Funds needed until staff receives reimbursements from developers for initiatives required for proposed projects
During their regular meeting on Aug. 17, the Sarasota city commissioners voted unanimously to add $100,000 to the current fiscal year budget so city staff will have enough money to pay for three more traffic studies — and possibly a fourth — for development applications before the fiscal year ends on Sept. 30.
Kelly Strickland, director of the Financial Administration Department, had requested the budget adjustment, the Agenda Request Form showed.
No member of the board commented on the request, which was part of Consent Agenda 2for that meeting.
“The City Auditor and Clerk’s office has received two additional traffic study agreements for the combined amount of $61,180.00 and is anticipating receiving another for approximately $30,000.00, for an estimated total of $91,180.00,” the form explained. Yet, it pointed out, only $13,464.87 still was available, “leaving a $77,715.13 shortfall …
“There has been $63,720.54 of revenue collected for two of the traffic studies. The difference of $36,279.46 will be used from fund balance,” the form added.
The city’s Zoning Code says that traffic studies are required for applications for development unless a project has been determined to have a de minimus effect, meaning the plans entail a land use change “of such low intensity” that it will have a minimal, if any effect, “upon the level of service standards set forth in the Sarasota City Plan,” which is the municipality’s comprehensive plan. It guides growth in the community.
For transportation, Section IV-203(b)(2) of the Zoning Code explains, “A de minimis impact is an impact that would not affect more than one percent of the maximum volume at the adopted level of service of the affected transportation facilities as determined by the city, utilizing the 2012 generalized two-way peak hour volumes in the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) 2013 Level of Service Handbook. No impact will be de minimis if the sum of existing roadway volumes from approved projects on a transportation facility would exceed 110 percent of the maximum volume at the adopted level of service of the affected transportation facility.”
Moreover, Appendix A of the Zoning Code points out, “If a transportation study is required, it shall be accomplished by one of the city’s transportation engineering consultants, at the applicant’s sole expense. The city manager, or his designee, shall select the consultant from a list of consultants retained by the city for this purpose and shall enter into an agreement with the consultant to perform the transportation study.”
The schedule of fees for development applications in the city says that an initial staff review to determine whether a traffic study is needed costs $631.38. An application for a study itself costs $1,262.77, the schedule also notes.
In response to a Sarasota News Leader request for more information about the Aug. 17 agenda item, city Communications Specialist Luke Mocherman provided the following details from staff via email on Aug. 25:
“The traffic studies … are a part of standard procedure for new development or rezones. All new commercial, residential, and industrial developments or rezones within the City of Sarasota must first go through a traffic review to determine if the traffic generated by this new development or maximum zone density change will have a substantial and negative impact on the road level-of-service within the City of Sarasota.”
Then Mocherman provided the following list of the traffic studies referenced in the Aug. 17 agenda item:
- Bay Park Phase II — This traffic study concerns the rezoning of The Bay Park, which is being developed on the city’s 53 acres on Sarasota Bay.
- Modera Sarasota — This traffic study will analyze the number of vehicles that would be generated by the planned new mixed-use development that would stand at 1750 N. Tamiami Trail. The city’s Development Services update issued on Aug. 17, with details about the status of all of the applications under review, explains that the developer of the Modera wants to rezone an approximately 3.28-acre site from North Trail and Residential Multiple Family 4 to the Urban Mixed-Use 3 zone district, which is applicable to the North Trail only. “No site development or redevelopment is proposed at this time,” that Development Services report noted.
- Shore Restaurant — This study will looks at the traffic generated by a proposed new commercial development that would stand at 28 N. Boulevard of the Presidents on St. Armands Key. The project team is requesting the renovation of an existing 2-story commercial building with approximately 14,020 square feet, plus the demolition of another existing, 2-story commercial structure with about 5,087 square feet, in an effort to build a 3-story mixed-use structure with approximately 8,463 square feet of restaurant area, about 1,820 square feet for a café, approximately 7,023 square feet of retail space, and one dwelling unit on the site, which would comprise about 0.33 acres. Those were the details in the Aug. 17 Development Services update.
Mocherman added in his Aug. 25 email that the fourth, “yet unconfirmed but expected traffic study,” concerns the proposed development at 777 S. Palm Ave., called The Well.
The Aug. 17 Development Services update said that The Well would be a redevelopment of an approximately 1.09-acre site zoned Downtown Edge. The applicant has proposed 28 residential condominiums, 72 condo/hotel units and 15,244 square feet of retail space in a seven-story building.
Then Mocherman confirmed that the City Code requires applicants “to pay for traffic studies. To ensure that a fair and unbiased analysis of a development (or rezone) is conducted, all Traffic Studies are performed by third party consultants contracted with the City of Sarasota. First, the City selects a consultant and requests a scope [of work] and fee for the City and applicant to review. The applicant then enters into a traffic study agreement with the City, agreeing in advance to reimburse the City for the study.”
He added that, before the start of a new fiscal year, city staff estimates
how much will be spent on new studies, based on the previous year’s average. “When the amount/cost of studies exceeds that amount,” Mocherman continued, “a transfer of funds is needed to cover the cost of the studies before the City is reimbursed by applicants.”