Cosentino Charter amendments only a few signatures short Siesta Sand took the opportunity to check in with the Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections Office to find out the status of the Sarasota County Charter petition drive that Siesta resident Read More
FDEP secretary grants permit for dredging of Big Sarasota Pass
By Rachel Brown Hackney SarasotaNewsLeader.com Two days after U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida toured severely eroded areas of South Lido Key Beach, Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) Secretary Noah Valenstein granted the Joint Coastal Permit the City Read More
Streetlights on Siesta Key to make transition to LED starting in late July
By Rachel Brown Hackney SarasotaNewsLeader.com Florida Power & Light Co. (FPL) plans to begin switching out high pressure sodium lights for LED fixtures on the 325 poles that it owns and maintains on the north and south ends of Read More
Fighting the sand on Siesta Key
SNL/Siesta Sand heard a complaint the first week of June about the sand piled up on the vacated segment of North Beach Road. The 357-foot-long stretch clearly is marked by signage as “Public Access.” However, from the Beach Access Read More
FDOT says it would not perform traffic signal re-timing to accommodate Siesta Promenade project
By Rachel Brown Hackney SarasotaNewsLeader.com The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is seeking a number of clarifications from the consulting firm Kimley-Horn and Associates of Sarasota regarding its traffic studies for the proposed Siesta Promenade mixed-use project. In Read More
Sarasota County Commission agrees to road swap
By Rachel Brown Hackney Before the end of September, Sarasota County is expected to take ownership of Midnight Pass Road from the intersection of Stickney Point Road to the intersection of Higel Avenue; Siesta Drive west of U.S. 41; Read More
History: The Dangers of Dredging
By Philip M. Farrell, MD, PhD Sarasotans have had a long-term love affair of damaging nature… most of our historical environmental disregard is spurred by arrogance… Paul Roat, Siesta Sand, December 2013 [https://siestasand.net/sarasota-history-13/] The primary weapon used to damage nature Read More
Call for elimination of two potential dredging areas in Big Pass
By Rachel Brown Hackney The Siesta Key Association (SKA) and Save Our Siesta Sand 2 (SOSS2) are using the recommendation of a state administrative law judge to ask the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) to eliminate two areas Read More
Big Pass challenge legal expenses exceed $1.1 million
By Rachel Brown Hackney The City of Sarasota had paid a grand total of $685,953.16 as of May 1 in its fight to dredge Big Pass to renourish part of Lido Key Beach. As of early April, the Read More
Paid parking at Siesta Public Beach to be key part of future County Commission discussion
By Rachel Brown Hackney SarasotaNewsLeader.com No date was set, but the Sarasota County commissioners agreed on April 10 to hold a formal discussion regarding the potential implementation of paid parking at Siesta Public Beach. The suggestion came from Read More