A huge crowd showed up Monday night to voice concerns about a proposed 98-unit condominium project on South Oxford Drive and East Dearborn Street.
Urban Resources, owner of the 7.3-acre property, will be seeking a zoning change from one unit per acre to 13 units per acre Thursday before the Sarasota County Planning Commission.
The project would feature eight buildings over two levels of parking. Each would be 69 feet above ground, according to Brian Lichterman of Vision Planning and Design, a representative of Urban Resources.
About 80 residents, mostly Oxford Drive landowners, complained they had not been notified of the proposed zoning change.
However, Lichterman said, the Englewood Citizen's Advisory Committee approved the higher-density land-use designation in 1993.
He said a public workshop was held March 1, 1993. The committee recommended the plan to the county's Planning and Zoning Board, which held a public hearing May 20, 1993.
It was approved by commissioners after another public hearing, Lichterman said.
"What good is planning if you don't follow the plan?" he asked. "I know they don't like it, but as soon as it's built, they're using it every day. It adds an element to the area."
Lichterman said the zoning makes sense because the mostly vacant parcel is at a major intersection -- particularly since Dearborn Street, River Road and Pine Street are scheduled to be widened in 2006.
Smart development
The contract for construction of the first 3,000 feet of the Pine Street extension north to Taylor Ranch will be put out to bid in January, according to Jonathan Cole, of Giffels-Webster in Englewood, engineers for the project.
This is what planned development is all about, Lichterman said.
"Talk about smart development," he said. "The reason why this is appropriate is because this is a compact form of development."
But residents said condominiums don't mesh with the area's atmosphere and place too much strain on infrastructure.
Many said they thought it would spur heavy traffic in a residential neighborhood, expressing concerns about children walking to school on busy roadways.
Others were concerned about heavy stormwater runoff into Gottfried Creek.
South County Homeowners Association Chair Tom Minnich said residents would present their objections when commissioners consider the zoning change.
That meeting is Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in commission chambers in Sarasota.
You can e-mail Rachel Alexander at:
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
By Rachel Alexander
http://www.venicegondolier.com/NewsArchive3/121505/vn8.htm
Local News 