Save Siesta Key Incorporation Efforts Renewed With Petition

SARASOTA COUNTY, FL — After a delegation of local state legislators failed to move forward Siesta Key’s request to incorporate in January, residents of the barrier island community haven’t given up on gaining their autonomy.

Save Siesta Key is asking voters on the island to sign a petition in support of putting a referendum regarding Siesta Key’s incorporation on the ballot in Sarasota County next year.

The petition, which can be found online here, must be printed out, signed in ink, and dropped off at either Davidson Drugs location on the island or mailed to PO Box 35214, Sarasota, FL, 34242.

“The battle is not yet over,” the Save Siesta Key board wrote in an email to its followers on Tuesday morning.

Save Siesta Key is working with the Siesta Key Association, SK Condominium Council and The Coalition on plans to develop a comprehensive plan and to resubmit an incorporation bill to the state. The organization has also hired a new political consultant.

More than 2,000 people signed the petition last year and the organization's goal is to increase that number to at least 3,500 signatures in hopes of swaying state leaders.

“Like you, we were incredibly disappointed with the local legislative delegation who voted down our January 2022 initiative. Yet we are encouraged by Siesta Key residents who united around the cause and showed incredible involvement,” the Save Siesta Key board wrote. “This community has shown true civic engagement. We must push forward to save our island life from decisions we have no voice in, over development and ever-increasing traffic issues.”

On Jan. 4, a delegation of six state leaders from Sarasota County failed to advance Siesta Key’s request to incorporate after a split 3-3 vote.

Sen. Joe Gruters, and Reps. Michele Rayner and Fiona McFarland voted in support of the bill while State Reps. Will Robinson, Tommy Gregory and James Buchanan voted against it.

Much of Siesta Key is considered a census-designated place within Sarasota County. Though county leaders frequently ask residents to share their thoughts before decisions affecting Siesta Key are made, they often don't take those opinions into consideration, Tracy Jackson, the chair of the group's communication and media committee, told Patch in May 2021.

"We recognize the county has 427,000 people in it and we're a small portion of that," she said. "We just believe that we are the best stewards of our island."

The organization was inspired by three major recent projects that residents spoke out against but moved forward anyway include the proposed Siesta Promenade plan from Benderson Development Co. at U.S. 41 and Stickney Point Road, the dredging of Big Pass and the decision to build a roundabout at Midnight Pass and Beach Road, she added.

In January, Sarasota city commissioners also discussed the possibility of annexing all of the barrier island into the city. They voted unanimously to reach out to Siesta Key leaders and gauge their interest in becoming part of Sarasota.