Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/116876
Sarasota News Leader March 22, 2013 Page 23 For that matter, Barbetta pointed out, ���We have a vast parking lot with incredible air rights��� behind the county Administration Center on Ringling Boulevard in downtown Sarasota. THE NEEDS Early on in the discussion, Bill Spitler, director of research and planning for the Sheriff���s Office, referenced a report the sheriff gave to the County Commission in January. Spitler explained how facilities are spread across the county, with evidence and investigations threatened by the inadequacies of some of those locations. A map shows the site of the county-owned property at the intersection of Cattlemen Road and Porter Way, with its proximity to I-75. Map courtesy Google Maps For example, he said, the office���s fleet ��� including specialized vehicles ��� comprises about $7.3 million of assets ���that sit out in the In examining Gable���s diagram of the Cattleweather ������ men Road site, Commissioner Nora Patterson For another example, Spitler noted, the Fo- expressed reservations about the siting of the rensics Unit operates out of two storefronts parking garage ���more than anything [else] ������ on Bull Road, one of which is next to a dry She suggested it could be combined with the cleaner���s. The DNA lab is included in that unit, administrative center in a seven-story struche added. Altogether, evidence for more than ture; one story would be below ground. 100,000 criminal cases is stored there. A recent chemical spill at the cleaner���s could have threatened some of that evidence, Spitler told the commissioners. The office���s Property and Evidence work is split between two facilities, he noted. More than 800,000 pieces of property are held in downtown Sarasota. Knight pointed out that after the EOC is completed, he would have up to 115 employees working in that facility. ���The closer I am to them, the better we are,��� he added of his other staffing needs. Commissioner Charles Hines ��� who had taken a tour of the current Sheriff���s Office facilities after Knight���s January presentation ��� said he agreed with Barbetta that buildings could be reoriented on the Cattlemen site to free up prime highway frontage. Nonetheless, Hines said, he liked the idea of locating the Sheriff���s Office facilities in close proximity to Interstate 75. NEXT STEPS Gable pointed out that the County Commission in August 2012 authorized staff to begin work on rezoning one parcel on the Cattle-