Sarasota officials to consider a Tesla expansion

Tesla is on its way to expanding in Sarasota. 

Sarasota County officials and documents confirmed a special exception petition for a new Tesla facility was recommended for approval on Aug. 4. The petition will be considered by the Sarasota County Commission on Oct. 11.

Tesla, an electric vehicle company owned by Elon Musk, also recently announced plans for turning a former Kane’s Furniture liquidation center in St. Petersburg suburb Lealman into a delivery and repair center.

The facility will be located at the southwest quadrant of Interstate 75 and University Parkway in Sarasota, just on the cusp of University Town Center.  

The special exception, if approved, will allow vehicle sales, leasing or rental within the Commercial and General Zone district.

A neighborhood workshop for the proposed facility was held in March, but no members of the public were in attendance according to county documents. 

The company has two other locations in Sarasota: a showroom in the Mall at University Town Center as well as a service center at 5231 McIntosh Road. 

This story originally appeared on sister site BusinessObserverFL.com.