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Sarasota News Leader February 22, 2013 Page 56 existing zoning regulations for part of the work as well as some of those in the existing NTOD. But if the ���Son of NTOD��� were adopted, the developer would have to opt in or out of it; the flexibility would be gone. ing Central and Lemon Avenues, the corridor would have been a developer���s dream. The recently retired city planner who drafted the NTOD ��� Mike Taylor ��� told the Planning Board, ���This standard will really jumpstart development. If you don���t want to change the North Trail, don���t do this. If you do want change, take the time to work with the staff. It will set the stage for the next century, with transit-oriented development.��� ground subway��� would share U.S. 41 with every tourist in a car that visits town ��� plus residents. Flanked by inexpensive, blighted properties that would sell for a song, the BRT would be an urban pioneer���s fantasy ��� and it would toFurther complicating North Trail development tally transform the face of northeast Sarasota. is the Economic Enterprise Zone (the EEZ), That is TOD in action. which was expanded to include that area. It Alas that will not be. At a joint City-County gives incentives for in-zone employment, al- commission meeting Feb. 5, the boards decidlows sales tax breaks on equipment purchases ed to scrap the CSX route, jump west and run and proffers other carrots to businesses that the BRT down Tamiami Trail. Instead of an land in the zone. exclusive and unobstructed route, the ���above- TOD AND BRT Transit-Oriented Development is needed if the city and county want to install a bus rapid transit system, or BRT, which is like an aboveground subway, with frequent buses and dedicated travel lanes. County Commissioner Joe Barbetta urged the city commissioners to begin thinking about land-use changes along the North Trail and get on the TOD bandwagon. The shift was so abrupt, nobody paid a single thought to the consequences to the NTOD. Meanwhile, if the City Commission agrees to go along with the latest BRT idea, the county will have to pony up about $850,000 for a new study justifying the route switch from CSX to U.S. 41, because the whole BRT idea is impossible without major federal funding. The feds paid for the first study, which picked the CSX route. But they will not pay for a second one. Such is the cost of the changing mind of government. The thinking goes like this: When mass transit becomes easy to use, not only will more people want to use it, but they will want to live near it. As any big-city dweller will tell you, life is easier when you live one block from de- CAN YOUR BRT GET TO THE DID pendable, reliable and frequent mass transit. THROUGH THE DROD AND THE NTOD? Thus, a BRT corridor would become a desirable place to live. That is where TOD kicks in. The costs of making a mistake can run much higher than paying another consultant���s fee. After spending $850,000 in federal money, the These kinds of plans get promoted by ��� well City and County commissions decided the ��� promoters. And that means winners and BRT route would follow the old CSX railroad losers. right of way from the airport to near downtown. It would go straight through some of the The stars at this moment are aligning around least desirable property in the city. Parallel- the NTOD, the BRT and TOD. The feasibility