Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/91307
Sarasota News Leader November 2, 2012 agreed that construction plans for property located downtown would need only "adminis- trative approval" to proceed. If the plans meet city requirements for zoning and construc- tion, approval is automatic and no potentially messy public hearing is required. "Developers believe administrative approval solves 'the citizen problem,'" said Kate Low- man, the current president of the Laurel Park Neighborhood Association. Developers prefer to call it "certainty." THE OVERLAY The Laurel Park Neighborhood Association held a meeting at City Hall Tuesday, Oct. 30, to seek public comment on its proposed over- lay district. Lowman moderated the meeting, because the change is being proposed by the neighborhood association, not the city. The Sarasota City Commission had approved the Page 23 allocation of some staff time to help the res- idents. The City Commission will vote again Dec. 3 on whether it wants to proceed with the district. The process entails a big and complex legal package, including a comprehensive plan change and zoning text amendment changes. Lowman says nobody's zoning will change and nobody's property rights will be amended, but the overlay will require people building large projects adjacent to the neighborhood to give residents the opportunity to evaluate their plans. "The majority of the zoning around the neigh- borhood allows five stories or 10 stories," said long-time Laurel Park resident Juliette Reyn- olds. "Most of the big projects will face away from the neighborhood, so we'll be looking at their traffic patterns, security lights, garbage collection and other issues." Old shade trees are abundant in the Laurel Park neighborhood. Photo by Norman Schimmel