Housing Change to University Parkway Project Denied

Not knowing what the housing market would be like in the future, the Sarasota County Planning Commission unanimously denied Thursday a developer’s request to eliminate community housing units from its project.

"The market can change considerably in three years,” said Commissioner Roland Piccone, who made a motion to not approve the change to the Development of Regional Impact requirement for 437 community housing units in the University Town Center project.

“It’s premature to try to remove the community housing (from the plan),” Piccone said.

Todd Mathes, director of development for Benderson Development Company, tried to explain that the housing market today is very different than it was in 2006 when the DRI plan with the community housing component was approved.

The developer is required to build 437 community housing units, which are defined in the county Comprehensive Plan as residential units that a buyer earning between 100-120 percent of the area median income of Sarasota County could afford.

The county planning services department calculated the area median income in 2011 for a family of four is $62,200.

Mathes said today homes in that price range would cost more than $339,000 and a study his firm conducted indicated there was an excess of such homes within the immediate area of the development located at University Parkway and Interstate 75.

Also, he said the 2010 census showed that there was 60.7 percent more vacant homes in the county than there was in 2006.

“So adding more housing units would harm the market,” Mathes said.

But none of the commissioners were convinced that the developer had to react to the market conditions of today, since University Town Center was a multi-year project and there may be a need for community housing in the future.

“The commission is supposed to be doing long-range planning for the county,” said Commissioner John Fellin, “The housing market and economy swings back and forth like a pendulum.”

The commission seemed to interpret the community housing requirement as meaning the developer had to build affordable housing, but county planner Mark Loveridge said the comprehensive plan defines community housing separately from affordable housing.

Regardless, the commissioners questioned why the development plan, which was established in 1993, originally contained affordable housing language and if it was not the intent to have affordable or low-income housing in the project.

Mathes said in 1993 the project plans were for a commerce center and in 2006 it became mixed-use project to include retail, office and residential units.

He said the change in the character of the development changed what type of housing should be included in the project.

“If you’re looking at community housing as work-force housing,” Mathis said, “this is not that.”

But the commissioners were not convinced that a need for community housing could not return and voted to deny the request.

Home Depot Coming to U.S. 41 and Beneva

Benderson Development Company faired better with the commission earlier in the meeting when they approved the developer’s request for a special exception to the zoning of a 10.75-acre parcel on U.S. 41 and Beneva Road.

Paul Blackketter, executive director for planning with Benderson, told the commissioners the plans were to demolish the vacant building where a K-mart once was located and construct a new Home Depot.

The only variances to the commercial general zoning needed was a height increase up to 37 feet, the permitting of a garden center and outdoor displays, and increase the size of square footage allowed in that zone, Blackketter said.

He explained the height increase was only for the façade parapet and not the building as a whole and that the garden center would be an added amenity to the community.

Benderson staff held six community meetings over the preceding months and worked through the neighbors’ issues with the project, Blackketter said.

“We pride ourselves in working with the neighborhoods,” he said. “We meet with them, then follow up to explain how we will deal with their issues.”

Some of the concerns of the residents surrounding the proposed project were stormwater runoff, landscaping and buffering between the commercial and residential areas, and lighting.

Blackketter said there would be bioswales installed in the parking lot to treat the runoff before it enters the estuaries, and the rainwater from the roof will be stored in cisterns to be used in the garden center.

The developer will improve the buffering 20 percent more than what is required and its landscaping plan is similar to what it has at Cooper Creek in Manatee County.

Lighting will be shielded on shorter poles so not to disturb the residential areas, Blackketter said.

The plan pleased the commissioners and the approved the special exceptions with a unanimous vote.