Developers want an end to interchange

When Pulte Homes submitted preliminary plans for a new housing community near the Central Sarasota Parkway interchange a few months ago, the homebuilder was shocked to discover an interchange concept that the County Commission voted down two years ago still existed.

“A petition is going forward by a developer in a tough economy and somehow this interchange is still in the way,” County Commissioner Joe Barbetta said at the regular commission meeting Tuesday, April 24. “We made a policy by this board to eliminate it and yet staff still feels, apparently, there’s a need for it.”

The county agreed not to construct the interchange in May 2010, and a contract with the Florida Department of Transportation for the project was voided in favor of an interchange further south, at State Road 681.

Barbetta was upset to learn from county attorney Steve DeMarsh that the reason the interchange is still on the table is because a Comprehensive Plan amendment is needed to remove it.

“We asked for that comp plan amendment change two years ago,” Barbetta said. “Now we have a large developer with a legitimate proposal that could walk away from a good project because of it, which could cause us some huge liability exposure.”

Commissioner Jon Thaxton urged staff to move forward quickly.

“The message that needs to be sent is we need comp plan amendments before this board so we can make a policy decision and move on,” Thaxton said.

The interchange issue arose again in March, when more than 30 Palmer Ranch residents were informed at a Palmer Ranch Communities Coalition meeting that the interchange wasn’t dead after all.

At the meeting, Palmer Ranch Holdings LLC representatives informed residents that plans for two new single-family home communities and a new town center planned for the area would be scrapped if the Sarasota County Commission agreed to reconsider the interchange.

Palmer Ranch Holdings is under contract with Taylor Morrison to purchase approximately 100 acres off Central Sarasota Parkway behind The Glenridge on Palmer Ranch community, near where the property dead ends on the east side of Honore Avenue.

Taylor Morrison has plans to build approximately 260 homes there, which will include a clubhouse with amenities for residents. That project is 18 months away from breaking ground.

Another contract with DiVosta Homes, a division of Pulte Homes, was announced for a 350 single-family home community that’s right in the vicinity of the proposed interchange.

When the interchange at Central Sarasota Parkway shifted two miles south to State Road 681 more than two years ago, Palmer Ranch Holdings LLC Vice President Justin Powell said that Palmer Ranch Holdings made plans for housing developments on the land where the interchange would have been built.

Next to the housing developments, Palmer Ranch Holdings has plans for a 100,000-square-foot community town center concept that would include an anchor tenant such as a Publix or Whole Foods supermarket.

Pulte Homes has agreed to pay for the county’s costs to remove the interchange designation from the county’s comp plan, and the commission will discuss the interchange’s removal with county staff at its May 9 meeting.

“It appears we’re headed in the right direction,” Powell said.