By Rachel Brown Hackney Quite a bit of sanitary sewer system rehab work is coming up on the Key this summer, thanks to two sets of votes the County Commission took in April. One project — along Canal Road — was expected to get underway this week, the county Public Utilities Department staff […]
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 a document he emailed to Kimley-Horn and Sarasota County Planning and Development Services Department staff […]
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; parts of Bay Road and Osprey Avenue, which are designated State Road 758 west of […]
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 on the waterways of Sarasota County is the dredge. Dredging projects are generally motivated by […]
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 of Big Sarasota Pass as potential dredging areas for the renourishment of South Lido Key. […]
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 Siesta Key Association(SKA) had spent about $223,000 in its efforts to preserve the pass in […]
By Rachel Brown Hackney Shortly after 2 p.m. on Monday, April 9, representatives of Sarasota County Area Transit (SCAT) and the Siesta Key Chamber of Commerce — along with County Commissioner Alan Maio and business owners — climbed aboard a Siesta Key Breeze open-air trolley, which was parked at the Village gazebo. They had […]
There were a total of 19 crimes reported on the Key between 3/21-4/17/18 3/26/18 Theft 100 Block Columbus Blvd. A woman visiting from Indiana reported the theft of two bicycles. She stated she had rented the bikes for her daughters who had ridden them to the community pool and left them out front. When they […]
By Rachel Brown Hackney Speeding boaters on the canals, loud partying at Beach Accesses 1 and 2, and dogs on the beach at North Shell Road were among the issues Siesta Key Association (SKA) members raised when Sgt. Jason Mruczek, leader of the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office substation on the Key, stood at the […]
By Rachel Brown Hackney After winning plaudits from the neighbors and from Sarasota County Planning Commission members, a proposal to redevelop an old hotel property on Stickney Point Road near Siesta Key will undergo final review by the County Commission. With a unanimous vote on April 5, the Planning Commission recommended the County […]
By Mark Smith The Siesta Key Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors voted on text amendment language that would allow commercially zoned properties that were large enough to have on-site parking to support a building taller than 35 feet to have the option to ask to be built closer to the sidewalk than 25 […]
By Rachel Brown Hackney SarasotaNewsLeader.com In late January, the Sarasota County Commission asked staff to modify proposed changes in an ordinance that would allow owners of property threatened by acute erosion to keep sandbags in place for three years. On April 10, Commissioner Alan Maio suggested one more tweak to the latest staff […]
