Bayfront group works to refine principles

After gathering hundreds of pages of feedback — and as it prepares to receive more input at additional meetings next month — the leaders of Sarasota Bayfront 20:20 are eying the group’s next steps, including a workshop with city officials slated for January.

At a stakeholder meeting Monday, Bayfront 20:20 leaders worked to refine the group’s core principles, a list of community values meant to guide the development of 42 acres of city-owned bayfront land. With the city’s backing, Bayfront 20:20 has assembled a variety of community organizations to help produce a vision for the bayfront area surrounding the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall.

One tension that arose at Monday's meeting was the degree to which those principles should emphasize the city’s cultural assets. Michael Klauber, chairman of the Visit Sarasota County board and leader of the Bayfront 20:20 group, said feedback from residents indicated a desire for a greater focus on making the bayfront land a hub for cultural institutions such as the Sarasota Orchestra and the Van Wezel.

Some of the leaders present at Monday’s meeting embraced the increased focus on cultural institutions, but others worried whether that would negatively impact the ability to establish some public parkland along the bayfront.

Candace Damon, vice chairman of the New York-based development consultants HR&A Advisors, helped lead Monday’s meeting via telephone. Damon, who was brought on to help Bayfront 20:20 turn its vision into a reality, said this type of disagreement was normal — and wouldn’t necessarily be hashed out in this stage of the process.

Damon compared the principles to a constitution, which would guide the conversation surrounding the bayfront land continuity even as political administrations and whims change. She said it was unlikely that the land would become entirely parkland, or that it would be filled completely with cultural institutions.

Instead, if the principles adequately reflected the will of the public, it would help create a balance of the two — and would provide context for decision-makers down the road, when plans for the bayfront are ultimately mapped out.

“This gives you a framework to have 15 years of discussion and debate,” Damon said.

The group will continue to refine its principles in advance of a January presentation to city officials. Klauber said January’s meeting would give officials a chance to catch up on the work of Bayfront 20:20 and provide direction to the organization’s leaders going forward.

Contact David Conway at [email protected].