Sarasota News Leader

09/28/12

Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/84916

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 29 of 87

Sarasota News Leader September 28, 2012 Honore, on land owned by the Albritton Fruit family. A single Victorian-style home sits on those 9 acres now; the current plan calls for that home to be moved to the southwest cor- ner and for the assisted-living facility to be placed near the north and east edges of the property. Center Gate resident Jack McGarry, whose home borders the pro- posed facility, has been fighting the propos- al since early March, when the developers first met with residents to outline their ideas. When asked at that meeting which prop- erty was his, McGar- ry responded, "Mine's the one with the two headlights on the back wall." While the site plan has shifted over time, Mc- Garry says it hasn't changed enough: "The basic footprint of the building has not real- ly, really changed since day one." Page 30 despite worried testimony about increased traffic, noise and lighting. McGarry says he felt neighbors didn't pres- ent their case well during that Planning Com- mission hearing, and he worked to mobilize more folks for Tuesday's County Commission meeting. McGarry is happy the commission didn't OK the current plan, but he's still dis- appointed by the re- sult. "They challenged us to go sit down with [the developers] and min- imize the issues on this," he says. This proposed site plan for the assisted liv- ing facility was included in material for the County Commission to review. Image courtesy Sarasota County At a Sept. 6 Planning Commission meeting, McGarry spoke against the plan, and he even showed an advanced 3-D rendering of the project to illustrate the impact the facility's two-story section would have on bordering properties. The Planning Commission even- tually approved the proposal in a 5-1 vote, He calls the design of the project "inappro- priate" for the area. "If we can overcome those hurdles and possibly move this building fur- ther to the south, that would be a step in the right direction," he says, but as he notes, wetlands on the prop- erty limit the develop- ers' ability to shift the area of construction. "We can make this better," Commission Chair- woman Christine Robinson told the construc- tion team as the meeting began wrapping up, "and we can make it better for [the neighbors], and we can make it better so you can get what you need done on this property."

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Sarasota News Leader - 09/28/12