Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/251767
Planning Commission approved the special exception request with a 7-0 vote. Mark Loveridge, a planner in the coun- ty's Planning and Development Services Department, told the County Commission this week that the site is zoned Commercial General under the guidelines of the Siesta Key Overlay District (SKOD). Its neighbors are a mix of retail operations, office space and multi-family residences, he added. "The actual regulations of SKOD say no upper- story residential for Siesta Key," Patterson noted. "I guess transient units are not classi- fied as residential?" "That's correct," Loveridge responded. The transient use falls under the Commercial category in CG zoning, he noted, but a special exception is required. He also pointed out that the use "allows den- sity by right." When Patterson then asked for clarification that the square footage available is sufficient to support three transient units, even if they were to be built on the ground floor, Loveridge said, "That's correct." With lower intensity of use involved with a retail establishment than with a restaurant, Patterson continued, it could be argued that the intensity of the total use of the new prop- erty would be still be lower, even with the rental units. However, she asked, what would happen if the property owners decided at a An aerial view of the property where Gidget's Coastal Provisions is going up in Siesta Village (in yellow) shows the Terrace East condominium complex across from Calle Miramar. Image courtesy Sarasota County Sarasota News Leader January 31, 2014 Page 62