Questions surround DeMarcay Hotel development

Brian Hunter woke up just after 6 a.m. Wednesday, and not because his alarm went off.

Hunter, a resident of the condominiums at 1350 Main St. in downtown Sarasota, was stirred by the noise emanating from the site of what will become another high-rise condominium on Main Street. The commotion coming from the future home of The Jewel — heavy hammering, large spotlights — traveled down the street from the construction site at Main Street and Gulfstream Avenue.

Hunter, along with other residents at 1350 Main St., has attempted to register his displeasure regarding the construction with the city. City staff has been responsive, he said. Still, the issue persists because the city code explicitly allows the early morning construction, Monday through Friday.

It also allows that construction to continue until 9 p.m. on weekdays, giving builders a 15-hour window in which to work. The regulations are stricter on weekends, but barely: Construction is allowed from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

“The noise is outrageous,” Hunter said. “I’ve lived in a lot of major cities — New York, L.A., even Las Vegas — and never, ever have I seen construction go until 9 p.m., let alone on Saturdays.”

That’s why, on Wednesday, more than a dozen residents of 1350 Main St. descended on a Development Review Committee meeting. Developers of a proposed condominium at 33 S. Palm Avenue, just behind the building at 1350 Main, were seeking guidance on how to move forward with their project. The residents, on the other hand, were looking for an avenue to avoid repeating history.

“This is an enormous project, which I assume they'll request the same hours of operation,” Hunter said. “That'll be another two years; that's not livable.”

The meeting turned out to be just a blip on the radar — the DRC doesn’t offer an opportunity for public input, and the residents filed out without anything of significance happening. Still, they’re keeping a close eye on the project and evaluating what their next move should be.

From the city’s point of view, the construction isn’t anything out of the ordinary. Tim Litchet, the city’s director of neighborhood and development services, told Hunter that the hours were designed to hasten the process of building the superstructure of the high-rise buildings. That part of construction, Litchet said, is generally when the most noise and traffic congestion is generated.

“These have been the allowed hours for construction under the city code ever since I have been with the city, which has been 27 years,” Litchet said in an email response to a complaint. “… All of the high rise construction downtown over the years has created a similar level of impact, and the building department does its best to keep the projects moving at the quickest pace possible.”

The residents acknowledged the need to move forward with construction, but sought to reduce the hours during which the actual work could be done. Until that issue is addressed, Hunter said, they’ll continue to pursue some change.

“People are very upset,” Hunter said. “They’re just so distraught.”