Oct 2026 Construction beginning, Resurfacing Project, Washington Blvd (US301) from Mound St to 10th St. Single lane closures, potentially for up to 7 months: expect traffic backups. See Washington Blvd Repave page.
Oct 19 City Commission: Midtown Plaza redevelopment Appeal, which was rejected by Planning Board. See our Midtown Plaza page for more details.
Oct 26 AVNA Meeting, 7pm at YMCA, Euclid & Bahia Vista. Guest Jon Thaxton
Nov 3 Election Day. Oct 22 deadline to request vote-by-mail ballot. Early Voting Oct19-Nov1, 8.30am to 6.30 pm. See sarasotavotes.gov
Sep 24 Update: Watering Restrictions have now been EXTENDED TO MARCH 1, 2027 ! due to Extreme Drought. Lawn irrigation systems limited to once a week; hand watering allowed any day but only before 8am or after 6pm. See City News article for details and/or our Drought FAQs page. with Q&A directly from SWFWMD. See SWFWMD website for full details.
Sarasota High School: 6 Tennis Courts and 3 Beach Volleyball Courts still under construction (Oct 2026). (There used to be tennis courts, open to the public; those were demolished in 2013; new courts will NOT be open to public.) See more on Schools Update page. Should you need to contact: Gilbane Superintendent Tomikel Curtis, 941-260-7592.
Speaking of All Things Traffic: It's a sign proliferation jungle 'round here! There's practically 100 traffic signs in a 6-block radius abutting the schools: SHS, Alta Vista Elementary, and Innovation Academy. The intent is to keep the kids, and others, safe from car accidents. Because of the inconsistency of signage, including differing times in effect and various Photo Enforcement alerts, a compendium has been compiled and emailed to City Traffic Planning Dept (Sep2026) with a plea to, eventually, correct and simplify. Here's a little map and chart of the traffic signs (not even including No Parking and Crosswalks).
SHORT TERM RENTALS From the City's home page GIS/Maps button, neighbors can now easily look up all registered short-term rentals throughout the City. The City's Vacation Rental Property Search Website shows Contact & phone number, in case your next-door home's AIRBNB/VRBO/etc. guests are behaving very badly, plus which Inspector to call if homeowner isn't helpful. Note that there is a 7-day/night minimum for ST rentals in the City. As of early April, the map shows about 40 short-term rentals in our modest neighborhood alone, and a glance at the citywide map astounds me -- plus, apparently many are still not registered; most short-term guests are good folks, but they're not "real neighbors." Homes exempt from registration and therefore not shown include rentals of 30+ days, condos, owner-occupied homes, and more. Is it any wonder that we have a rental crisis?; many of these short-term rentals used to be actual rentals, now off the regular rentals market... See map.
Saba Plaza (NE corner Bahia Vista & Tamiami Trail) is still being offered for sale. Per zoning, there is potential for 18-story, 500+unit residential, &/or retail. Offered thru Loyd Robbins & Co. Meanwhile, take a look at this amazing aerial video (with "envisioned" residential towers included) https://views.buildout.media/v/EB15Ywl21gV
Is a next-door home construction site becoming a serious quality-of-life issue (unreasonable noise, dirt/trash, street/sidewalk blockages, worker parking problems, etc.)? Contact new City Engineer, Sage Kamiya Sage.Kamiya@SarasotaFL.gov.
Is a parked car blocking a sidewalk? They should know that's not okay. The City says: to report it, don't call Code Compliance; instead call the City's parking division at 941-263-6475 or email parkinginfo@sarasotafl.gov.
Search City Online Records Portal. a central search page to look things up online, many, many things, including development applications, meetings and agendas, ordinances and codes, ...
GET YOURSELF IN THE CITY NEWS PIPELINE!
In case you ever wondered how to keep up with City news, a few good sources for City news are:
- City webpage news tab: features the list of recent news item announcements.
- City list of upcoming public meetings. Includes agenda items and links to backup documents. Scroll down for archives of past public meetings, including always-essential detailed backup documents.
- City News: comprehensive weekly email from mayor's office, which also includes upcoming City meetings with links to agendas. Sign up to receive this and/or other communications from City. at https://www.sarasotafl.gov/services/email-subscriptions
- City Public Access Emails is at www.sarasotafl.gov/City-Services/Public-Access-Email