Sarasota faces downtown decisions

It’s time for downtown residents and business owners to pick a Main Street project design that will alter the look of the downtown corridor and take away as many as 66 parking spaces.

At a workshop scheduled for 4 p.m. Monday, Nov. 14, city staff and a Kimley-Horn and Associates design team will present the public with several options for a Main Street project that’s likely to include brick streets and historic street lamps in the historic district and fewer parking spaces to accommodate wider sidewalks and more landscaping.

“This (upcoming) meeting is where we will get a true sense of how the public feels about this project and the reduction in parking spaces,” said Downtown Improvement District Chairman Ernie Ritz.

More than 125 people attended a public workshop last month to give staff the input needed to come forward with the current proposals that will be presented Nov. 14.

City residents and business owners agreed with many of the suggestions that were offered as examples for a Main Street renovation project that stretches from Bayfront Drive to U.S. 301 and will highlight the street’s historic district from Gulfstream Avenue to Orange Avenue.

Parking is drastically being severed, particularly in the historic district, to make way for wider, brick-lined sidewalks. City officials said the argument can be made that the Palm Avenue parking garage and future State Street parking garage will make up for the reduction in 48 spaces from Bayfront Park to Orange Avenue.

“The merchants may have concern with this proposal,” said senior city planner Steve Stancel. “But that’s what this public input process is for.”

Renovation recommendations
The following recommendations will be proposed Nov. 14 for the four sections of Main Street:

From Bayfront Park to the Five Points roundabout (Historic District)
• Replace the existing concrete sidewalk with wider brick sidewalk
• Replace concrete street with brick
• Add 2,800 square feet of crosswalks
• Create 6,000 square feet of brick parking spaces
• Increase the landscaping from 3,900 square feet to 6,400 square feet
• Reduce the number of angled parking spaced from 41 spaces to 11 spaces and increase the number of parallel spaces from three spaces to 25 spaces. Parking in this segment would be reduced by eight spaces.

From the Five Points roundabout to Orange Avenue (Historic District)
• Replace the existing concrete sidewalk with wider brick sidewalk
• Replace the concrete street with a brick street
• Add 2,200 square feet of crosswalks
• Create 10,300 square feet of brick parking spaces
• Increase the landscaping from 5,800 square feet to 11,100 square feet
• Replace the 104 existing angled parking spaces with up to 64 parallel spaces. Parking in this segment could be reduced by 40 spaces.

 From Orange Avenue to Osprey Avenue
• Keep existing concrete sidewalks
• Reduce the existing concrete street from 57,900 square feet to 40,400 square feet
• Add 2,100 square feet of crosswalks
• Increase asphalt parking space from 15,000 square feet to 15,400 square feet
• Increase the landscaping from 1,700 square feet to 19,100 square feet
• Increase the number of angled parking spaces from 74 spaces to 79 spaces. Parking in this segment would increase by five spaces.

From Osprey Avenue to U.S. 301
• Increase existing concrete sidewalks from 28,000 square feet to 35,400 square feet.
• Add 4,200 square feet of crosswalks
• Reduce asphalt parking space from 12,200 square feet to 6,100 square feet
• Increase the landscaping from 3,500 square feet to 9,800 square feet
• Replace existing 47 angled and nine parallel spaces with up to 38 parallel spaces. Parking in this segment could decrease by 18 spaces.