City of Sarasota sees attainable housing grant request vetoed
On June 12, when Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the 2024 budget bill for the state, he approved two of the three projects that the Sarasota County Commission had sought, The Sarasota News Leader learned.
The one he vetoed entailed a request for $3.5 million to modify the intersection of Clark and McIntosh roads, Rob Lewis, the county’s director of governmental relations, confirmed for the News Leader.
DeSantis also vetoed funding that the City of Sarasota had sought for its efforts to provide more attainable housing within its jurisdiction, as Jennifer Jorgensen, the city’s governmental affairs director, noted in a June 12 email to City Manager Marlon Brown.
One of the two county grants that the governor supported will give county staff $500,000 for work on an initiative to improve the water quality in Little Sarasota Bay. As the commissioners have noted in discussions over the past two years, the analysis ultimately could call for the reopening of Midnight Pass on south Siesta Key.
Commissioner Joe Neunder has made the improvements to Little Sarasota Bay a priority since he was elected to the board in November 2022. Although he lives in Nokomis, he represents the southern portion of Siesta Key in his District 4 territory.
An update on that feasibility study should be available this summer, county staff has told the commissioners.
The study is being conducted in two phases, a Feb. 21 county staff report pointed out. “Phase 1 includes the identification and assessment of concepts and alternatives, not limited to a fully dredged tidal inlet to improve overall water quality [within] the Little Sarasota Bay estuary,” the report explained.
“The focus of this effort will be on the coastal engineering and process requirements for a hydraulic connection including consideration of the State and Federal regulatory requirements and constraints,” the report continued. The work includes a review of background information on the project; coordination with regulatory agencies — such as the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP); assessment of potential alternatives for re-establishing tidal flow between Little Sarasota Bay and the Gulf of Mexico; development of a summary of the efforts; and a presentation of the findings to the commissioners.
The scope of work for Phase 1 is estimated to cost $73,275, the report noted.
During the County Commission’s June 19 budget workshop, Commissioner Neunder talked of the expertise that Lewis of the Governmental Relations Department has gained over Lewis’ years of working with legislators in trying to gain funding for county projects. “You’ve done a fantastic job in going to the battleground up in Tallahassee,” Neunder told Lewis.
Then Commissioner Neil Rainford noted that “Commissioner Neunder’s biggest project just recently got funding from Gov. DeSantis,” referring to the Little Sarasota Bay water quality initiative.
The second county grant that the governor approved provides $1 million for the widening of Honore Avenue from Fruitville Road to 17th Street, including the expansion of the single-lane roundabout at the Richardson Road intersection.
The project distance is about 1 mile, according to a county Capital Projects Department document.
That initiative also has been planned to include the addition of bicycle lanes, sidewalks on both sides of Honore Avenue, roadway lighting and landscaping, the document points out. Further, the signalized intersection at the intersection of Honore Avenue and 17th Street will be converted to a two-lane roundabout. “Stormwater facilities and drainage to accommodate the roadway improvements are also included in the design,” the document says.
The Kimley-Horn consulting firm in Sarasota won a $1,699,984.74 contract with the county to handle the design of that undertaking. The Capital Projects document did not include an estimate for the construction.
In a statement he provided the News Leader on June 18, Lewis of Governmental Relations wrote, “We very much appreciate our Legislative Delegation’s efforts on behalf of the County.”
A June 12 article on the Florida Politics website, written by Gray Rohrer, pointed out that DeSantis “slashed $900 million of spending in the process [of approving the state’s 2024 budget], trimming the spending plan to about $116.5 billion, or about $1 billion less than the current year.”
The new state fiscal year will begin on July 1.
As for the McIntosh/Clark funding request: In the past, the News Leader has reported on discussions that Spencer Anderson, the county’s Public Works Department director, has had with the commissioners about the need to realign that intersection.
A Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) webpage notes that a Project Development and Environment (PD&E) study of that initiative is underway, at a cost of $461,000. The work is expected to be completed late this year.
The webpage explains the goal is “to realign the existing offset [of State Road] 72 [Clark Road] at McIntosh Road intersection, by removing the ‘jog’ and creating a four-legged intersection. The realignment will also consider the Legacy Trail alignment in proximity to this intersection. Alternatives to be evaluated shall include shifting the east leg of McIntosh Road, located north of SR 72, to the west, to align with the southern portion. The roadway typical section will be a two-lane McIntosh Road, expandable to four-lanes in the future. In addition, at-grade bicycle and pedestrian accommodations, access modifications between McIntosh Road and Sarah Avenue, and the Legacy Trail crossing of the realigned McIntosh Road, will be evaluated.”
The document that state Rep. Fiona McFarland, R-Sarasota, filed on behalf of the county, seeking the state funding, offered these details: “The intersection is currently offset and bifurcated by the Legacy Trail. Completing the realignment will resolve the issue of errant vehicles turning down the trail entrance, improving the safety of the intersection for all users, motorized and [pedestrians]/[bicyclists] and will mitigate/reduce crashes, aligning with Target Zero goals.”
The City of Sarasota funding requests
In regard to the City of Sarasota project that was vetoed, Jan Thornburg, general manager of the city’s Communications Department, wrote in a June 18 email, responding to a News Leader inquiry, “The $2 million request for the City’s workforce attainable housing initiative was the only request that was included in the appropriation bill and ultimately was vetoed by Gov. DeSantis.”
The form that state Rep. McFarland submitted for consideration in the appropriations bill explained, “The funds will be used for design and engineering of a workforce attainable housing project in downtown Sarasota. The project proposes to create attainable housing for approx. 400 working individuals. The concept includes two 11 story buildings with 210 residential units, ground floor commercial space, and a 330 space parking garage.” Among the dwellings will be studios and one- and two-bedroom units,” the document added. “Once completed, the City will contract with a property management company to manage the property,” the document pointed out.
On April 15, the City Commission voted unanimously to support the concept of the project on two parcels near City Hall in downtown Sarasota, with further details to be resolved in the future. The plans at that point called for both of the buildings to stand 12 stories high, instead of 11, with a total of approximately 192 units.
The addresses of the parcels are 1544 First St. and 1590 First St.
City Manager Brown and the commissioners expressed hope that the city would end up receiving the $2 million requested from the state, to assist with the estimated city expense of $7.4 million to purchase the property.
Thornburg added in her June 18 email, “Two other projects were submitted to the House and Senate for appropriation consideration”:
- “$1 million for ocean technology and physical ecology (to monitor sea level wave height, currents and more in Sarasota Bay).
- “$1 million for the Sarasota Bay watershed (to reduce water quality pollutants and achieve flood protection in alignment with the Sarasota Bay Watershed Management Plan).”
Those did not make it into the final appropriations bill.