Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Rezoning topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Planning board recommends approval for Alderman Oaks rezoning despite neighborhood opposition
Summary
The Sarasota Planning Board voted 4–1 to recommend that the City Commission rezone the Alderman Oaks site from RMF‑5 to Downtown Edge (DTE). Residents and neighborhood groups urged denial, citing tree canopy, density and uncertainty about future uses; the applicant and city staff said the request implements the city's future land‑use map.
The Sarasota City Planning Board voted 4–1 to recommend approval of rezone application 25‑REN‑03, asking the City Commission to change Alderman Oaks from RMF‑5 (Residential Multifamily 5) to Downtown Edge (DTE).
The applicant's attorney, Patrick Seidensticker of Icard Merrill, said the rezone is intended to bring the property into compliance with the city's future land‑use map and allow an operator to shift from assisted‑living toward independent living. "We are requesting a rezone from residential multifamily 5 to Downtown Edge," Seidensticker told the board, explaining the site's size, current use and the policy rationale tied to the comprehensive plan.
Neighbors and affected persons urged denial at the reopened hearing. Spencer Schulman, whose home sits within 500 feet of the site, said DTE "would quadruple density to 100 units per acre, permit 4‑plus story buildings beside 1‑ and 2‑story single family homes and condominiums," and warned the rezoning could remove transition buffers. Julie Cotton, vice president of the Homes of Laurel Park HOA, asked the board to deny the application because the applicant had not submitted a specific plan or proffers limiting height, uses or buffers. Laurel Park Neighborhood Association representative Ron Cashton also emphasized concerns about the Live Local Act, saying it could override transition protections in the DTE district.
Applicant responses and city planning staff emphasized that the request implements the future land‑use designation and that DTE is one of the implementing districts allowed by the comprehensive plan. City planner Tom Sikarsky noted the property is inside a zoning enclave relative to the future land use and said property owners are "encouraged to initiate the rezoning process" to conform to the plan; he also confirmed that no site plan is required to submit the rezone application.
After deliberation, board members expressed differing views. Several members said the rezoning matched the adopted future land use and plan direction; one member dissented citing compatibility and neighborhood character concerns. A motion to find the rezone consistent with the criteria in the zoning code and recommend approval to the City Commission carried 4–1 (Mister Salem, Mister Christie, Mister Clermont and Mister LeMay voted yes; Mister DeLeia voted no).
