DID pares down project features

More than 50 Main Street merchants and residents showed up Tuesday at City Hall to denounce a project they believe will destroy downtown businesses.

During a special Downtown Improvement District Board of Directors meeting, at least half of the merchants present stepped to the podium to tell city officials they want nothing to do with a project that includes brick streets or parallel parking.

Last month, DID members learned the project, which would include bricking both Main Street and the sidewalks from Bayfront Drive to Orange Avenue in the historic district, would cost upwards of $14 million. The renovations have been planned to stretch from Gulfstream Avenue to U.S. 301.

It would cost the DID $2.9 million alone to perform the brick work in the historic district, convert angled parking to parallel parking and refurbish utilities under the road from Bayfront Drive to the Five Points roundabout. Completion of that segment is expected to take nine months.

That news prompted the merchants to show up in force Tuesday to show support for a more streamlined project — one without brick streets or sidewalks or parallel parking but with enhanced landscaping and bulbouts, new streetlights and more attractive crosswalks with brick accents.

“The baseline to me is the way to go,” said Gator Club owner Larry Siegel. “Too many people can’t do parallel parking, and watching them try on Lemon Avenue is quite comical.”

Others expressed interest in enhanced landscaping and better lighting.

Downtown resident Arlene Steinberg told the DID that brick streets and sidewalks are a hazard for pedestrians, especially for those in high heels, and that such a change downtown would prompt her to shop elsewhere.

“It’s a bad idea that costs way too much money,” Steinberg said.

J.P. Knaggs, owner of the Bijou Café, agreed.

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” said Knaggs, who noted that a multimillion dollar renovation of downtown Fort Myers had created an empty Main Street. “The goal should not be to take something alive and kill it.”

Some downtown residents, though, supported the concept that includes brick streets and sidewalks.

“Sarasota has had many improvements over the years, but what you’re proposing now is permanent, and people will remember,” said downtown resident Tony Souza. “It’s an economic engine in the long-term, and I hope you consider more than the baseline.”

Downtown resident Peter Fanning agreed.

“Downtown’s present condition is a hodgepodge of storefronts, parking, crosswalks … and on and on,” Fanning said. “Your efforts to bring consistency are spot-on. I recommend you move along the path you have chosen.”

More merchants strongly disagreed.

“I appreciate that a project like this boosts property values for downtown residents,” said Lotus clothing store boutique owner Wendy Getchell. “But if there wasn’t a vibrant downtown, the condo people wouldn’t be here.”

DID board member Dr. Mark Kauffman said, “The logistics of the project (are) a nightmare.” He conceded, “Maybe doing everything is too ambitious.”

Slowly but surely, other board members agreed with the merchants’ consensus that the DID should abandon the idea of brick streets and sidewalks, along with parallel parking, although they said the DID might consider a project that includes widening the sidewalks from Bayfront Drive to the Five Points roundabout.

“Nobody wants bricks and nobody wants parallel parking,” said DID Chairman Ernie Ritz. “We have heard you loud and clear and we appreciate your feedback.”

The DID will meet at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 10, at City Hall, to develop a final Main Street project recommendation for the Sarasota City Commission’s review.