Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/157038
Sarasota News Leader August 23, 2013 Page 24 The Planning Commission was scheduled to take up the item last Thursday, Aug. 15, but county Long-Range Planning Manager Allen Parsons announced at that gathering that the property owners had requested a continuance to Oct. 3. Williams Parker Harrison Dietz & Getzen attorney Charlie Bailey, who is representing the owners, told the commission that county staffers' "thoughtful review" of the changes had prompted them to reconsider and "clarify" some of their requests. The original comprehensive plan amendment would have significantly altered portions of Sarasota 2050, affecting 4,638 agricultural acres along Clark Road. The proposal called for a reduction in the amount of open space that would need to be preserved, as well as the elimination of affordable housing requirements and the rule that commercial space be located inside a new neighborhood rather than on its edges. Overall, according to the proposal, the 2050 changes would have alCharlie Bailey. Image courtesy of Williams Parker Harrison Dietz & Getzen lowed the owners to build 9,110 units on the land, located south of Clark and to the east of by the bundle of paperwork presented to the Ibis Street and the neighborhood of Serenoa. Planning Commission. Staff had requested Those changes would have come on top of the more details and a number of clarifications, larger ones being considered by the County including a "detailed narrative" that would Commission, which has pushed to overhaul address questions such as "What about this several sections of 2050 since last year. The property is unique that justifies the proposed plan was originally approved a decade ago to modifications?" encourage the development of environmenHow might the owners' reworked proposal tally friendly, walkable neighborhoods, but it differ from the one posted to last week's agenhas come under fire because developers say da? It's unclear. Parsons tells The Sarasota it is stifling new construction. News Leader his office expects a revamped County staffers had asked several questions proposal this week or next, "removing a numabout the Clark Road proposal, as evidenced ber of things that they had asked for." % facebook.com/SarasotaNewsLeader