Board of Adjustment approves variances for dock at 688 Golden Gate Point

The Sarasota Board of Adjustment voted 5-0 during a September 2025 hearing to approve variance petition 25VAN01, allowing the construction of a dock with four boat slips at 688 Golden Gate Point that seeks reduced side setbacks and a depth variance to extend the dock to minus 8.7 mean low water.

The variances approved would reduce the required 8-foot side setbacks to approximately 3 feet on the southern side and 3.1 feet on the northern side measured from riparian rights lines, and increase the maximum allowable mean low water depth from minus 4 feet to minus 8.7 feet. The applicant said the dock will be 98.6 feet long and about 294 square feet, both within the code limits for length and area, and that no variance was requested for those dimensions.

The petition was presented by Christina Tigner, a licensed professional engineer in Sarasota, who said the property’s ‘‘converging riparian rights lines’’ and deep water near Golden Gate Point make the requested layout necessary to keep boat mooring outside dense seagrass and minimize shading of seagrass by elevating portions of the structure. Tigner said Marina View Condominium to the south provided a…