Planning board approves SRQ‑area site plan for 60‑room extended‑stay hotel

The Sarasota Planning Board voted 4‑0 to approve site plan application 26SP01 for a 60‑room extended‑stay hotel at 1106 Rental Car Road (SRQ 3). The board adopted staff findings that the proposal complies with applicable zoning and tree‑protection requirements and approved the site plan subject to standard construction plan conditions and DRC sign‑offs.

Applicants Hugo Gegbardi, Eric Chancellor and Matt Morris presented the project, describing a four‑story hotel with an on‑site corporate office and 60 extended‑stay rooms. Chancellor said the site is largely pad‑ready with utilities stubbed and that the stormwater connection will use an existing stub provided by the neighboring parcel. “This is 60 rooms, 60 extended‑stay style rooms,” Eric Chancellor told the board during his presentation.

City planner Devon Glanz told the board the roughly 2.25‑acre property is zoned Intensive Commercial District (ICD) with a future land use of Metropolitan Regional 1, is leased from the Sarasota Manatee Airport Authority, and that the application received full DRC sign‑off on April 3, 2026. Glanz said staff recommended approval after confirming setbacks, parking (82 spaces), landscaping and other development standards were met and noting that a separate permit will be required for the planned pool.

Board members pressed the applicant on several operational items, including landscaping, irrigation and a pool shown on the plans; the architect and landscape team said the pool will be permitted separately and that final planting plans will reflect arborist recommendations. A board member asked how traffic mitigations identified in the DRC memo of Feb. 17 had been incorporated; Matt Morris said the airport and Manatee County had declined some off‑site improvements and that the applicant had reached out and would continue to coordinate. “We’ve reached out to the county… the county has effectively told us that they have no desire to do any improvements on University Parkway as of now,” Morris said.

The board closed the public hearing with no public speakers on the item, and a motion to approve the site plan passed on a 4‑0 roll call. Members urged the applicant to continue coordinating with the airport authority and Manatee County on recommended mitigations and to use the city’s multimodal impact fees and related funds where appropriate.

The planning board’s approval is a decision on the site plan; the project remains subject to final construction permits and any required county or airport approvals for off‑site utility or roadway work.