Sarasota News Leader

01/03/2014

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Sarasota News Leader January 3, 2014 termination of the current lease. However, the County Commission steers clear of including in its formal response to the North Port board any language about pursuing the next step on a path to litigation over the Springs. Instead, on a unanimous vote, the County Commission's letter asks the North Port board to consider approving the interlocal agreement County Attorney Stephen DeMarsh and his staff prepared subsequent to a joint meeting of the two boards on April 17 regarding the future of the Springs. At the end of that facilitated session, the commissions agreed on the idea of a short-term lease followed by a process similar to an Invitation to Negotiate (ITN) for proposals on the long-term management of the resort. Several Siesta Village owners tell the leadership of the Siesta Key Village Association on June 4 of their concerns about stipulations in the Siesta Key Overlay District — the county zoning code that governs businesses on Siesta Key — that prevent them from having outdoor displays. As a result of their frustrations, a group of them agrees to begin an initiative they hope will lead to changes in that code and result in improved marketing options. The Sarasota County Commission unanimously votes on June 5 to direct the County Attorney's Office to draft two versions of a domestic partnership registry for the unincorporated areas of the county. The commissioners will discuss those drafts and settle on what they want the final document to include before they advertise it for a public hearing, they agree. Commissioner Christine Page 58 Robinson specifies in her motion that one draft will offer the option of reciprocity while the second will make it clear that people coming into the county who have registered as domestic partners in another jurisdiction would have only the rights accorded to Sarasota County domestic partnership registrants. Commissioners also instruct County Attorney Stephen DeMarsh to leave out any enforcement provision. The Sarasota County Commission moves on June 5 to slash the proposed price for the first 100 Transfer of Development Rights associated with county-owned environmentally sensitive lands. Transfer of Development Rights (referred to as TDRs in planning lingo) are part of a system that allows a property owner to sell the right to develop his or her property, which in turn allows the purchaser to apply those rights to build on his or her own land. The intent is to encourage the preservation of open space while also pushing development into the most desirable areas. But in Sarasota County, nobody knows how much a TDR should cost — a major problem as the commission looks to sell TDRs associated with properties acquired through the county's Environmentally Sensitive Lands Program. Two months ago, county staffers came before the commission to propose setting the price at 10 percent of the median sale price of homes, but the discussion was kicked back to the county's Environmentally Sensitive Lands Oversight Committee amid complaints the committee had not had a chance to review the proposal in full. The Oversight Committee later suggested the TDRs should be priced at 10 percent of the median sale price of new

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