WHAT'S HAPPENING | Week of Oct. 22 2015

“Smile, God loves you and so does Father Fausto.” St. Martha Catholic Church Father Fausto Stampiglia

By the numbers

109
The number of homes Medallion Home wants to build on the privately owned Gulf Gate Golf Course's 50 acres.

2
The number of longhorn cows that would be displaced by an apartment development the Spanos Corporation Inc. has proposed in Palmer Ranch.

86
The number of public parking spaces a developer will be required to provide on site or nearby if they purchase a lot at 20 N. Washington Blvd. from the county for development.

WHAT'S THE BUZZ

Chef and owner Solomon Shenker's Jewish deli will replace the pizza restaurant Flatbreads on Main Street and add a dash of New York City-style cuisine to the downtown restaurant community.
Here's what our facebook readers had to say about the deli:

"Nit yeden mesles treft zikh a nes. (Yiddish translation: Miracles don't happen every day.)” — Sheldon Wolf

"I'll take a hot pastrami please. I'd like my cut from the navel end... it'll stand well to the long cooking and curing.... take the rest of the brisket for that awesome corned beef!" — Rhiana Mann

"Finally! Thanks for answering my prayers!” — Maegan Ochoa

School board reinstates impact fees on new homes

Developers pleaded with Sarasota County School Board members at their Oct. 20 meeting not to reinstate school impact fees, saying the fees would affect affordable housing supplies and cut jobs.

In spite of that, the board voted 3-2 to reinstate fees, but at 25.9% of the amount they would have been legally justied in levying.

New single family homes will carry a fee of $2,032, multi-family homes will pay $561 and mobile homes will pay $188, which is roughly the level paid in 2010 before a five-year moratorium.

Attorney Dan Lobeck said even the recommended fees didn’t go far enough and accused some school board members of acting on behalf of developers.

“It’s not right,” he said. “It’s scandalous — beyond scandalous — that the developers have bought themselves a school board.”

School Board members Frank Kovach and Bridget Ziegler voted against the reinstatement.

Several representatives of the building community, including David Hunihan, operations manager at Emerald Homes, suggested developers were unlikely to absorb the cost.

“This will be passed on to homeowners,” Hunihan said.

City moves toward reallocating homeless shelter funds

At a meeting Monday, the Sarasota City Commission took a first step toward reallocating money originally slated for the construction of a homeless shelter.

Although the commission agreed to repurpose $289,054 in Community Development Building Grant funding earmarked for a shelter, it was divided on how that money should be spent.

In a 3-2 vote, the board agreed to advertise a potential budget change that, if approved, would dedicate all of that money toward a different chronic homelessness solution: the creation of permanent supportive housing. After ending the joint pursuit of a shelter with the county, the city has focused on establishing a “housing first” program to address homelessness.

Mayor Willie Shaw pointed out that the conditions under which the money had originally been earmarked were no longer applicable. In July 2013, the city set the grant funding aside with the stipulation that the location and size of a shelter would be determined by the end of the year.

“It was a placeholder,” Shaw said. “It is now free money.”

Meetings

Sarasota County Commission meeting — 9 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27, Administration Building, 1660 Ringling Blvd., Sarasota
Sarasota County Commission meeting — 9 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 28, Administration Building, 1660 Ringling Blvd., Sarasota