Sarasota downtown plan update committee starting to take shape

Sarasota residents and owners of downtown interests should start polishing up their resumes if they wish to serve on a new ad-hoc committee to advise the city on an update of its downtown master plan.

During a special meeting on Monday, the City Commission designated seven categories of representation for a seven- to nine-member committee and directed staff to craft a resolution to codify its composition and mission, which is expected to take up to two years to complete. 

The plan is for future generations, Commissioner Erik Arroyo insisted, and the committee should include representation for the 40-and-younger demographic. It is also for the downtrodden, argued Commissioner Debbie Trice, so it should include a member from the city’s social services community. 

And, it's for downtown residents, visitors, merchants, commercial property owners, and all of them should have a representative seat at the table, commissioners agreed.

That makes up the core of desired composition of the committee, plus a little wiggle room commissioners reserved for some at-large representation that might bring any core competencies members from the primary categories might not possess.

And if they do — so much the better.

“I think we're going to have an embarrassment of riches in terms of the quality of people who want to participate,” said Howard Davis, who is under consideration as facilitator for the committee. Davis is a commercial real estate developer, consultant, attorney and teacher who also serves as a board member of Architecture Sarasota.

“I think you'll have good choices before you,” he said. “We need people who are committed to a successful outcome here. This is going to be hard work.”

File image

It was also hard work to reach this point. A lengthy discussion among commissioners during their Sept. 3 meeting prompted City Manager Marlon Brown to suggest Monday’s special meeting to continue the subject. Reaching consensus on the committee makeup took another 90 minutes.

Among the topics of debate was whether to seat a committee of subject matter experts versus community stakeholders.

Commissioners agreed to accept applications in seven specific categories. They are:

• Downtown resident
• Downtown merchant
• Downtown commercial property owner
• Social services professional
• A member younger than 40
• Downtown employee

Those are the “must haves.” The “it would be nice to haves” include those with experience in:

• Urban design and urban planning
• Sustainability, resiliency and environmental planning
• Architecture and landscape architecture
• Economic development and tourism
• Historic preservation and adaptive reuse
• Arts and culture

Some of those disciplines, likely might occupy at-large seats. Or commissioners could opt to keep the committee at seven. Or perhaps expand it to 11. All of that, Brown said, is at their discretion.

“You may choose two people who might fall into any of these categories. You're not limited to just one person who fits these categories,” Brown said. “You have seven categories. You may find nine people who fit all these categories. Or you may say ‘we found seven, but you know we want to choose two (at-large), or we have found eight and we want to choose one.’”

Planning Director Steve Cover added that, when the time comes, only the serious need apply.

“One of the things we could do with the applications is have them submit a resume so that it goes beyond just someone checking the box and saying, ‘Yeah, I'm interested in this,'” he said.

The “this” is an update of the Downtown Master Plan 2020 that was prepared for the city the urban planning firm and new urbanism pioneer Duany, Plater-Zyberk & Company. That plan was crafted more than two decades ago, a fact not lost on participants in a four-part speaker series hosted by Architecture Sarasota earlier the year — including Andres Duany himself — all of whom advocated a strategic update to the plan.

A resolution with final details will be brought back to the commission for approval, after which a call for applications will be issued. 

Davis offered words of caution for those who might consider applying.

“This is not a matter of showing up and listening. This is a matter of reviewing the material, participating and engaging in this process,” he said. “Every member will have his or her thoughts on various things, but they need to come to the meetings and to this planning process with an open mind, be willing to collaborate, be willing to compromise.

“And then finally, these committee members will be ambassadors for this process.”