Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/138828
Sarasota News Leader June 21, 2013 Page 42 the County Commission is hot to strike a deal asked Robinson. "Where should we go from — except for those pesky air rights. here?" In what could resemble a comedy of errors, all these maneuvers were never "memorialized" in a legal document filed at the courthouse. For example, the land Ley coveted for a new judicial tower still officially belongs to the city. And those air rights? "Do they start one inch off the ground?" City Attorney Bob Fournier asked back in March when county staff first broached the issues laid out in the old memorandum of understanding (MOU). At the joint City-County commissions meeting Wednesday, June 19, County Commissioners Christine Robinson and Joe Barbetta worked over the city. "What's the city's interest?" "Does the city have air rights or not?" asked Barbetta. "Time is of the essence." City and county lawyers will huddle and report back. Regardless of the status, shape or size of the "air rights," any hotel or other building must comply fully with city land-use and zoning codes. The property in question is zoned G for Government. To make the development possible, a future land-use map change would be necessary in the comprehensive plan and then a rezoning of the property to Downtown Core if the hotel is to be higher than five stories. % An aerial map shows the parcel, marked as the 'North Parking Lot' in the upper left-hand corner, where a developer proposes to build a hotel in downtown Sarasota. It is at the intersection of U.S. 301 and Main Street. Image courtesy Sarasota County