St. Armands Circle BID extension approved

Fifty-four of the 69 ballots cast for an extension of the St. Armands Circle Business Improvemement District (BID) voted to approve a 10-year extension of the district on Tuesday at Sarasota City Hall.

The BID is a taxing district that St. Armands Circle property owners voted to create to help finance improvements on the Circle.

The votes were counted by the Sarasota City Auditor and Clerk’s office Tuesday and the BID was officially extended for another 10 years.

Four votes came back with a no vote and 11 votes were not returned. Those votes are also considered as no votes.

“We are good to go for another 10 years and ready to get back to work,” said Marty Rappaport, chairman and organizer of the BID.

The first official business for the BID is a $50,000 St. Armands parking feasibility study that’s been supported by the Sarasota City Commission and is being funded entirely by the BID. The commission will review bidders for the feasibility study soon.

The study will concentrate on two parcels — one at the corner of Fillmore and Monroe drives, on the south end of the Circle, and the other on a parcel on North Adams Drive behind the Columbia Restaurant.

The study is the BID’s first step toward obtaining a future parking garage for the Circle’s shoppers.

For more information, pick up a copy of next week’s Longboat Observer.

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected].