Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/256534
After Interim County Administrator Tom Harmer noted that a staff report completed in December found four potential problems with such a move, Barbetta said, "I don't like the word 'can't.' We have to make it happen, if we can." THE ISSUES The Ringling Boulevard/School Avenue parcel initially was proposed as the site for the bus transfer station before the facility was con- structed on First Street in 2002. At the time, residents expressed concerns about locating the station on Ringling — near the county's Health Department — because of anticipated bus traffic in the neighborhood, as well as an expected increase in pedestrians and the loss of 103 parking spaces. A county staff report says that in 2002, city staff identified several problems with the Ringling site that persist today: impacts to land use and access, parcel size and a park- ing shortage in that area. Funding is another issue. The plan for a new station would likely An aerial view shows the Ringling Boulevard/School Avenue intersection in downtown Sarasota. Image from Google Maps Sarasota News Leader February 7, 2014 Page 37