Developer plans another attempt at Siesta Key hotel approval

A privately initiated Sarasota Comprehensive Plan Amendment proposal targets the "South Bridge area" off Stickney Point Road.

By Andrew Warfield
| 5:00 a.m. May 17, 2025

Siesta Key
News

After state courts thwarted multiple attempts to build hotels on Siesta Key, a developer is trying again, this time with a plan to amend the Sarasota County Comprehensive Plan targeting specific properties.

Corporate entities 1260 Inc, and Stickney Storage LLC, both listed in state records as managed by Gary Kompothecras, is proposing the amendment restricted to the “South Bridge area” off Stickney Point Road. It proposes the Commercial General and Commercial Industrial Siesta Key Overlay District on the parcels be exempt from the county’s density restrictions, which would permit the development of large hotels there.

In 2021, Developer Gary Kompothecras wanted to build a seven-story hotel, above, and a five-level parking garage, below near the south bridge to Siesta Key. Kompothecras is planning on making another attempt to develop land south of the Stickney Point Bridge — In 2021, developer Gary Kompothecras wanted to build a seven-story hotel, above, and a five-level parking garage, below near the south bridge to Siesta Key. Kompothecras is planning on making another attempt to develop land south of the Stickney Point Bridge

Led by attorney Charlie Bailey, the proposed developer held a May 12 online neighborhood workshop attended by more than 200. The proposal includes multiple commercial parcels on the south side of Stickney Point Road bounded to the west by Midnight Pass Road and to the south by the Crescent Club.

“This amendment relates solely to the South Bridge area, or a portion of the commercial enclave on Siesta Key (and) does not apply to any other portion of Siesta Ke, or any other portion of the barrier islands,” said Bailey in his opening remarks.

Among the concerns expressed by attendees were:

The proposal's lack of specific details.
Although limited to South Siesta Key, it could set a precedent.
Potential for opening the door to multiple large hotels in the area.
Beach Access 12, located in the proposed area, is crowded and cannot accommodate more tourists.
The developer’s offer to provide shuttles for hotel guests to the public beach will contribute to road congestion.
A parking garage for hotel guests and the public will further increase traffic.
Previous hotel proposals included rooftop bars and restaurants, as well as more room, rooms, bringing more visitors to the key.
Stormwater and wastewater systems that currently struggle to support the current population.

From here, the county’s planning staff will review the application — which was due on May 15 — for completeness and to provide comments or questions to the developer within 45 days. From there, the amount of time before a public hearing reaches the Sarasota County Planning Commission is uncertain. As an example, Benderson Development’s effort to build a hotel in Siesta Village has been sitting in this phase for longer than a year.

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Once heard by the Planning Commission, its recommendations will go forward to the County Commission. Approximately one month later, the County Commission will hold a transmittal hearing, which requires a supermajority 4-1 vote to transmit to the Florida Department of Commerce for review. If approved at the state level, the commission will schedule an adoption hearing, which also requires a supermajority for approval..

Through it all, Bailey said, residents may remain involved.

“You'll have at least three additional opportunities following this workshop to participate in the process,” Bailey said.

The amendment

The proposed addition to Future Land Use Policy 2.9.1 is in bold:

Barrier Islands are designated on the Future Land Use Map to recognize existing land use patterns and to provide a basis for hurricane evacuation planning and disaster mitigation efforts. The intensity and density of future development on the Barrier Islands of Sarasota shall not exceed that allowed by zoning ordinances and regulations existing as of March 13, 1989, except that,

(i) with respect to lands zoned RMF as of that date and consistently so thereafter, a non-conforming duplex whose density exceeds the density restrictions of the zoning regulations and restrictions may be rebuilt within the footprint of the structure, or a non-conforming multifamily structure may be demolished and a duplex rebuilt in its place within the prior footprint of the multi-family structure without violating this policy; and

(ii) with respect to lands located south of Stickney Point Road which are zoned CG and CI as of that date and consistently so thereafter (the “South Bridge Area”), such lands may be developed to contain transient accommodations which exceed the density restrictions of the zoning regulations existing as of that date without violating this policy.

author

Andrew Warfield

Andrew Warfield is the Sarasota Observer city reporter. He is a four-decade veteran of print media. A Florida native, he has spent most of his career in the Carolinas as a writer and editor, nearly a decade as co-founder and editor of a community newspaper in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.