Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/97647
A TORTUOUS PATH Analysis: Many questions left unanswered, as Walmart appeal process formally gets under way — Stan Zimmerman Call it the "slo-mo appeal." So far it has come in fragments — an email one day, a payment another day and a written form on a third. The objective is to obtain a rehearing by the Sarasota City Commission of a Nov. 14 split decision by the Planning Board to approve the construction of a Walmart to replace the Ringling Shopping Center in downtown Sarasota. While the appeal was widely reported last week, the actual appeal itself was not filed until the afternoon of Dec. 4. The required $1,597 filing fee was paid on Dec. 3. City staff received an email on Nov. 26 suggesting an appeal would be filed. That was the last day, by law, that a notice of appeal could be filed following the Planning Board decision. (Full story here) 'DISTURBED' AND 'DISCOURAGED' County Commission takes aim at North Port Commission's backtracking on Warm Mineral Springs agreement — Cooper Levey-Baker Upset with how the process to solicit plans to redevelop Warm Mineral Springs has "unraveled" as a result of the North Port City Commission's abrupt 180-degree turn on the issue, the Sarasota County Commission this week denied a request for a joint meeting with the North Port commissioners. Instead, the County Commission asked the city leaders to outline their objections in writing before considering a get-together. The North Port Commission last week put the brakes on the Invitation to Negotiate process that both the city and the county approved unanimously back in July. Mayor Linda Yates, joined by two newly elected city commissioners, voted to stall the Invitation process and instead request a meeting with the County Commission to discuss the future of the springs. (Full story here) facebook.com/SarasotaNewsLeader AT A GLANCE TOP STORIES