Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/293799
Siesta Seen sort of thrown up their hands" and refused to cite anyone for violations of any type relative to displays. Tom Polk, director of the county's Planning and Development Services Department, stepped to the podium then, telling Patterson he was not aware of any formal proposal hav ing been submitted to staff. If and when it is, he said, his department can make certain the commission addresses it. " W i l l y o u d o t h a t a u t o m a t i c a l l y ? " Patterson asked. "We have the ability to," he replied. When Patterson asked her colleagues for their consensus to provide Polk that direction, Commissioner Carolyn Mason immediately concurred. Barbetta, however, asked whether the revised section of the SKOD includes any language regarding sandwich boards, an issue that came up last year. "There's nothing [in the proposal] about sandwich boards at all," Patterson said, "nor have they taken a vote to support or not sup port that." Patterson added that she would let the new SKVA president, Wendall Jacobsen, know of Barbetta's concern. When Barbetta then asked whether the revised ordinance would apply to island restaurateurs or just retail merchants, Patterson responded, "It's a decent question. I'll relay the issue and we'll see what the staff brings back to us." (Brad Stewart, an owner of Captain Curt's Crab & Oyster Bar on South Midnight Pass Road, was among the committee members who crafted the revision. That was part of the information Mark Toomey, a leader of the committee, told SKVA members last week.) Patterson did tell Barbetta, "A pretty exten sive group of [business owners] got together and worked on this, with quite a bit of input." Polk said he would provide Harmer a timeline for getting the ordinance to the commission, adding that Donna Thompson, the assistant zoning administrator "has a lot of zoning ordinance amendments … that she's work ing through." "In the meantime, as I said, the county's stopped all code enforcement out there … so time is of the essence," Patterson responded. The Code Enforcement officer who normally works on the key is out on sick leave, Polk said. "We're doing our best to pick that load up" with two other officers. "OK," Patterson answered. The lack of compliance with the proposed changes has been a source of frustration for new Siesta Key Association (SKA) President Michael Shay. During his organization's monthly meeting on April 3, he reported that he had been told all the businesses on the Sarasota News Leader April 11, 2014 Page 109