Longboat Key and Sarasota town commissioners will sit down Thursday, June 13 to discuss matters of transportation, development and other issues that connect the mainland and beachside communities.
Among the items on the agenda for the 3 p.m. meeting at Temple Beth Israel, 567 Bay Isles Road on Longboat Key include:
- An update on the Bay Conservancy Master Plan. Startup CEO A.G. Laffley will present an overview of the proposal for 53 city-owned acres along the bayfront. The Bay hopes to set up a tax-increment financing district to help pay for the project, expected to cost between $100 million and $200 million. Tax-increment financing is a tool that captures increases in property tax value within a certain area. The Bay envisioned drawing a district around the bayfront site, funneling property taxes from the immediate area into the project.
- Transportation projects in downtown Sarasota and a drainage improvement project at U.S. 41 and Gulfstream Avenue.
- Solutions to public transit. Longboat Key is served by a sparsely used SCAT bus route, and options have been presented for service that focuses on morning and afternoon hours, a possible circulator that would link island stops to fixed-route bus service in Sarasota and Manatee counties or other solutions.
- Barrier Island Traffic Study.
There will be an opportunity for members of the public to address the 12 commissioners.
