Planning group to take the lead on bayfront redevelopment

Nine individuals will be responsible for overseeing the creation of a master plan for the redevelopment of 42 acres of city-owned bayfront land surrounding the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall.

The makeup of that group is still to be determined, but on Wednesday, Sarasota Bayfront 20:20 shared its proposed structure for an organization that will take control of the ongoing planning effort for the public land.

This is the next big step for Sarasota Bayfront 20:20. Since early 2014, the group has worked on a big-picture community consensus regarding the future of the bayfront, enlisting 52 member organizations in support of the same goal. By September, the reins will be handed to a group that will drill down to specifics regarding site planning, funding and long-term management.

After a February update in front of the City Commission, Patterson Foundation President Debra Jacobs contacted Bayfront 20:20 leader Michael Klauber to assist with the process of building the planning organization. Jacobs put Klauber in touch with Richard Hays, a facilitator who has guided the discussion on this topic.

For the past 10 weeks, a small group has met twice a week to refine the structure of the planning organization and recommend a series of bylaws. That group includes:

• Jon Thaxton, senior vice president for community investment with the Gulf Coast Community Foundation;
• Shaun Merriman, president and CEO of Gateway Bank of Southwest Florida and chairman of the Van Wezel Foundation board of directors;
• Joseph McKenna, president and CEO of the Sarasota Orchestra; and
• Bob Easterle, former chairman of the Coalition of City Neighborhood Associations.

Klauber outlined the details that have been determined thus far. The nine-member board will be responsible for hiring a project manager and a professional planning organization to help produce a formal master plan for the bayfront land, ideally within the next 18 months. The group will have a $2.5 million budget to complete its work, with fundraising already underway.

“As the planning board makes decisions, they’re going to have to make sure they align with the visions and principles of Bayfront 20:20.” — Michael Klauber 

The planning organization will also work closely with a “resource team,” a fluid group of stakeholders that will include Sarasota Bayfront 20:20 representatives as well as city officials. The planning organization will voluntarily operate in the sunshine, and public input will continue to guide the process.

“In every step of the way, as the planning board makes decisions, they’re going to have to make sure they align with the visions and principles of Bayfront 20:20,” Klauber said.

Klauber said representatives from six Sarasota community foundations met to help facilitate the creation of the planning organization, submitting suggestions for potential board members as well. Hays said the group started with a list of around 70 candidates. The goal is to select board members who won’t necessarily be tied to any one stakeholder on the bayfront.

“We want them focused on the benefit of the Sarasota community, not the benefit of a particular entity,” Hays said. “I think you’ll find it’s a very neutral but very talented board.”

Bayfront stakeholders will still have a voice thanks to the resource team. Visit Sarasota President Virginia Haley said Bayfront 20:20 leaders want to avoid the pitfalls of the failed 2007 planning effort for the same city-owned land.

“There were a lot of beginning charrettes, particularly with the leaseholders, but then those conversation stopped,” Haley said. “Each of the leaseholders, they have visions for their future and where they want to go, and that needs to be pulled into the discussion.”

Once a final list of board members is compiled, Sarasota Bayfront 20:20 will present its plans to the City Commission for approval. Although the city offered supportive feedback for the planning organization in February, the commission requested the incorporation of a city staff and advisory board member into that organization in March. On Wednesday, Klauber said there is a spot reserved for a city representative.

Although there is still a long way to go, if the work proceeds according to plan, there could be a concrete long-term vision for a long-underused portion of Sarasota’s bayfront by early 2018.

“That’s a goal,” Klauber said. “We hope we can complete that work in that time, and from what we’ve seen — bringing in national or international planners like that — that’s fairly realistic.”