No plans set for Main Street renovations

During a preliminary discussion of the 2022 budget, commissioners offered differing perspectives on a conceptual streetscape project that’s drawn concern from merchants.

By David Conway
| 6:00 a.m. June 3, 2021

The potential removal of angled parking has drawn objections from some Main Street merchants, though property owners and city staff members have spoken positively about the potential to create wider sidewalks.

Sarasota
News

The city’s five-year capital improvement plan has no money for a major renovation project on Main Street that would eliminate dozens of parking spaces to widen sidewalks, but officials want to be ready should funding become available.

A potential Main Street makeover was a central point of discussion during a May 27 City Commission meeting held to discuss the fiscal year 2022 budget. Before the commission’s review of the proposed capital improvement plan, several downtown merchants spoke in opposition to any project that would cause an extended street closure and result in fewer on-street parking spaces.

The business owners were responding specifically to a concept design the Downtown Improvement District commissioned this year. The plans focus on the 1400 and 1500 blocks of Main Street, replicating the look of the brick-lined Lemon Avenue mall. To accommodate wider sidewalks, the design would replace angled parking with parallel parking, reducing the number of spaces from 98 to 23.

The design drew praise from property owners and city planning staff, but store and restaurant operators have expressed concern that construction and fewer on-street parking spots would significantly hurt businesses on those two blocks.

“We can’t afford to lose one more penny,” said Chip Beeman, owner of Pastry Art. “Don’t even think about this.”

Although the Downtown Improvement District commissioned the production of a design for renovating the 1400 and 1500 blocks of Main Street, the city has not formally adopted any plans for such a project.

Despite city officials’ interest in the project, staff said the project is not in a position to move forward without an infusion of funds. Although the capital improvement plan does list $1.87 million allocated toward Main Street streetscape improvements, Chief Transportation Planner Colleen McGue said the majority of that money is dedicated to renovating the 1900 block of Main Street.

Commissioner Erik Arroyo said he was under the impression it could take close to a decade before the city had money available to undertake major streetscape work west of Orange Avenue. McGue affirmed that no funds for construction were included in the five-year work plan and that staff initially envisioned a longer time frame for implementing its desired Main Street changes.

“There is definitely not enough money to construct the concept plan that has been proposed by the Downtown Improvement District in the next couple of years,” McGue said.

There is a scenario in which the project could move forward more quickly, though. City Manager Marlon Brown said the city was preparing for the possibility a federal infrastructure bill would create an infusion of cash for local projects. If that occurs, Brown said the city wanted to have a design for the 1400 and 1500 projects to ensure any project was positioned to capitalize on the potential availability of those funds.

Even if that occurs, Brown said the city would undertake a thorough public review process.

“We’ll have to extensively go through community meetings, and the commission will decide whether indeed we want to pursue that project,” Brown said. “But we want to be shovel-ready in the event the money does become available.”

Already, some commissioners are staking out perspectives on the concept. Commissioner Jen Ahearn-Koch expressed a desire to preserve the parking supply.

“I know we want to make our downtown more walkable and have wider sidewalks, but if there’s some way we can find some areas where we can do that without the loss of the angled parking, I think that’s what the merchants were saying would be a real hardship for them,” Ahearn-Koch said.

Mayor Hagen Brody said he thought it was a good idea to have a plan in place, stating he believes Main Street needs a face lift. Brody said he understood the merchants’ concerns, and he suggested the city could create a fund to offset losses businesses experience during major construction. Brown said the city could possibly use economic development funds generated via the local business tax.

“It’s something we haven’t done in the past that I think we should explore, because it really isn’t fair to have businesses shut down through no fault of their own because we want to do construction — although necessary,” Brody said.