In the zone

If Laurel Park residents feel like their neighborhood stands out from the rest of the city, it’s hard to argue — after all, it’s the only residential area in Sarasota with its own specifically tailored zoning rules and regulations.

More than a decade after the city adopted those rules for Laurel Park, those living in the area have largely sung the praises of the code. The RSM-9 zone — short for “Residential Single/Multiple” with a density limit of nine units per acre — was designed in 2002 to preserve the historic character of Laurel Park, which sits in the southern shadow of Sarasota’s downtown core.

When Laurel Park residents speak about the zoning regulations, they tout the design standards established. Those unique regulations manage fence height, building orientation and require a porch or deck at each house.

“Laurel Park really came in and advocated to have a district created for them,” said Gretchen Schneider, the city’s general manager of planning and development. “They were concerned about maintaining that cottage feel — the essence of Laurel Park.”

Although Schneider said she hasn’t heard any negative feedback about the regulations, there is not quite unanimous support. Devin Rutkowski, a Laurel Park homebuilder and property owner, said the RSM-9 district has produced big, expensive homes, out of scale with the historic neighborhood.

“It’s not a code based on the existing form and character of the neighborhood,” Rutkowski said. “The code doesn’t reflect what exists today — it reflects what somebody can build by just meeting the code.”

The code is geared toward creating one- or two-story single-family detached homes. Unlike other single-family residential neighborhoods, however, the code does allow for attached and clustered single-family units, as well as accessory dwelling structures such as garage apartments.

Those additional permitted uses are designed to maintain some of the higher-density, mixed-housing characteristics of the neighborhood. Still, the RSM-9 zone lowered the maximum density in Laurel Park from as much as 35 units per acre. Several early 20th century apartment buildings could not be replicated under the existing conditions.

“I think (residents) wanted to go more in the direction of having a single-family neighborhood and maintaining the single-family character while still allowing those historic apartments to remain,” Schneider said.

Jude Levy, president of the Laurel Park Neighborhood Association, agreed that the area is seeing a building boom. However, she disagreed with Rutkowksi’s characterization, saying that the new houses mesh properly with their surroundings.

“Most of these new homes blend in beautifully with our national historic district,” Levy said.

Rutkowski is frustrated by the rigors of the RSM-9 zone and believes the neighborhood is hurt by not allowing for a greater diversity of housing types.

“Single-family detached is the most expensive type of housing there is,” Rutkowski said. “If that’s what the code encourages, the net result is that they’re getting the most expensive type of housing.”

Rutkowski said one simple fix to discourage the construction of larger structures would be to require that garages be detached from homes in the area, thereby reducing the potential square footage of a house.

Ultimately, he believes Laurel Park needs a form-based code, tailored to the characteristics of the neighborhood — which the city is currently working to produce.

The city’s Urban Design Studio is tasked with developing a form-based code for the entirety of the city by 2016. Karin Murphy, director of the Urban Design Studio, said Laurel Park would likely be one of the last neighborhoods the group addressed because residents are pleased with the status quo.

The volume of support from within Laurel Park for the zoning regulations is one thing that isn’t being questioned — and is at least one thing that hasn’t changed over the past decade.

“There wasn’t really any opposition,” Schneider said of the initial proposal to create the RSM-9 zone. “Since it was something the community was interested in doing, it was almost like, ‘Why wouldn’t we do it?’”

HOME DECOR
Laurel Park’s RSM-9 zoning district includes specific design standards tailored to the neighborhood’s aesthetic. Those standards stipulate that:

Primary buildings must face the street and include a front door as a primary entrance.

The main entrance of primary buildings must include a porch, deck or similar open-air, covered entry feature with a depth of at least 6 feet.

Garages must be set back at least 15 feet from the façade of the primary building and at least 25 feet from the front lot line. The width of the garage may not exceed 50% of the primary building’s front façade.

Utility lines must be placed underground.

Front yard fences must have a maximum height of 4 feet.