Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/341318
A series of community meetings dedicated to explaining the final cluster of proposed changes to Sarasota County's 2050 land-use policy concluded this week with loud criti- cism from a number of residents and a series of tense exchanges with county staff. But will the feedback lead to any alterations in the 2050 rewrites? It remains an open question. Sarasota 2050 was approved a decade or so ago with the goal of encouraging the con- struction of walkable, mixed-use commu- nities in parts of the c o u n t y p r e v i o u s l y off-limits to dense development. But for years, the plan has been under fire from devel- opers who say the regulations stifle their ability to build, and in late 2012, the County Commission instructed staff to begin review- ing the plan with an eye toward modifying it. Several changes to the plan have already been approved, but the county has, over the past few weeks, organized three public workshops to discuss the final phase of 12 a l t e r a t i o n s , w h i c h i n c l u d e s s o m e o f t h o s e m o s t h o t l y contested. Perhaps The area of the county east of Interstate 75, for which Sarasota 2050 was designed, has numerous cattle and horse pastures. File photo AN EARFUL ON 2050 PUBLIC WORKSHOP ATTENDEES PAN PROPOSED CHANGES TO SARASOTA 2050, BUT WILL IT MATTER? If we get this wrong and overbuild, you can't fix it. Brian Keisacker Sarasota County Resident By Cooper Levey-Baker Associate Editor