Sarasota schedules town hall workshops on attainable housing

Residents will have opportunities to speak and learn about proposals in the works for four city zones.

By Andrew Warfield
| 5:00 a.m. January 11, 2023

Dominated by luxury condominiums, the City of Sarasota seeks to implement zoning text amendments to stimulate attainable housing in the downtown zoning districts.

Sarasota
News

The city of Sarasota has scheduled two town hall-style meetings for residents to learn about how attainable housing can be included in future downtown developments. The town halls will be held from 5:30-7:30 p.m Thursday, Jan. 19 and Wednesday, March 1 in the City Commission chambers of City Hall at 1565 First St.

Citizens will have the opportunity to provide input to implement a comprehensive plan amendment approved by City Commission in October 2022, which is intended to stimulate developer interest to address a shortage of attainable housing.

During the Jan. 19 meeting, staff will provide an overview of the comprehensive plan change and how it may create opportunities to boost the attainable housing inventory in four downtown zone districts. Those districts include Downtown Bayfront, Downtown Core, Downtown Edge and Downtown Neighborhood Edge.

To implement the amendment, a zoning text amendment must be drafted to detail incentives for attainable housing. An overview of the proposal will then be presented during the March 1 town hall, providing another opportunity for citizen feedback.

Both events will be streamed live and available on demand through the city of Sarasota website. Information about the city’s attainable initiatives and strategies is accessible via the Planning Department website.

author

Andrew Warfield

Andrew Warfield is the Sarasota Observer city reporter. He is a four-decade veteran of print media. A Florida native, he has spent most of his career in the Carolinas as a writer and editor, nearly a decade as co-founder and editor of a community newspaper in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.