Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/101651
Sarasota News Leader January 4, 2013 Page 33 Van Roekens is one of the people who have THE REQUESTS emailed concerns to the County Commission Both variance requests involve construcover the past several weeks. tion of new homes with swimming pools and In his Dec. 31 email, van Roekens wrote, ���No decks, paver driveways and landscape retainpreviously undeveloped lot on Siesta has ever ing walls. been granted a variance to the GBSL [Gulf Construction at 168 Beach Road is proposed Beach Setback Line],��� according to a record to be a maximum of 182.1 feet seaward of the search that went back to 2007. GBSL, while development of the lot at 162 Beach Road a maximum of 200.16 feet seaHe added that the County Commission in 1993 ward of the GBSL, turned down a variance according to the peto build on one of the titions presented We know the water has undermined to Sarasota County lots under considerBeach Road north of these lots and that staff. ation this time. the storms have recently flooded these Moreover, he wrote, lots. And this is nothing new as there is ���We know the water evidence of major flooding of these lots as has undermined Beach far back as 1978, 1979, 1981 and 1992. A Sarasota News Leader search of county property records last Road north of these Peter van Roekens month shows the lots and that the storms Vice President 7,429-square-foot parSiesta Key Association have recently flooded cel at 162 Beach Road these lots. And this is is owned by Ronald nothing new as there is evidence of major flooding of these lots as far back as 1978, 1979, and Sania Allen of Osprey. 1981 and 1992. Further, according to coastal geologists we can expect to see a continuing and significant rise in the sea level over the next 50 years.��� The parcel at 168 Beach Road, which has 7,679 square feet, was sold to Ronald G. Allen in May 2009, who transferred it about two-and-ahalf years later to Siesta Miramar LLC of 2033 Main St., Sarasota. According to corporate Finally, van Roekens wrote, ���There are also documents, the officers of that company are other considerations such as protecting the Ronald and Sania Allen. dunes and wildlife in this area ���.��� The Allens are being represented in both variLuckner pointed out that sand had been ac- ance requests by attorney William W. Merrill creting on that area of the beach over the past III of Sarasota. According to the website for several years, with dunes clearly visible. She the Icard Merrill law firm in Sarasota, Merrill noted that one of the endangered snowy plo- has a ���nationally recognized practice in land ver pairs on the island built a nest on one of use, planning, transportation and environmental law ���.��� the lots during the past summer.