Outdoor displays move to discussion forefront

For the past 12 years, Anthony Mathuson, owner of Tony’s Used Appliances, in the Sun Haven Plaza, has kept some appliances — including washers and dryers — outside his storefront. He takes them inside at the end of each day. Frequently, the products outside are not for sale, he said, but are waiting for customer pick-up or are newly acquired.

But in Sarasota County, businesses are not permitted to display their merchandise outside.

Mathuson said he wasn’t even aware of the law until last year, when a county code enforcement officer told him there had been complaints about his goods outside.

That led the owner of Sun Haven Plaza, Jane Nelson, to seek a special exception to the code on behalf of two of her tenants. She requested to allow Mathuson to display used appliances on the sidewalk next to his storefront and in one parking space near the store and Goldcoast Pawn, the pawnshop adjacent to the appliance store, to display bicycles outside.

The Planning Commission approved the exceptions in a 7-2 vote Sept. 18, but the requests brought up a larger question: How does the county decide who receives an exception from the law?

At the meeting, Commissioners Michael Moran and Rob Morris voted against the request based on aesthetic concerns.

“We go to great lengths on this board … to keep Sarasota beautiful,” Moran said. “This request is simply too much for me to swallow.”

Commissioner Vanessa Carusone supported the proposal based on past approved requests. In February, the commission approved a request for another business to display its golf carts outside, she said.

“I support it only because it’s already been done,” she said. “I don’t like the idea of things being placed outside, but it’s more about what fits.”

Commissioner Philip Kellogg said he drives past the appliance store every day and he’s never noticed the items outside.

“I don’t have a problem with it,” Kellogg said.

The request now goes before the County Commission for approval.

Planning Commission Chairman Bob Burrus said the request brought up the larger issue of aesthetic guidelines in the county. He told the board during his recent drive from Fort Lauderdale to Sarasota, he noticed the absence of billboards once he drove into Sarasota County. The billboards in DeSoto and Lee counties made I-75 look cluttered, he said.

“I don’t see too much of a problem with appliances,” Burrus said. “It’s a bigger question. … We’ve talked about the nature of advertising in other venues here, but it would be our prerogative to talk about the nature of the look of businesses. It would be worth some thought.”

By comparison, the Planning Commission approved an amendment to the Siesta Key Overlay District at its Aug. 7 meeting with little discussion. The amendment, which Siesta Key businesses drafted in February, allows businesses to apply for a $25, one-year permit to display their wares outside their stores.
A business’s display would not be able to exceed 240 square feet and must be “tactful” and adhere to the “character and image of the Village.”

The SKOD amendment request was also discussed at Wednesday’s County Commission meeting. As a first public hearing on the issue, the board was not required to take action, but it stated similar concerns to the Planning Commission’s issues with the special-exception request last week.

Commissioner Nora Patterson said the Siesta Key Village Association had relayed to her that it would support the change as long as the county would enforce the law.

“Ordinances have largely been ignored,” Patterson said.

Commissioner Christine Robinson voiced concern about the staff time that could be spent enforcing some of the specific stipulations in the amendment.

“I can see the code enforcement officer out there with a tape measure,” she said.

Both she and Commissioner Joe Barbetta said they were concerned with the generality of items that could be displayed outside, with no clear definition of what products were allowed.

“Once you open this door, you’re opening it,” Barbetta said.