Businessman still focused on constructing hotel at intersection of Old Stickney Point Road and Peacock Road
With Sarasota County Planning Division staff still calling for revisions to Benderson Development Co.’s proposed Comprehensive Plan amendments to facilitate construction of high-rise hotels on Siesta Key, an agent for south Siesta businessman Gary Kompothecras formally filed an application on May 12 with the county regarding Kompothecras’ own Comprehensive Plan proposal.
County staff has noted in the Planning and Development Services Department’s Accela document system that the Kompothecras materials are undergoing a staff review to determine their sufficiency.
As The Sarasota News Leader has reported, in an effort to finally construct the seven-story hotel that he has planned at the intersection of Old Stickney Point Road and Peacock Road, Kompothecras is seeking County Commission approval of an amendment that would pertain only to what is referred to as the “South Bridge Area” of the Key: the business district south of the Stickney Point Road-Midnight Pass Road intersection.
Attorney Charles D. Bailey III, of the Williams Parker firm in Sarasota, and Robert “Bo” Medred of Genesis Planning and Development, of Bradenton, are the leaders of Kompothecras’ project team, as they were in 2021, when a majority of the County Commission agreed to the hotel plans. Subsequent litigation challenging an amendment to the county’s Unified Development Code (UDC), which contains all of the land-use and zoning regulations, resulted in that initiative’s being halted.
The commissioners seated in October 2021 approved the new UDC language, which eliminated the counting of hotel and motel rooms for residential density purposes. However, both a Florida Division of Administrative Hearings (DOAH) administrative judge and a 12th Judicial Circuit Court judge found in favor of the challenger, Siesta resident Lourdes Ramirez. The rulings made it clear that the UDC modification violated Future Land Use Policy 2.9.1 in the Comprehensive Plan. Thus, Kompothecras’ project team is proposing an amendment to that policy:
Formally, the applicants for the amendment are 1260 Inc. and Stickney Storage LLC, companies that Kompothecras serves as principal or agent, as shown in the records maintained by the Florida Division of Corporations.
The May 12 application filed by Medred of Genesis Planning and Development makes it clear — as the proposed Comprehensive Plan amendment does — that the change to Future Land Use Policy 2.9.1 would apply only to properties in the South Bridge Area that are zoned Commercial General (CG) or Commercial Intensive (CI).
“Significantly,” Medred wrote, “a hotel is not residential use and, thus, will have no residents to evacuate during a storm event. And, visitors who might otherwise plan to be guests at a newly-constructed hotel would have notice far in advance of a hurricane’s potential impact and, as a result, not travel to Sarasota County and Siesta Key immediately before or during such a storm event.
“Moreover,” Medred continued, “the South Bridge Area is located on Stickney Point Road, proximate to the Stickney Point Bridge which provides a direct connection to the mainland. Further, Stickney Point Road extending east, becomes Clark Road/State Road 72 which leads to an interchange at I-75 for travelers/hurricane evacuees heading to points north and south of Sarasota County. And, State Road 72 not only provides direct access to I-75, but also extends further eastward for
travelers/hurricane evacuees making their way to State Road 72’s connection to State Road 70, which leads all the way to Florida’s east coast,” Medred added.
Especially in light of the damage that many parts of Siesta suffered during Hurricanes Helene and Milton in the fall of 2024, Siesta residents have stressed that hotel evacuations would result in more people needing to use the two drawbridges between Siesta and the mainland. That could imperil lives, residents have pointed out.
Yet, Medred wrote in the application, “As seen in recent hurricanes, new structures constructed on Sarasota County’s Barrier Islands built in accordance with such current codes and elevation requirements largely withstood the effects of such storm events. And, given the nature of the proposed use that would be provided in new, storm resilient structures (the hotel use), the proposed CPA [Comprehensive Plan amendment] could potentially offer a base and accommodations for first responders arriving to provide emergency relief to Siesta Key and potentially a place to stay for Siesta Key residents who may be temporarily displaced due to storm damage to their own homes.”
In yet another argument he included in the document, Medred wrote, “This CPA will make feasible the redevelopment of CG-zoned and CI-zoned properties on a Barrier Island (within Siesta Key’s South Bridge Area only), including the replacement of older, nonconforming structures which are particularly susceptible to damage or destruction by hurricanes. Such older structures will be replaced with new, safer, more resilient structures in full compliance with the applicable requirements of current Florida Building Code, [the Federal Emergency Management Agency] FEMA Regulations, [and the] Unified Development Code. Moreover,” he added, “the South Bridge Area is previously developed land that contains no dune systems or other native habitat that would be adversely impacted by the construction of the transient accommodation improvements.”
The application also points out, “While there is, in fact, very limited commercial zoning within the Barrier Islands future land use designation, this CPA will afford greater opportunity to place a new, sorely-needed hotel on Siesta Key, proximate to the beach, gulf, and other attractions, where our out-of-town, out-of-state, and foreign visitors can enjoy staying during their time here in Sarasota County. Additionally, as stated above, the proposed CPA would direct and limit such redevelopment to the commercial enclave within the South Bridge Area of Siesta Key, which is proximate to the Stickney Point Bridge and mainland.”
Further, the application emphasizes, “It is worth noting that this CPA: (i) does not provide for or result in the creation of any additional commercially-zoned lands on the Barrier Islands; (ii) does not allow any additional uses within commercially-zoned lands on the Barrier Islands that are not already permitted; and (iii) does not permit any larger or taller buildings to be constructed on commercially-zoned lands on the Barrier Islands than already permitted.”
Medred makes clear that even if the County Commission approves the Comprehensive Plan amendment, public hearings on the proposed hotel still would have to be conducted. The county Planning Commission first holds a hearing; then, it makes a recommendation to the County Commission, which conducts its own hearing.
Yet, it will take four votes — a supermajority — of the County Commission to approve the Comprehensive Plan amendment. Based on comments they have made in the past, it is possible that both Commissioner Mark Smith, a long-time Siesta Key architect, and Tom Knight, the former three-term Sarasota County sheriff, would oppose the amendment.
Before his November 2022 election to the board, Smith, a long-time architect with offices and a home on the Key, was serving as a leader of the Siesta Key Chamber of Commerce. In that capacity, he championed proposed UDC amendments that would allow boutique hotels on the barrier island with no more than 75 rooms — without kitchens — and height restrictions.
When Commissioner Teresa Mast served on the Planning Commission, she voted in favor of Kompothecras’ hotel proposal in 2021. Additionally, Commissioner Ron Cutsinger was part of the County Commission majority in 2021 that approved the UDC amendment that both the DOAH administrative law judge and the Circuit Court judge ruled was inconsistent with the county’s Comprehensive Plan. Cutsinger also voted in favor of Kompothecras’ hotel plans in November 2021.
Consistency with the Comprehensive Plan
Another section of the application that Medred filed in May for Kompothecras focuses on relevant policies in the Comprehensive Plan and the project team’s responses. The latter sought to show how the initiative would be consistent with those policies.
One example follows:
Yet other policies that Medred addressed focus on coastal disaster management. The following are two of those examples:
