Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/316941
As part of a process that seems to be growing more predictable with each passing month, the Sarasota County Commission this week pushed forward on a number of further changes to its Sarasota 2050 long-range land- use plan. Approved a decade ago and intended to encourage the construction of walkable mixed-use, New Urbanist neighborhoods in undeveloped portions of Sarasota County, 2050 has been harshly criticized by developers for its complex web of regulations. They say the plan's unwieldy rules make it difficult to secure loans for new projects and limit their flexibility when designing neighborhoods. But smart growth supporters and environmental- ists charge that any lack of new large-scale developments is attributable to the global recession and the housing bubble, not 2050. Since early 2011, the county has been moving forward on a plan to rewrite large swaths of 2050, and several changes have already been approved this year. The process has been divided roughly into three phases; county A graphic shows village development concepts in the third phase of the Sarasota 2050 revisions. Image courtesy Sarasota County 'AIN'T NO STOPPIN' US NOW' SARASOTA COUNTY CHUGS ALONG WITH MORE CHANGES TO 2050 By Cooper Levey-Baker Associate Editor