Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/86226
Sarasota News Leader October 5, 2012 Kauffman "understands the balances" of a community like Pinecraft, Polk said, as Kauff- man is very familiar with Shipshewana, an Amish community about 15 miles away from Goshen College. If Kauffman is hired, Polk continued, Kauff- man wants to create an internship program involving students from Goshen College, East- ern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, VA; Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, PA; and the University of Florida. Those students would spend their spring semester in Sarasota in 2014 to work on the long-range plan, Polk added. While Goshen, Eastern Mennonite and Messi- ah have strong liberal arts programs, students with architectural and transportation planning skills could be found at the University of Flor- ida. County staff has held five meetings with Pine- craft residents over the past couple of years, Mast said. Another is scheduled for Oct. 16. The meetings have drawn from 50 to 250 par- ticipants, she said. Residents have pointed out their primary con- cern is their quality of life, she added. Pinecraft was established about 50 years ago, Mast said. "The majority of the Amish and Mennonite communities throughout the coun- try" are in rural areas, she noted. "Pinecraft is established in the heart of urban Sarasota," along a portion of Bahia Vista Street. It is bisected by Beneva Road. The population increases about 60% during season, Mast pointed out, as Amish and Men- Page 28 nonite visitors make Pinecraft their winter home. Because of that population's culture and its choices, "Pinecraft is a walking and biking community," she added. CHANGES AHEAD Part of the long-range plan will be focused on making the streets more pedestrian-friendly. Mast called that effort not only a "desirable objective for Pinecraft but a life-safety issue." County staff hopes to install pedestrian-acti- vated blinking lights at the three crosswalks in the community before the end of the year, Mast said. Two of those crosswalks are locat- ed at the well-known restaurants on Bahia Vis- ta — Yoder's and Der Dutchman. The third is on Beneva, just south of the Bahia Vista inter- section. Additionally, she said, radar speed signs, which alert drivers to conform to the speed limit, will be installed on the main approaches to the community. "I am really glad to hear that the speed issue is going to be addressed," Commissioner Car- olyn Mason said, "because it's really troubling when I drive through Pinecraft, how some drivers just disregard the speed limit signs, be- cause this is such a pedestrian- and bike-ori- ented community." The speed limit in Pinecraft is 30 mph. Mast noted the Sarasota County Sheriff's Of- fice already has been working closely with county staff on the safety issues. "They said that they will be happy to come out and en- courage our residents to abide by those [speed] laws," Mast said.