County searches for homelessness project funding

The Sarasota County Commission considered a proposal Tuesday to help fund a Harvest House project to help the homeless.

Harvest House sent a letter to both the city of Sarasota and the county in September, asking them to help the organization fund a homeless families housing project. The organization had raised the funds to purchase nine duplexes and one single-family home on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way, between Tuttle and Chester avenues. However, the organization needed about $400,000 to renovate the units.

Harvest House requested the county fund the full $400,000, and it asked the city to give the county $150,000 for the project.

The City Commission denied the request with little comment during a special meeting Sept. 9. Mayor Willie Shaw said in the meeting that the city would be focusing on other efforts to address the homelessness issue.

County Commissioner Nora Patterson asked if there was money from another source that could be used for Harvest House’s request. She suggested seeing if the city or a private philanthropist would match the county’s funding.

“They weren’t very kind to Harvest House during that meeting,” County Commissioner Christine Robinson said of the city’s response. She said she doubted the city would be willing to match any funds.

“They go into attack mode on whoever tries to assist,” Robinson said. “They’re not willing to discuss it.”

County Commissioner Carolyn Mason suggested the board wait until the current fiscal year ended in a few weeks and find out if there are any leftover funds to help the organization.

The board requested that the county administration compile a list of funds that might be leftover, and also reach out to Harvest House to see what the organization could accomplish with less funding than the $400,000 it had requested originally.

COMMISSION WRAPUP
At Wednesday’s County Commission meeting, the board discussed:
+ Stand-up paddleboarding
Regarding a March proposal to shrink the swim zone to allow an area for stand-up paddleboarding on Siesta Key and to allow a vendor to rent boards from the concession stand, county staff recommended commissioners not approve the proposal but continue to look into other opportunities for SUP.

The commissioners voted 4-1 to approve the staff’s recommendation.

Commissioner Joe Barbetta, the only commissioner to vote against the staff recommendation, supported the proposal because the proposal stipulated that the vendor would supervise the SUP users while they were in the water, providing some kind of instruction.

“Wouldn’t it be more beneficial to have someone supervise this?” he asked.

+ Siesta Key outdoor displays
The commission held the first of two public hearings on the proposal to change the Siesta Key Village Overlay District to allow outdoor displays.

Several commissioners were uncertain about the proposal.

Patterson expressed the feeling of the Siesta Key Village Association, which had relayed to her that its members would support the change as long as the county was willing to enforce violations.

Commissioner Christine Robinson voiced concern about the staff time that could be spent enforcing some of the specific stipulations in the amendment.

“I can see the code enforcement officer out there with a tape measure,” she said.

Both she and Barbetta said they were concerned with the generality of items that could be displayed outside, with no clear definition of what products could and could not be displayed.