Homes by West Bay seeks to remove commercial requirement for proposed 47-unit development near Limelight District

Colin Pember, a land‑use attorney representing Homes by West Bay Development Services, told residents at a community workshop that the applicant seeks an amendment to a 2010 rezone ordinance that would delete a requirement for 16,000 square feet of commercial space and allow a purely residential project of up to 47 units on a parcel at the edge of the Limelight District in Sarasota.

Pember said the parcel is already zoned Downtown Edge (DTE) and that the proposal would keep the existing future land use designation and the previously authorized maximum building height of three stories. “We will never exceed 47 units,” Pember said, adding that the applicant is preparing a stormwater analysis that may change the layout or reduce — but not increase — the unit count.

The change sought would remove section 3(c) of the 2010 rezone ordinance, Pember said, and eliminate the commercial component the earlier approval required. He said the current site plan is preliminary and constrained by the property’s size and stormwater needs; the developer plans one vehicular access from Aspinwall and a second from Shade Avenue and expects units will include one‑car garages with additional on‑street parking proposed on the north side of Aspinwall.

Why it matters: residents at the workshop repeatedly raised concerns about flooding, stormwater and traffic. Speakers noted that parts of nearby Park East and sections of Aspinwall already experience frequent flooding. One resident described repeated residential flooding on nearby streets and said private mitigation had cost thousands of dollars. A participant referenced an analysis noting that 16 structures on Aspinwall flood in current conditions, with a potential replacement value cited at roughly $4 million.

The developer said the city’s stormwater standards are more stringent than those of the South Florida regional water manager and that the mandatory stormwater modeling could require larger on‑site stormwater facilities and a modified site plan. “The city has more stringent standards than SWFWMD,” Pember said, noting that the stormwater and traffic studies required by the review process will determine whether the preliminary plan must shrink or otherwise change.

Residents also asked about parking, Shade Avenue’s status and traffic impacts near a nearby Wawa convenience station. Pember said Shade Avenue is an unimproved public right‑of‑way that would be improved in the project and that the project team plans to provide on‑street parking on Aspinwall. He confirmed a traffic study is required as part of the formal application and noted the developer believes removing the 16,000 square feet of commercial space will reduce trip generation compared with the prior approved mixed‑use plan.

Other project details disclosed at the meeting include that the units are planned for sale (not rental) and that the developer has estimated a sale price in the neighborhood of $608,100 per unit; the team did not provide a final architectural plan or an exact unit mix. Pember said there would be no pool or similar amenities on the constrained site and that residents would rely on amenities in the nearby Limelight District.

Next steps: the applicant said it intends to file a formal development application. Required technical studies — including stormwater modeling and a traffic study — will be submitted during the development review; depending on those findings, the applicant said it would return to the public process to amend any site plan or density if necessary. No formal vote or decision was taken at the community workshop.