- December 5, 2025
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With construction of affordable housing project North Trail Plaza already well underway, developer Blue Sky Communities of St. Petersburg discovered an error that could have brought the entire project to a halt.
On July 9, representatives of the affordable housing developer appeared before the Sarasota Planning Board to seek approval critical to the completion of the 96-unit mixed-use project at 4600 N. Tamiami Trail, an after-the-fact granting of a front yard setback adjustment. Ground was broken for North Trail Plaza in June 2024 even as it awaited the bureaucratic execution of a land donation of approximately 600 square feet along Tamiami Trail requested by the Florida Department of Transportation.
As it turns out, the strip of land did not belong to the seller, in this case Sarasota County. It already belonged to the state. And by the time that all came to light, the foundation was laid and cinderblock exterior walls were up.
That blunder resulted in the buildings placed too close to the project's actual property boundary, far too late to do anything about it.
Project consultant Joel Freedman explained how that oversight impacted the development’s conformity with city code.
“The building had already started to be constructed, so now the new property line is closer to the building than it was originally,” Freedman said. “We need a minimum 10-foot setback. We now have a 1.5-foot setback, so we need you all to grant an adjustment to allow for that reduction. It doesn't change anything as far as what's going to be out there on the ground. It's just that the property line now goes in.
“It's a mess, and it is very interesting that the county sold us property that they did not own.”
With four of five members present and the developer’s back figuratively — if not literally — up against the wall the Planning Board unanimously approved the adjustment.
The development is laid out in two structures, a larger, four-story L-shaped building containing 90 residences and, at the southwest corner of the site, a two-story building with six residential units above 3,000 square feet of commercial space that will house offices of Community Assisted & Supported Living (CASL) of Sarasota.
“A few days later, after breaking ground, FDOT came back to us and noticed that we had bought land that did not belong to the county, but belonged to FDOT,” said Blue Sky’s Mathilde Jarrett. “We had to do what they call a surplus of land purchase process, along with the donation that took six months. It was completed in December 2024, so this is why the property line changed, and why now our setbacks changed and are not compliant.”
The project is a public-private partnership with Sarasota County allocating $4.2 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds and the city of Sarasota providing $400,000 in federal HOME Investment Partnerships Program funds and $600,000 in State Housing initiatives Partnerships funds. Blue Sky and CASL secured $30 million from the Florida Housing Finance Corp., a division of the Department of Community Affairs.
The setback adjustment will have no impact on the development itself. The relationship between the buildings and the street will remain the same and the sidewalk will still be 8 feet wide as designed.
The latter came as welcome news to Planning Board members, who were already concerned about the close proximity of North Trail Plaza to Tamiami Trail.
“If we grant the adjustment, you're still compliant with the sidewalk?” asked Alexander Neihaus. “I’ve got news for you. I'm not going to walk along Tamiami Trail there because (the building) is so hard up against the sidewalk.”
Chairman Dan Deleo described the building and sidewalk as “ridiculously close” to the state highway with a 45 mph speed limit.
“The existing sidewalk has not been replaced yet,” said Braulio Grajales of High Point Engineering of Tampa, the engineer of record for the project. “The new sidewalk is going to be 8 feet wide, so it’s not going to create that sense of proximity to the right of way as it shows right now.”
The chain link fence that surrounds the property and stands against the edge of the current sidewalk further exacerbates the perception of closeness to the roadway. Deleo used the opportunity to voice his displeasure with the New Urbanism-centric code that permits the development to be built close to the edge of the road.
“I remember when this first came to us, and it's a good project,” Deleo said. “I don't like having to be sort of forced into having to give this accommodation because, frankly, I think that the code allows it to be too close to (U.S.) 41 there anyway.”
