nine trees altogether, with 18 required to replace them, in accord with city regulations.
“We’re really doing our best [to] preserve those trees meaningfully [and] provide a benefit to the community, a benefit to Gillespie Park in terms of reducing the bulk and scale [of the development] facing northward,” DiMaria told the DRC members during the March 18 meeting.
The project team, DiMaria continued, is well aware that Fruitville Road “is the gateway to Sarasota.”
One facet of the plans, he said, calls for the planting of trees along Fruitville, “which we think would be a precedent for how development continues westward,” especially on the north side of the road.
During remarks as part of the March 18 meeting, Hartley, the city’s senior arborist, did read to the project team the city’s requirements and regulations regarding tree protections, which she had provided in a committee document sent to the team.
The other DRC members reviewed their comments on the application during the session, as well.
Among Hartley’s remarks were the following:
- Pursuant to Section VII-320 of the city’s Zoning Code, all non-grand trees must meet the criteria for granting tree removal permits.
- Pursuant to Sec VII-320(a)(2) of the Zoning Code, a tree whose removal has been proposed must be shown to prevent “reasonable development of a lot or parcel. It is the intent of this provision that no permit shall be granted for the removal of any tree where the applicant has failed to design and locate the proposed improvements to minimize the removal of trees.”
Hartley also asked to meet on the site with project team member.
“We’ve been working with [certified arborist] Phil Smith, DiMaria responded, indicating that a meeting would be scheduled between Hartley and Smith, DiMaria added.
Compatibility with growth patterns and ‘nearby developments’
Among other details in the February application, the narrative points out, “The proposed redevelopment is compatible with both the growth patterns of the surrounding area and nearby developments. Compatibility with the adjacent developments can be best understood through analyzing what exists within the urban fabric surrounding the site. Several recently completed and actively proposed residential developments along the Fruitville corridor further support the development envisioned for the site.”
It adds, “Immediately south along Main Street, Aster & Links, two newly constructed 10-story towers containing 420 residential units and 50,000 square feet of commercial space, have established a significant mixed-use presence at the east end of downtown. Within the Rosemary District, Arcos Apartments, a modern multifamily community with 228 units, reinforces the district’s emergence as a high-density residential neighborhood less than 0.5 mile west of the proposed redevelopment. Also, nearby along Osprey Avenue, The High Line a proposed 11-story mixed-use building with 142 residential units, signals the demand for residential development in the immediate area. Further east along Fruitville Road, the planned Fruitville Gateway project will introduce a five-story, 274-unit residential building spanning Fourth Street and Fruitville, contributing additional mid-rise density to the corridor. Collectively, these completed, proposed, and emerging developments create a cohesive pattern of urban, mid-rise residential density that aligns with and supports the proposed intensity for the proposed redevelopment.”
Further, the narrative notes, “The context-sensitive design will integrate the building and pedestrian spaces into Sarasota’s downtown fabric, creating a smooth transition to Gillespie Park. The redevelopment will function as a welcoming downtown gateway and provide a safe, comfortable pedestrian connection between the traditional downtown core and the Gillespie Park neighborhood. The proposed redevelopment advances multiple goals of the Sarasota City
Plan by fostering a walkable, multimodal environment that supports pedestrian, bicycle, and transit use; providing a safe, high-quality living environment; expanding housing opportunities that respond to the diverse needs of Sarasota’s residents; and making efficient use of existing infrastructure in a manner that supports long-term sustainability and resilient urban growth.”