Commissioners to consider Walmart appeal

At Monday’s Sarasota City Commission meeting, commissioners will discuss whether to hold an appeal hearing on a planned Walmart Supercenter opposed by a group of neighbors living near the project.

On Nov. 25, Alta Vista neighborhood leaders filed an appeal of the Planning Board’s 3-2 approval of the Walmart planned for the Ringling Shopping Center just outside downtown.

Alta Vista residents also voted 26-1 at their Dec. 6 meeting to support the appeal.

A protest is set to take place before commissioners discuss the appeal Monday night. According to organizer Paul Tuttle, the protest will feature a demonstration when a smiley face — a reference to a prior marketing icon used by Wal-Mart — will be covered in tar and feathers.

Some neighbors in the Gardens of Ringling Park, adjacent to the proposed 97,000-square-foot Walmart Supercenter, have also started a facebook page in opposition to the supercenter.

In other items commissioners will:

• Discuss a Laurel Park development buffer zone. The buffer, if approved, would change the development process for projects planned within 100 feet of the downtown neighborhood. Several variations of the buffer zone have been proposed.

• Consider a site plan application for new construction at the Sarasota National Guard Armory located at 2890 Ringling Blvd.

• Consider continued public hearing for a Request for Major Conditional Use and Site Plan Approval to allow a nightclub use as defined by the zoning code for property located at 1219 First Street.

• Authorize an agreement between the City of Sarasota and Sarasota County for the 10th Street seawall replacement.