Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/129431
LESS INPUT FROM THE PUBLIC The Sarasota County 2050 Plan was designed to provide guidelines for managed growth in the rural areas east of Interstate 75. Photo by Rachel Hackney COUNTY FAST-TRACKS 2050 PLAN OVERHAUL By Cooper Levey-Baker Associate Editor Perhaps it wasn't a surprise this week that the Sarasota County Commission voted to start overhauling Sarasota 2050, but the move to fast-track that process caught more than one observer off-guard. Intended to encourage the construction of walkable, mixeduse communities and to limit urban sprawl, Sarasota 2050 has been a hot topic of discussion since last year, when the commission directed staff to ask developers how they would like to see the plan changed. On Wednesday, May 8, staff summarized those developer suggestions, as well as feedback from environmental and neighborhood organizations, asking whether the commission wanted to begin the thorny process of altering 2050's detailed land-use regulations. Just to clarify, because I must not have been clear enough, what I said was that the one-eighth of 1 percent shows that there was not a groundswell of the public coming out. Joe Barbetta Commissioner Sarasota County The answer: Yes, and let's get on with it, already. County Long-Range Planning Manager Allen Parsons delivered an informative pre-