The Bay criticizes resident opponents of park project

As the first phase of The Bay Sarasota public park project goes through the city’s development review process, one of the leaders of the group overseeing the initiative is calling resident criticism of the proposal obstructionist and subversive to the will of the public.

An attorney representing residents living in a building near the project site called The Bay’s messaging “misrepresentation and antagonism,” defending the objections to the plans as legitimate. 

The Bay, a private group working in partnership with the city to redevelop 53 acres of public land around Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, hopes to begin construction on the initial 10-acre segment of the park later this year.

The first phase, located north of Boulevard of the Arts, is slated to include an open-space lawn, a curved boardwalk over the water, a concession stand and a kayak launch.

Although the city has already offered preliminary approvals of the conceptual design for phase one, residents of the nearby Condo on the Bay condominium have raised a series of objections to the plans dating back to last year. Condo on the Bay residents have questioned the size of the boardwalk, parking supply and circulation plans. They’ve hired attorney Robert Lincoln, who has suggested that aspects of the plans don’t comply with city regulations.

Dating back to 2013, The Bay leaders have held hundreds of meetings with members of the public to develop a master plan for the entire property, which the city formally adopted in 2018. Although the details of the plan for phase one have shifted since then — including the design of the boardwalk — The Bay says the proposal continues to reflect the input the organization received from the public.

That’s why, on March 10, The Bay Founding CEO A.G. Lafley sent an email of city officials defending the phase one proposal.

“Frankly, the thinly veiled NIMBY protestations of a few condo residents intended to push the public in a public park as far away as possible from their security-gated, walled-off Condo on the Bay have not surfaced any credible reasons to reevaluate guiding principles, success criteria or sunset boardwalk design,” Lafley wrote. “Importantly, these condo residents participated fully in the process every step along the way. They just don’t like the decisions made by the City Commission and staff. They do not like the design and plan outcome. They do not agree with the overwhelming representative majority of the Sarasota community.”

In an email response, Lincoln challenged Lafley’s characterization of Condo on the Bay’s concerns and critiques. 

At previous public meetings, Condo on the Bay residents have expressed concern that the phase one proposal would concentrate too much activity on the south end of the bayfront property. They suggested the boardwalk, which loops to the southern end of Boulevard of the Arts, infringes onto a residential area, and they said plans for a drop-off area at the western terminus of the road could present traffic problems.

Lincoln’s outreach to the city has focused on the location of the boardwalk, the parking capacity at the site, plans to manage the activity on the bayfront and more. Lincoln said those are reasonable concerns that should be substantively addressed in The Bay’s site plans, not an effort to scuttle any public activity on the project site.

“Characterizing the [Condo on the Bay] residents with the slur of “NIMBY” is a clear attempt to delegitimize their concerns and marginalize their participation,” Lincoln said. “It is also incorrect.”

The Bay Chief Implementation Officer Bill Waddill said the group has listened and continues to listen to resident input. He noted the city and The Bay had agreed on a special review process for each phase of the park project, and he remained optimistic the group was on track to earn approval from the city while providing the necessary information about the future of the land.

Waddill said The Bay still meets with residents both neighboring the site and throughout the city, and the organization is confident the proposal reflects what the public says it wants to see.

With a project this large, Waddill said, it’s impossible to satisfy everybody’s desires. The Bay hopes city leaders won’t let the existing opposition outweigh what the group considers to be substantial public support.

“We know what the community wants, and quite frankly, we know what the majority of our neighbors want,” Waddill said.