A revision of the vision for downtown Sarasota?

SARASOTA — A three-year effort to restore substantive public feedback into the process of putting up tall buildings in and around downtown Sarasota could score a decisive victory on Monday — if the City Commission votes to pursue changes to a streamlined approval system that city leaders negotiated with developers back in 2003.

The existing process, in which the city can issue major building permits without public hearings or votes, has been criticized as a “rubber stamp” procedure that caters to developers. If so, this might already be changing as the downtown builds out. In an unusual move last week, city planners denied approval for a proposed 10-story condo building on Second Street.

The Downtown Master Plan, drawn up in 2000 after extensive public conversations and advice from experts, was billed as an opportunity to both fulfill the city’s unrealized potential and to encourage private investment by offering builders “predictability” — an urban code with consistent rules. But business groups blocked the plan’s implementation with a legal challenge. Seeking a compromise, the city agreed first to eliminate a 10-story height limit on buildings, and then to guarantee the plan’s “administrative review” process that would allow developers to avoid lengthy and costly public hearings if their projects conformed with the plan.

STOP!, an organization created by neighborhood leaders and former city officials in 2016, has diligently made the argument that certain aspects of the master plan need revisiting, now that its consequences are clearly evident in glass and concrete. The group’s influence has been visible in recent moves toward tinkering with this vision for the city’s growth, crafted in consultation with the New Urbanist architect Andres Duany. For example, commissioners agreed this month to consider whether South Palm Avenue should be downzoned as a residential area, and not remain part of the downtown core.

Now, the staff recommendation to commissioners is that planning board hearings be required for projects in the downtown zone that are taller than five stories; need special permits; or involve hotels, live music or drive-throughs. For projects outside downtown, the hearing requirement would kick in at even lower thresholds.

STOP! has asked supporters to turn out for Monday’s discussion.

“We are very happy to see staff move in the direction of public hearings for large projects,” the group said in a statement, “and we believe this change will be welcomed by the community.”

But STOP! members believe the five-story threshold would allow too many major buildings to escape public scrutiny, and is pressing instead for one that takes square footage into account. They are also concerned about inconsistent standards for the downtown core and surrounding city neighborhoods.

“We continue to believe that mandatory community meetings would facilitate positive outcomes,” the statement added, “and encourage staff to consider possibilities for this.”

But in a letter to commissioners, Christine Robinson, executive director of the business group Argus, argued against politicizing the planning process.

“Requiring community workshops are one thing,” she wrote, “but a subjective political process for approval changes the redevelopment landscape of the community. It makes investing in Sarasota risky and uncertain.”

A changing climate?

In what could be perceived as a sign that staff priorities are already evolving, the city denied a building permit for a 12-unit condo project at 1335 Second St. known as The Collection, which has been in the pipeline since September 2018. Property developer Matt Kihnke, president of MK Equity Corporation, described himself as frustrated by the decision, which he plans to appeal. He said he found it puzzling because the building’s design is similar to his existing Sansara project near Burns Court.

“We used the same engineering components and dimensions,” Kihnke said, “although we had substantially more setback” — distance from the street — “on The Collection. It was sad to get the denial, because we’ve been working so hard on making this a viable project.”

Asked for a list of other projects that received an administrative site plan denial in the past three years, city spokesman Jason Bartolone replied in an email that denials have “not been typical in recent memory.” He explained that staff concerns are generally resolved in a back-and-forth dialogue with developers as part of the application process.

“In this case,” he wrote, “staff denied both the site plan and an adjustment due to walkability/compatibility and safety concerns regarding four parking spaces with garage doors that vehicles would exit from, cross a sidewalk and proceed directly onto Second Street. There is also a pending code case involving the removal of trees on the property, as well as the proposed removal of a street tree.”

Kihnke said the two driveways already exist on the site. Vegetation, including palm trees, was cleared because people were sleeping there, he said, and the tree service that performed the removal did not know a permit was required. Faced with a $20,000 fine, Kihnke offered instead to plant olive trees in front of the Sansara building by Sept. 2 — a deal he said the city accepted.

The staff also recommended that Kihnke cut the project’s number of parking spaces, but he does not believe buyers of luxury condos would settle for just one space per unit.

Kihnke said he envisioned The Collection as “a project that we could introduce into a national light, to get architectural acclaim for a city that claims to care about these things. Buildings as sculpture — that’s an ultimate art form. Every person I’ve talked to loves this building.”

In another signal that affected neighbors are trying to recapture a larger say about their built environment, construction at the South Palm Avenue development known as EPOCH has been held up in litigation. A building permit was issued for the 18-story condo tower — before amending the zoning code for South Palm came under consideration. But residents appealed the staff’s decision in April, claiming that the design is incompatible with existing high-rises and the downtown master plan.

The city’s planning board voted unanimously last week that these neighbors don’t have legal standing as appellants. Dan Lobeck, their attorney, said Friday his clients are deciding whether to appeal that denial to the City Commission.

“I think if it went to appellant court it would be thrown out,” planning board chair Eileen Normile, a former city commissioner and a founder of STOP!, said before the vote. “If we can’t meet the standards for aggrieved-person status, why would we go forward? I wish we could, because I think compatibility is something that needs to be looked at tremendously, and I think the code needs to be looked at tremendously — and immediately.”

Interested?

• On Monday the Sarasota City Commission will discuss proposed changes to the process of administrative site plan approval for large buildings, in the afternoon session that begins at 1:30 p.m. at City Hall, 1565 First St.