Event scheduled for 5:30 p.m. in SRQ Media Studio within City Hall Annex
On Monday, May 11, the public is invited to attend an open house regarding the proposed new Sarasota City Plan, which would replace the municipality’s Comprehensive Plan, the document that guides growth in the community, city staff has announced.
The event is set for 5:30 p.m. in the SRQ Media Studio within the City Hall Annex, which stands at 1565 1st St. in downtown Sarasota.
A news release notes, “This event was originally scheduled for April 22.”
The release explains, “Sarasota’s long‑term planning guide is updated periodically to ensure the City’s future reflects responsible planning, current needs, and community priorities.” At this time, the release continues, city Planning staff members “are revisiting three chapters of the Comprehensive Plan: Historic Preservation, Recreation and Open Space, and Governmental Coordination.”
The release adds, “Join us to learn about the proposed updates. Attendees will hear a brief overview”; then they will have the opportunity to speak directly with staff members about each of those topics.
This open house will be “part of a larger, multi‑step effort to refresh portions of the Sarasota City Plan,” the release continues. “After the event, the proposed changes are scheduled to move to the City’s advisory boards”: the Historic Preservation Board later this month and the Recreation and Open Space; and the Parks, Recreation and Environmental Protection Advisory Board “later this summer.”
The release then points out, “From there, the three chapters will move to the Planning Board and City Commission for public hearings. The Commission will then consider sending the proposals to the State for review …” After that required state assessment has been completed, the release adds, the City Commission “will hold an additional round of public hearings to officially adopt the drafted revisions.”
Draft revisions of the plan are available at https://www.sarasotafl.gov/Department-Pages/Planning/Proposed-Comprehensive-Plan-Updates.
The website notes, “Chapter 163 of the Florida Statutes requires each local government in the State of Florida to adopt a Comprehensive Plan … A Comprehensive Plan contains both required and optional elements, called Chapters in Sarasota’s Comprehensive Plan.”
The website further explains, “In 2023, the State of Florida began requiring at least two planning periods for comprehensive plans, with one covering at least the first 10-year period occurring after the plan’s adoption and one covering at least a 20-year period. The planning time horizon for the current edition of the Sarasota City Plan is 2030.”
To meet the state requirement for two planning periods, the website explains, city staff is “in the process of updating the Sarasota City Plan to a new time horizon of 2055.”