Bayfront Park plan at agenda forefront

The Town Commission will review a list of administrative work and ways to help fund an improved Bayfront Park at its 1 p.m. Thursday, March 24 regular workshop.

Mayor Jim Brown requested the park be discussed at the workshop, in an attempt to go over a list of requirements that need to be addressed before the park can be revamped.

The state has already informed the town it has no objections to a proposed Comprehensive Plan amendment pertaining to a new park concept.

The new park concept was created in May 2009 and includes a new community center on the park’s most northern parcel.

Town attorney David Persson and town staff are also crafting an interlocal agreement to be agreed upon by Sarasota County and the town of Longboat Key.

The agreement will ensure the site, located mid-Key behind the former Albritton property, is meant to be used for a community park.

Zoning changes for the park will be the next step.

Specifically, the Sarasota County-owned southern park parcel must be changed from single-family residential and commercial to an open space category.

Persson said, in total, the changes that need to be made at the town and state level could take more than a year to accomplish.

In the meantime, Town Manager Bruce St. Denis has stated that grants exist to help pay for improvements to the park. Those include:

• Lighting the tennis courts for $8,000.
• Adding shuffleboard courts for $12,000.
• Adding a roof over the existing basketball court for $25,000.
• Adding a jogging trail along the perimeter of the park for $5,000.

Monies will also need to be found to build a new 15,000-square-foot community center, a new multi-use basketball court and to move the tennis courts closer to Sarasota Bay.

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected]