Board chair urges applicant’s agent to conduct more than one in-person Neighborhood Workshop about plans
Following a 30-minute presentation on Sept. 10, the Sarasota County commissioners unanimously approved a resolution that set the boundaries and scope of work for what has been proposed as the Gulf Gate Critical Area Plan (CAP).
As The Sarasota News Leader has reported, the impetus for the CAP proposal has been the planning of Gulf Gate LLC — whose manager is based in Mendota Heights, Minn. — for redevelopment of the Gulf Gate Apartments. Philip DiMaria, a certified planner with the Kimley-Horn consulting firm in Sarasota, explained to the commissioners this week that the developer originally wanted to demolish and reconstruct the oldest apartment building. However, because the entire apartment complex is located in an inactive county zoning district, the decision was made to pursue a Critical Area Plan designation for not only the site of the apartment buildings but also the property of the adjacent Gulf Gate Commercial Center.
Altogether, the CAP would comprise 64 acres close to the intersection of Stickney Point Road and U.S. 4,1 DiMaria said.
An attachment to the resolution that the commissioners adopted on Sept. 10 explains, “The purpose of the Gulf Gate CAP is two-fold … [The first goal is] to bring the Gulf Gate Apartments into conformity [with the county’s zoning regulations] and achieve a density of 25 dwelling units per acre …” [The second goal is] to create a harmonious development that provides a high-quality integrated system between commercial and residential uses in this part of Sarasota County. When completed, this CAP is intended to foster well-planned development in order to coordinate the needs of the surrounding commercial and residential areas. The CAP will encompass the right location and intensities in order to adequately support the extension of necessary public facilities within the Study Area.”
“You’re looking for complete neighborhoods,” DiMaria told the commissioners. “That’s the opportunity …”
Residents would have ready access to services and restaurants, for example, given the street network in existence, he noted.
Further, DiMaria pointed out, “One of the things that we’re most interested in is drainage. Some of this area was constructed prior to [implementation of the federal] Clean Water Act …”
“This is what I would call a premier opportunity to do really good planning, to do really good infill,” Commissioner Teresa Mast told DiMaria.
A county staff memo in the board’s Sept. 10 agenda packet explained that the Gulf Gate Commercial Center is the largest component in the proposed area of the CAP. It comprises “55.24 acres of commercial development dating from the early [1960s] to the late [1970s],” the memo continued. Approximately 160 businesses “of various types” exist in that area, the memo added.
Gulf Gate Apartments consists of seven buildings on three parcels, comprising 8.76 acres “immediately adjacent” to the commercial center, the staff memo said.
During her remarks after DiMaria’s Sept. 10 presentation, Mast called Gulf Gate “a very well-loved area … [that] has been a huge part of Sarasota County for a long, long time.”
Commissioner Tom Knight noted that it is “right in the heart of Sarasota,” adding, “The project’s awesome.”
In accord with a policy in the county’s Comprehensive Plan — which guides growth in the community — DiMaria did note that apartments priced to be affordable will be included in the project.
Based on density details he had provided, Commissioner Mark Smith said that his math showed that of the 219 total apartments that would be allowed — if the CAP and an expected Comprehensive Plan amendment ultimately win board approval — 16 of those units would be priced to be affordable, in accord with income limits specified annually by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Smith told DiMaria that he hoped the rent would be closer to 80% of the Area Median Income for the North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). (Developers often tell the commissioners that they will price affordable units up to 120% of the AMI.)
Moreover, Smith and Knight both conveyed to DiMaria their desire to see the units designated as affordable to remain at that rent level for 20 or 30 years, instead of two or three, as often proves to be the case, they indicated, when developers include affordable dwellings in projects.
Having family members who live in Gulf Gate, Smith said, he knows “there’s a lotof folks that work there that could use some affordable housing …”
Chair Joe Neunder told DiMaria that Gulf Gate is “in the heart” of his district, so he is very familiar with it. Many of the people who live in the community walk to work, Neunder pointed out. “I think we’re all very hyper-focused on affordable housing,” Neunder added of his colleagues.
Further, Neunder urged DiMaria to make certain that more than one Neighborhood Workshop is conducted about the project, so community residents will be well-informed about the plans. In fact, though county regulations allow for such workshops to be conducted virtually, Neunder emphasized his view that the project team should conduct its sessions in person.
He also encouraged DiMaria to ensure that the team is “exceedingly transparent and very accessible to the community.”
“Spend the time to get out in the community,” Knight added. “We don’t want people surprised.
On another point, Neunder encouraged DiMaria to ensure that the project team undertake a thorough analysis of the stormwater situation in the CAP area. Referring to Gulf Gate residents, Neunder added, “They experienced significant — and I do mean significant — flooding throughout last year’s [storm] events.” Neunder emphasized of the commissioners, “We’re hyper-focused on the stormwater,” as well.
Genesis of the idea and the details
The location of the proposed CAP, DiMaria said, “is east of what we consider the traditional Gulf Gate area of Superior Avenue and Gateway Avenue.” The affected property addresses, according to a slide he showed the commissioners, are 2757 Mall Drive and 2355 and 2350 Gulf Gate Drive in Sarasota.
“The genesis of this really came from [Gulf Gate LLC’s principals] after last year’s hurricanes,” DiMaria continued, “understanding that some of these building are nearing the end of their feasible lifespan [and] need some money put into them and need some rehabilitation.”
In assessing the properties, DiMaria said, the leaders of Gulf Gate LLC “began looking for opportunities to replace some of the units on site. They also considered rehabilitating or rebuilding the older buildings.”
After initial conversations with county staff members, he continued, they learned “that the framework in this area really didn’t support the rehabilitation or rebuilding of some of these units that have been in place for more than 50 years.”
The existing Future Land Use designation of the property is Medium Density Residential, which allows for between five and nine dwelling units per acre, DiMaria noted. Yet, “We have a built density of almost 25 units per acre here,” he said. (A slide put the figure at 24.43 dwelling units per acre.)
The zoning, DiMaria pointed out, is Residential Multi-Family-4 (RMF-4), which permitted 18 units per acre. However, he told the commissioners, “Today, you can only go up to RMF-3, which permits 13 units per acre.”
Again, he noted that the units “were built a long time ago,” adding of the zoning issue, “This is not a unique situation, but it certainly is an odd one, and we’re just trying to clean this up over time.”
His appearance before the board that day, he continued, would be the first of many if the commissioners authorized work on the CAP to proceed.
For example, DiMaria said, the project team would need to request a Comprehensive Plan amendment to change the Future Land Use Map designation for the area to Commercial Center. A supermajority of the board — four of the five members — has to approve any Comprehensive Plan modification, he noted.
Along with encompassing both the commercial and residential area, he added, county staff recommended that the CAP include a residential area that the county’s Neighborhood Services staff studied years ago in the traditional Gulf Gate Center “to establish a planning framework for the area.”
That residential area is Gulf Gate Estates, as shown in the 2019 document about the study. It was part of the Sept. 10 agenda packet.
Further, DiMaria explained, county Future Land Use Policy 1.2.15(1) would provide the means for the project team to increase the traditional RMF-3 density from 13 units per acre up to 25 per acre, if certain criteria were met.
He also noted that while that policy would allow structures up to 85 feet tall within the CAP, the developer has indicated a desire to build nothing taller than 45 feet.
If the developer later wanted to build higher structures, DiMaria pointed out, the County Commission would have the final decision on those plans.