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COMMUNITY CELEBRATION New affordable housing project draws elected officials — Cooper Levey-Baker More than 100 Newtown residents, community leaders and elected officials gathered Wednesday, Jan. 23, to unveil a new 28-unit affordable housing complex, King Stone Townhomes, bringing to a close a phase of intense redevelopment sparked by a stimulus grant. King Stone sits right on Martin Luther King Jr. Way, just east of Orange Avenue, and replaces the blighted Mediterranean apartment complex. The cream-colored, two-story construction is a joint project of the Sarasota Housing Authority and the Sarasota Housing Funding Corp., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit affiliated with the Authority. Dozens of neighbors, as well as employees of the companies who helped design and build the project, mingled in the King Stone parking lot Wednesday, snacking on barbecue and touring some of the units. Sarasota Mayor Suzanne Atwell and Vice Mayor Willie Shaw were on hand, as were County Commissioners Carolyn Mason, Joe Barbetta and Charles Hines. Former Sarasota Vice Mayor Danny Bilyeu also attended, representing U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota. (Full story here) PUTTING IT OFF The City Planning Board delays action this week on the 'NTOD,' an overlay district for part of the North Tamiami Trail — Stan Zimmerman The Tamiami Trail between downtown and the northern city limits probably has been the most studied area in the city. Any number of plans and schemes has been proposed for it in the past half century, but nothing seems to work. The latest proposal comes after three years of work by the North Trail Redevelopment Partnership, a consortium of owners, neighbors, businesses and cultural institutions. "This process was not led by some high-priced, out-of-town consultant," said City Planner Ryan Chapdelain. "It was led by local stakeholders." He was speaking to the Sarasota City Planning Board on Wednesday, Jan. 23, before its members opened a public hearing to take testimony on this latest plan – the North Trail Overlay District. Despite three years of meetings over it, the plan got off to a rocky start with the Planning Board. Two major sticking points arose during the public comments portion of the session. The first was a lack of support by the four neighborhoods in the overlay area. The second was reluctance to move ahead with "administrative review" of developer's plans. (Full story here) Click Any Headline To Go Directly To That Article AT A GLANCE TOP STORIES