Coon Key residents question new code

Residents of the Sarasota Harbour East and West condominiums have had growing concerns about the impact of the city’s forthcoming form-based zoning code — so when they had their first opportunity to sit down with the Urban Design Studio Wednesday, they were prepared to pepper the team with questions.

The Urban Design Studio, tasked with rewriting the city’s zoning regulations to be more predictable and incorporate new urbanist principles, is visiting with residents of the city chunk-by-chunk to gather information. In March, their focus has been on the city’s barrier islands, including Bird Key, Coon Key, St. Armands Key and Lido Key.

Wednesday’s meeting, held at Sarasota Harbour East, was the first opportunity for area residents to get direct information about the Urban Design Studio’s vision — but it wasn’t the first they were hearing about those plans. Rumors had swirled about elements that had gotten a cold reception from residents, including parking along John Ringling Boulevard and a roundabout at the entrance to the Sarasota Yacht Club.

As it turned out, those rumors were based somewhat in fact — but, the Urban Design Studio stressed, any plans they were presenting at this stage were purely conceptual, designed to highlight the type of product the new code could foster.

Principal Urban Designer Andrew Georgiadis explained that the potential parking along John Ringling Boulevard served several purposes: One, it would mirror the other spokes coming out of St. Armands Circle, along which parking extends further out. Two, it would slow down traffic going into and coming out of the Circle, with drivers forced to adjust to the friction created by the parked cars.

Third —and perhaps most significantly — it would help alleviate some of the parking issues around St. Armands Circle without having to construct a parking garage.

“We came up with 200 parking spaces just by extending out a little further,” Georgiadis said.

The conceptual plans showed parking spaces — as well as new native landscaping and standalone bike lanes — extending west from the Coon Key Bridge into the Circle. Many Sarasota Harbour residents were concerned about the potential of parking extending all the way back onto Coon and Bird keys, and said they didn’t want to see that in front of their property.

Georgiadis said that the group hadn’t yet considered if parking would continue east of the bridge, but that the goal is to create a consistent gateway from the Ringling Causeway into the Circle.

“If you’re completely intolerable of ever having a car parked in front of your property, then maybe just the landscaping would continue through Bird Key,” Georgiadis said. 

As for the roundabout, Urban Design Studio Director Karin Murphy said it was just one of several options to make entering or exiting the yacht club and Sarasota Harbour East easier for vehicles. Whether that comes in the form of a signalized intersection, roundabout or something else, Murphy said, is still up for discussion.

 “We’re worried about you guys getting onto that network,” Murphy said. “Imagine that the yacht club and your community could have a better gateway intersection.”

Overall, as it pertains to the island district, the Urban Design Studio is focused on finding ways to get people out of cars and into other modes of transportation. In addition to making the bike lanes more comfortable for riders, the group hopes to extend the Bird Key multi-use recreational trail all the way to the Circle. Murphy and Georgiadis are also encouraging a greater emphasis on public transportation — in particular, a water taxi that could carry people between the barrier islands and the mainland.

“We have to start behaving like a city does, which is to not expect 100% of our residents to travel via car."

“We have to start behaving like a city does, which is to not expect 100% of our residents to travel via car,” Georgiadis said. “It’s not a mature way to look at the operation of the city.”

Although the reception was mixed at Wednesday’s meeting, Murphy and Georgiadis said they’re committed to keeping an open line of communication with residents in the area. Richard Rapold, director of the Sarasota Harbour East association, said residents in the area would continue to closely monitor the situation and work toward an agreeable model to all.

 “I’m at the beginning of a learning process, and I think so are we as a community,” Rapold said. “As we go along, we’ll hopefully not only learn more, but form an opinion and eventually get to what’s best for the community.”