April 2024 Local Construction / Traffic Alert . Continuing into April FPL contractors continue replacing/upgrading power poles & wires (on School Av, Wood, Shade, etc.). Temporary street closures and traffic detours occur as work progresses; watch for big orange signs.
March-April: Frontier Fiberoptic Cable Installation on Bay St between School and East. Frontier is running underground fiber optic lines in right-of-way along this block.
April 17, Players Theater at Payne Park Auditorium, DRC meeting, City Hall, 9am. Players plans to take over the Payne Park Auditorium. Their newest proposal, submitted in March 2024, calls for a huge new building beside the old auditorium, plus expanded parking lot. Their last proposal encountered much community pushback, but they seem to have expanded their plans even more! Much Too Much? For more info see Players Stage at Payne Park
Be aware that there is citizen opposition to this project as currently planned. See, consider signing, Petition to Deny.
April 3 Payne Park Townhomes DRC, 9am, City Hall. Development Review Committee, public may watch but no public comments at this stage of process. More on Payne Park Townhomes project, see below...
March 29 Friday, 5pm Good Friday in Payne Park. First Baptist Church is holding Good Friday sermon, including sponsoring a free, family-fun event including a helicopter Easter Egg drop, plus a Nik Wallenda wire walk! See firstsarasota.org for details.
Monday March 25, 7pm, next monthly AVNA meeting @ CoreSRQ / YMCA, 1075 S. Euclid (corner Euclid & Bahia Vista). Guests will be City Staff to talk about the Shade Avenue Complete Streets project (including "the Novus Bump" (photo)). Project is in design now and expected to start construction next year (2025). See Shade Complete Streets page, also AVNA page. AND... new Players Stage in Payne Park submission!
Mature Tree incentive program: Spring 2024 (and also Fall 2024). Apparently the 2023 pilot program proved successful! Now called Neighborhood Canopy Program, this initiative encourages residents to plant and maintain large canopy trees. The City’s Tree Mitigation Fund pays up to $500 toward an approved canopy tree when the required $100 deposit is received. Reservations are now (Feb 3) being taken for plantings in Spring 2024 Interested in participating? Click this link Neighborhood Canopy Program for details. Then call Mast Landscape Management at 941-480-6387 or email the City at NeighborhoodCanopyProgram@Sarasotafl.gov.
Wed, Feb 7, 9am, City HallDRC meeting: on agenda, Payne Park Townhomes project resubmittal. (No public comments but public welcome to observe.) To review the backup documents, see the City's Public Meetings and Agendas page, open DRC Feb 7 agenda, click on Application documents link. See also PPT page for more details.
Fri Feb 2 & Sat Feb 3 Concordia Lutheran Church Rummage Sale! Always a fun time and a great rummage sale. Corner of Wood St and School Av. 8am-2pm both days.
Shade Ave Complete Streets update: New SURVEY! City is requesting more community input for Shade Ave improvement project. Specifically, based on prior feedback, they are considering removing that weird little "raised bump" traffic circle at Shade and Novus (a.k.a. "Kelly's Bane"). Take a look at 3 options: Take the survey. The survey closes 5pm Mon Jan 22, 2024. See more info, plus City website link, at Shade Ave Complete Streets page.
New Eatery, December 2023: Le Mans Kitchen, inside the Sarasota Ford dealership. LeMansKitchen.com Per the 12/6/2023 Observer: "Sarasota Ford opens multimillion-dollar restaurant inside the dealership." It's a high-end french-style sit-down restaurant, replacing the Sarasota Ford casual cafe, but serving Sarasota Ford customers only.
New Sarasota High Master Plan summary was presented at School Board Workshop 8/15/23. Future Improvements: Tennis Courts, and a Performing Arts Center. Just a tad more initial intel, so far, at Schools Update page.
SOLAR COOP! Thinking of going solar at your home? A new solar coop formed July 2023; a solar coop is a group of people (in a set area and timeframe) who negotiate a good deal on installing solar panels for their homes. You must sign up by Nov 30th to participate; but there is no obligation. See Solar United Neighbors
Nov 4th Fall Festival, Craft Fair, Family Fun, at Concordia Lutheran Church. at corner of School Ave & Wood St. Concordia website.