SARASOTA – Sarasota County’s planning advisory board voted on whether to increase the height for the four proposed hotels developers hope to add to popular Siesta Key.
Sarasota County Planning Commissioners voted 7-2 in favor to allow an increase in height and density for one of the proposed hotels looking to call Siesta Key home.
“Respectfully this is part of life, and respectfully we cannot shut the gates – they’ve been open. What we can try and do is guide and manage growth.” said Commissioner Teresa Mast.
The fate of Siesta Key stands at a decision point: What sort of place will it become? And what sort of place do its residents, neighbors and governing bodies want it to be?
That was the topic of discussion at the Planning Commissioners meeting as developers of one of the four proposed hotels and Key residents voiced their concerns.
“I really think that hotel or no hotel with 120 units the permanent population on the Key isn’t going to change much because of a hotel,” said Commission Chair Colin Pemeber.
The proposed hotel on Old Stickney Point Road would bring a seven-floor hotel with up to 120 rooms. Currently, that 1.17-acre property is zoned for 30 rooms and should be no higher than 35 feet above Base Flood Elevation.
President of the Siesta Key Coalition Mark Spiegel says this would go against the comprehensive plans and regulations already set in place on the popular tourist destination.
“Compatible standards are for all for all four sides of development not just looking around and pointing you to the commercial side of the development,” said Spiegel. “Neighboring residents expect redevelopment of this site yes. But they also rely that the existing comprehensive plan and protections would be enforced.”
Siesta Key currently has a limit of 26 rooms per acre. The change in zoning would no longer consider residential density at all; instead planners would focus on whether a project meets building requirements such as height restrictions and setbacks from adjacent properties.
That growth plan puts barrier islands in a special category where it says the county will not increase the “intensity or density” of land on the barrier island past what was allowed in 1989.