Sarasota News Leader

05/23/2014

Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/316941

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 12 of 103

similar items and the provision of personal services." That rezoning request was the sub- ject of discussion on Wednesday, May 21, which didn't end well for the developers. The plan has generated backlash from resi- dents of Lake Sarasota, located on the south side of Bee Ridge, directly across from the proposed project. They are concerned about the possibility of daycare centers or bars opening in the new space, and they have crit- icized the developers for not meeting with neighborhood groups or acknowledging resi- dents' concerns. At an April 3 Planning Commission meeting, during which the Terracap plan was approved, Planning Commissioner Michael Moran urged the developers to pay attention to the neigh- borhood's feedback, offered at that hearing by Lake Sarasota's Tom Matrullo. "I hope you're listening closely to that and would be agreeable to working closely with that community there to make sure you're a good neighbor and listening closely," Moran told the builders. That comment came up again this Wednesday, when Peter Dailey, representing Terracap, pushed back on criticism that his team has not fully addressed Lake Sarasota's con- cerns. "We were not directed at the Planning Commission to talk to the neighbors," Dailey said. "We were told to listen carefully." That linguistic finessing set off Vice Chairwoman Christine Robinson. "I'm disap- pointed that they didn't take the advice of the Planning Commission, regardless of how they termed it," she said. "By wordsmithing them, it kind of gives me an ugly feeling. I'm disap- pointed. I'm really, really disappointed with this." She credited neighborhood groups for not simply saying, "No." They came up with compromises, she pointed out. An aerial map shows the location of the proposed new development on Bee Ridge Road. Image courtesy Sarasota County Sarasota News Leader May 23, 2014 Page 13

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of Sarasota News Leader - 05/23/2014