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SiestaKeyFitness.com AUGUST 2023| 941.312.0665 | 27TH STATE MEDIA LLC | www.SiestaSand.us | COMPLIMENTARY
Incorporation on hold
A delightful display
Save Siesta Key now eyes 2025 legislative session for another attempt By John Morton Concluding that the political climate in Tallahassee is far from conducive for its effort for incorporation, Save Siesta Key announced on July 15 that it would be putting its mission on hold. That means it will be bypassing the Sept. 1 deadline for an incorporation application that would have been its third. After the next round of state elections are complete next year, the group feel its chances are better in the 2025 legislative sessions – where the House, Senate and governor must vote to approve incorporation. Again, the application deadline would be Sept. 1 -- this time in 2024. The decision comes on the heels of two failures – the first in January of 2022 when the Sarasota County Legislative Delegation voted against an incorporation bill advancing to the Florida Legislature, and the
second coming this year in May when, despite being approved by the local delegation, a required committee in Tallahassee literally killed the bill (House Bill 923) by ignoring it. The incorporation group, which is calling its decision “a strategic Hensey pause,” reports that its lobbyists have subsequently continued to have conversations with House leadership and “have been informed of ongoing concerns over the creation of new taxing authorities and additional layers of government.” Continued on page 24
Despite objection by Smith, waterfront condo approved By ChrisAnn Allen
A little fireworks fan is mesmerized by the bright boomers that entertained those on Siesta Key during the Fourth of July celebration. (submitted photo)
Despite the objections of the commissioner who resides on Siesta Key, the Sarasota Board of County Commissioners on July 12 approved a variance request relating to a plan to build an 11-unit condo complex at 77 Beach Rd. It will replace the nearly 100-year-old structure that is the current six-unit Sunset Beach Resort, built in 1925. It will be knocked down, along with a single-family structure behind it at 70 Avenida Veneccia that was built in 1977. The coastal setback variance that was approved allows the new complex to extend a maximum of 75 feet further seaward of the gulf beach setback line – a line established in 1979 as a representative boundary line limiting seaward construction for the protection of structures landward of the coastal habitat.
The project will occur in a coastal high hazard area. According to the county’s comprehensive plan, in part, it “is the area below the elevation of the Category 1 storm surge line … and is an area particularly vulnerable to the effects of coastal flooding from tropical Smith storm events.” District 2 Commissioner Mark Smith, an architect of 40 years who represents the area on Siesta Key where the project will take place, cast the only dissenting vote. Smith motioned for a denial of the resolution, which was not supported beyond a Continued on page 20
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Oct.1 is the start of smoking ban
Midnight Pass gets another examination
A closer look at real estate stats
Welcome to the sweet life
IN OUR SECOND SECTION: • Music Calendar PAGE V3 • Village Map/business listings PAGES V8, V9 • Crescent Beach Map/ business listings PAGE V10 •Gulf Gate Shops PAGE V13 • Accommodations Map PAGE V15
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