Downtown Obstacles Ahead for In-Season Drivers

An advisory board looking over millions devoted to downtown improvements welcomed five new faces Thursday afternoon. While no weighty decisions were on the agenda, the Community Redevelopment Agency Advisory Board (inevitable acronym CRAAB) heard of three road projects that are set to start as we enter the annual period of traffic madness called tourist season.

Two new four-lane traffic circles are about to start construction on Charles Ringling Boulevard in November. The circles at back-to-back intersections with Pineapple (now a traffic light) and Palm (a four-way stop), and should be finished next July.

Senior City Planner Steve Stancel says traffic will not be halted during the construction, but lane closures are all-but inevitable.

Another traffic headache will happen along Fruitville Road just north of the downtown area. This project too will start in November, to resurface the road. Stancel said the re-paving and re-striping should be finished “in two or three months.” No road closure but – as they say – expect delays.

The city’s connectivity plan calls for more roundabouts along the Tamiami Trail (U.S. 41) at the intersections with Fruitville, Main Street, Gulfstream and Orange Avenue. Stancel said funding for these circles might be accelerated because the state plans to funnel more money to U.S. 41 projects. These will not begin soon, but maybe sooner than expected, he said.

Two other areas along Palm came up for discussion. The city’s new parking garage is designed to have retail establishments on its first floor. The city put the retail property up for sale at $2.5 million with a September 13 closing date, but nobody responded. Stancel said, “It will go out to bid next Tuesday with no minimum bid requirement. Responses are due Oct. 27.”

The parking structure was built not only to provide parking and additional retail space, but also to serve what the city and the CRAAB hope will be a downtown hotel on a city-owned, L-shaped piece of property adjacent to the new garage. 

The city will issue an “invitation to negotiate” on Oct. 4, with proposals due in mid-November. “The primary goal is a hotel with retail on the bottom floor,” said Stancel. “The proposals should include purchase of parking spaces within the Palm Avenue Garage.” City code requires one parking space for every two hotel rooms. 

New CRAAB Member Mark Huey – president of the Sarasota County Economic Development Corporation – asked how an “invitation to negotiate” works.

“Developers will make a proposal with a concept plan,” said Stancel. “The city will select two or more for negotiations. It’s wide open, and it’s going to be an interesting process. It could be the first time the city’s used this process.”

And a third deal is coming up soon on the proposed State Street parking garage. The city commission approved a request for proposals for a design-build team to erect a mixed-use building on the city-owned site. Phase one would encompass design and engineering, and could start in January. The public will be asked to participate in the first phase, for comment on design and amenities. One proposal is a permanent farmers’ market encompassing the first floor. 

Not all the discussion was about bricks, mortar and asphalt. The Community Redevelopment Agency also makes grants to non-profits,. The CRAAB at its last meet approved four grants, including a grant to the Chalk Festival. City commissioners changed the rules, and — . 

Veteran CRAAB Member Javi Suarez – an architect – said, “They’ve been told they’ve been given these grants, and then they are rescinded? I can understand their frustration.” New member Paul Thorpe Jr. said, “We should look into this grant program.” Thorpe is now retired, but remembered as “Mr. Downtown” for his decades of unflagging effort on behalf of the core business district.

The CRAAB has overseen the collection of $89.1 million since 1986, when the city and county agreed to create a “tax increment financing district.” The city and county froze their general tax receipts at the 1986 level. All receipts above the base year are devoted to the Community Redevelopment Agency to fight “slum and blight” and promote economic development.

The 20-year agreement expires in 2016, when the city and county will again reap the full taxes and the CRA will lose its dedicated funding. On Oct. 24, the CRAAB and the city commission will hold a special meeting to discuss the twilight of the tax increment financing district. The public will be able to speak at that meeting.