Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/105484
CITY SIDEWALKS AND OTHER FEATURES City officials and downtown business owners continue to express concern about whether restaurants are allowing adequate space for pedestrians to maneuver around outside tables and umbrellas. Photo by Norman Schimmel DOWNTOWN IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT MEMBERS TACKLE TOPICS SUCH AS THE REHABILITATION OF STOREFRONTS AND SHARING EVENT EXPENSES By Stan Zimmerman City Editor The Downtown Improvement District members went into overtime for their Tuesday, Jan. 22, meeting, touching on a large number of small but important topics. In a nutshell, here is what caught their eyes. STOREFRONT REHAB the DID, an independent source of funding became available. Member William Petty said a tenant had filled in a window in one of his historic buildings, adding that it would be helpful to get some assistance to return the structure to its original state. Members considered restarting a program "It would give more incentive to historic resto help pay for rehabilitation of commercial toration," said DID Operations Manager John storefronts in the downtown district. Moran. "We could go 50/50 with the owners," said DID REIMBURSEMENTS member Tom Mannausa. DID members balked at a request to reimCity of Sarasota Chief Planner Steve Stancel burse the Downtown Sarasota Alliance (DSA) said the district could ask the City Commis- for half of the fees it paid to produce three sion to re-establish the program, which died events. "In the past they got the whole thing," for lack of funding. With the establishment of said Petty.