City to study alley beautification proposal

Sarasota City Commissioner Erik Arroyo wants residents and visitors to find themselves in a downtown alley. Just not a dark one. 

Or a smelly one.

During Monday’s commission meeting, Arroyo proposed that the city embark on an alley beautification program intended to activate the space between the backs of buildings along select streets with art, lighting, outdoor dining, pedestrian pathways and more.

The idea is to enhance the downtown environment and boost economic opportunity for businesses while remedying eyesores and assaults on other senses.

“In the ’90s, there was a large movement for an alley beautification here in Sarasota that was dormant, but still devoted, up until recently,” Arroyo said. “Today we stand before you with a vision that is vibrant, welcoming and full of life.”

Commissioners unanimously approved assigning staff to prepare proposals for the most feasible alley project to start with, to estimate maintenance costs and prepare an action plan for implementation.

For Arroyo’s presentation, staff prepared a feasibility study for six alleys — three in downtown and three in the Rosemary District. Some are more involved than others, ranging from some basic reconstruction and decor to undergrounding overhead utilities and commercial garbage receptacles. 

“We have seen the success of similar initiatives in other cities where the transformation of alleys and artistic masterpieces have led to increased safety, community engagement and a sense of pride for the residents,” Arroyo said. “By investing in this program, we're not only contributing to the aesthetic appeal of our city, but also fostering a safer, cleaner and more connected environment for all.”

Photo by Andrew Warfield

Arroyo didn’t suggest a wholesale program just yet, but rather identifying one alley to start with and delving into further feasibility research and eventual implementation. The cited prospective projects range in estimated costs from $260,000 behind the 1400 Fifth Way block to $1.8 million behind the north side of 1500 block of Main Street.

Trash talk

Commissioners were all on board with the concept, particularly Vice Mayor Liz Alpert who is a staunch advocate of undergrounding garbage disposal and collection systems. Already deployed in two Florida cities, heavy steel bins are buried in concrete vaults topped by receptacles. A specialized truck with a mechanical arm pulls the dumpster up from underground, empties it into the truck and then replaces it. All that shows above the ground is a curbside mailbox-sized depository.

“It's long bothered me what the condition of our alleys are,” Alpert said. “I've been advocating for the underground garbage receptacles for a while, so I'm hoping that we can figure out a way to come up with some money to do these projects and start working on the alleyways.”

Money was the sticking point for Commissioner Jen Ahearn-Koch, who noted nowhere in the presentation was there a plan to pay for the program.

“Where's the money coming from? That's my big concern,” Ahearn-Koch said. “The garbage idea, I'm all in for that. I don't know what the cons are to that, but I know it's funding. It's a big cost, but alleys do have a function. They still have to function for deliveries. They still have to function for garbage and they do serve a really unsavory function sometimes, but that doesn't mean we can't do what we can do to try to beautify them.”

Finding the funding as budget season approaches is up to the commission, Arroyo said, suggesting one source is drawing from the general fund balance, which at more than $32 million is well in excess of the city’s policy of maintaining a fund balance that is 25% of the annual city budget. 

A logistical challenge in some of the alleys is available space to run specialized garbage trucks to serve the underground dumpsters. All alley services, such as refuse collection and deliveries, must end at 5 p.m., leaving the day for functionality and the nights for public use.

Photo by Andrew Warfield

Particularly for the downtown alleys, centralizing refuse disposal in some fashion versus multiple dumpsters behind each business will be a prerequisite. Some applications of underground garbage dumpsters are in the street rather than in the alleys. Whether that’s a palatable solution remains to be seen.

"The problem that we're faced with is the right of way that we have to be able to work within,” said Public Works Director Doug Jeffcoat. “Where you’ve got dumpsters, you're up against the property. And now we're starting to put things more into the actual roadway to deal with. 

"Can it be done? Yes, it can be done, but you also have to understand is we only control one part of this," he continued. "We also have recycling containers. You have grease traps where there are restaurants and things of that nature, and all those things are going to have to be considered as we move forward with this.”

Jeffcoat had no estimates for the cost to retrofit or purchase a truck for underground garbage collection, and Commissioner Debbie Trice suggested that he may find the city needs a certain percentage of underground collection implemented in order to make the limited transition more cost effective.

"Everything's going have a cost-benefit ratio" Jeffcoat agreed. "But that's what we'll bring back with regard to saying here's the menu and here is what it costs for us to be able to move forward with that.”