SARASOTA – A compromise three years in the making, but the fight is far from over. Quite soon city commissioners will vote on whether Marie Selby’s compromised master plan will move on to the next step of completion.
“We need to accomplish the mitigation of several key challenges that we have,” said Jennifer Rominiecki.
What started as a vision to grow the iconic botanical gardens in Sarasota quickly escalated to a hot button debate that has split a neighborhood in half.
In late 2019 Rominiecki, president & CEO of Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, introduced to the public their master plan to expand and grow the gardens.
“This project gives us the chance to springboard to the forefront of what a botanical garden can be, as far as being a model for sustainability,” said Rominiecki.
The master plan has gone through several changes, but the key challenges the botanical garden faces stay the same.
Rominiecki explains amenities such as parking, orientation, and other infrastructures need improvement. As well as preserving Marie Selby’s history and legacy here on the Suncoast.
“Everything we are proposing is allowable within the existing comprehensive plan of the city,” she said.
However, not everyone was on board with the idea. Some neighbors argued the changes to Marie Selby’s Downtown Sarasota campus would disturb their quiet community.
But Rominiecki says the compromised master plan will not hinder their everyday lives and help in the ever growing changes the city of Sarasota has seen throughout the years.
“What we’re planning to overtake is vital to the future of Selby Gardens and our downtown,” said Rominiecki. “It will make it sustainable for the future preserve it for generations to come.”
Compromises Rominiecki says the public will notice is an increase in garden space, a 40% reduction in the height of the parking garage, and one mega-watts solar energy power plant making it the first net positive botanical garden complex in the world.
Rominiecki and her staff plan to reveal the full details of their revised master plan at Monday’s city commissioners meeting, where commissioners will vote on the zoning text amendment.
SNN will have a crew at that meeting to bring you the latest on this story.
