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Staff previews rewrite of Sarasota comprehensive plan’s historic preservation chapter
Summary
City planning staff and historic preservation program staff presented draft edits to the comprehensive plan’s historic preservation chapter, outlined a phased public outreach strategy and noted two formatting errors in the materials; staff proposed bringing chapters to the public one at a time and using infographics for broader engagement.
City of Sarasota planning staff presented draft revisions to the comprehensive plan’s historic preservation chapter and described a phased outreach plan that breaks the rewrite into chapter‑by‑chapter public engagement.
David Smith, manager of long range planning, said staff is preparing the plan for a longer time horizon and compliance with recent state requirements; staff proposes updating the comp plan horizon to 2055 and completing chapter updates by 2029 to meet the next state evaluation and appraisal cycle. Smith framed the presentation as an introduction and invited ongoing collaboration with the Historic Preservation Board and community groups.
Historic Preservation staff explained the document package includes (1) the plan language recommended for adoption, (2) a non‑binding support document (data and analysis), and (3) an evaluation table that summarizes proposed strike/underline edits with comments explaining why each change is suggested. Staff alerted the board that two formatting errors in the published evaluation table made some new language appear struck through; staff clarified that underlined text is new and that the underlying plan text is correct in the full document.
Staff described public outreach as incremental: instead of presenting all chapters at once, they will bring one chapter at a time to the community, using an open house format and targeted meetings with neighborhood and preservation groups. Staff also said they plan to use large, readable infographics at public events and to accept comments through multiple channels. The presentation covered administrative items as well: the local demolition fund revenue and typical uses (surveying and preservation work), summer interns who will help with records and outreach, the pending appeal of another demolition case that will appear before the City Commission on July 6, and efforts to clarify overlapping district designations in the Bayfront area.
Board members asked clarifying questions about which parts of the package are legally binding (the plan portion adopted by ordinance is binding; the support document is not), the relationship between objectives in other plan chapters and preservation objectives, how the evaluation table cross‑references were renumbered and how to communicate the changes to the public, and whether the board would have an opportunity to provide a formal comment before transmittal. Staff committed to further meetings and to bringing revised materials back for additional review before transmission to the state and eventual hearings before the planning board and City Commission.
Staff also said the department had reached out to the Sarasota Alliance for Historic Preservation for feedback and invited the board to recommend further outreach formats and timing.
