Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/87353
Sarasota News Leader October 12, 2012 same as downtown. You should make the case that what's good for downtown is not good for St. Armands." BID Member Diana Corrigan said, "We can- not have a blanket policy for the entire city. It used to be [regulated] from 9 [a.m.] to 6 [p.m.], Monday through Friday," she said. "Now it's 9 to 8, Monday through Saturday." "We've limited the shopping and dining experi- ence to three hours max," said Seace. "They're using a tag-reading or photo device." Merchants are spooked because tourists are trickling back, and after Thanksgiving, the trickle will become a flood just in time for Christmas shopping. "We're running out of time," said Corrigan. "This was not a staff recommendation," said Turner. "This was imposed on them by the City Commission. It was a fairness argument from downtown," he said. "If we have to have it, then everybody has to have it." BID Chairman Marty Rappaport asked, "The city pays for [parking] garages downtown, but we have to do it out of our own pockets?" "Meanwhile, we lost Circle Books and Square on the Circle," said Corrigan. "We're seeing good businesses go away." Page 13 In fact, the BID members expressed real con- cern about the future of St. Armands as a shopping district. "We're getting more restaurants," said Rap- paport. "But as stores convert to restaurants, bakeries, yogurt shops and the like, we're on the way to becoming nothing but a food court." "A restaurant with 200 seats takes a lot of [parking] spaces," he said. "And we're 1,250 short already. We're sitting on a time bomb, with Benderson's developments soliciting St. Armands' stores," he added, referring to Bend- erson Development Co.'s shopping centers in the University Parkway area. "If you allow [St. Armands] to become a food court, you will not attract the shoppers you want," Rappaport said. "If the city loses St. Armands and downtown can't compete, the property values downtown and [on] St. Ar- mands will go down tremendously." "We're on a short leash with the Benderson projects," said Corrigan. "But we have to solve the problem of timed parking now." The Sarasota City Commission stipulated that parking enforcement for St. Armands Circle be no different than it is for downtown Sarasota. Photo by Norman Schimmel