Sarasota completes removal of sidewalk and crosswalk art

By the time the Sept. 2 meeting of the Sarasota City Commission had ended, removal of all non-compliant markings — which is to say art — on order of the state of Florida along the state and local rights of way had been completed.

Those included the crosswalks at Second Street and Cocoanut Avenue, a crosswalk in the 1400 block of Main Street and, perhaps most notably, sidewalk paintings along Pineapple and Orange avenues in Burns Court.

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Asked by City Commissioner Kathy Kelley Ohlrich to explain why for the public record, Interim City Manager Dave Bullock said the decision was simple: the Florida Department of Transportation gave all cities and counties across the state a deadline of Sept. 4 to come in compliance or risk losing state funding, and Sarasota is in no position to risk such a significant hit to its annual budget.

“They didn't say transportation funds. They didn't say any specific, just state funds,” Bullock said. “We receive about $67 million in state funds that literally touch everything that we do in one form or another, so I instructed Public Works director Nik (Patel) to begin to remove the markings and comply with the state deadline.”

Patel drafted a schedule with additional time to meet the state’s Sept. 4 deadline in the event of rain. The work, Bullock reported, had been completed on Tuesday prior to the afternoon conclusion of the meeting.

In the second of two letters the city received from FDOT was a suggestion it could appeal any right of way art not specifically cited in the first letter. 

“The areas that they identified to be removed, we could not appeal those,” Bullock said. “They had to be removed.”

Other business

Although pulled from the consent agenda for further discussion, the City Commission adopted a budget amendment to establish a revenue and expenditure in the amount of $1.67 million from the Parks Impact Fee Fund for improvements to be made to the Nature Park at Bobby Jones Golf Club.

The city had originally submitted a request for county park impact fees in that same amount for planned improvements to other park properties across the city. Those funds were received Aug. 9, 2025. The budget amendment redirects those funds toward construction of the new park amenities at the nature park.

In other business, the commission:

• Adopted on second reading an ordinance to vacate the city’s 10th Street right of way between North Tamiami Trail and Sarasota Bay, which serves as the primary driveway into the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall parking lot. The street vacation is made at the request of the Bay Park Conservancy to facilitate continued development of The Bay park Master Plan Phase 2. 

The street runs parallel to the 10th Street boat launch canal to the north, which is currently being redeveloped as part of the Canal District of The Bay. To the south is the Van Wezel parking lot, which is proposed in later phases to become green space.

The right of way is planned to include a multiuse recreational trail (MURT) for completing the Bayfront MURT, part of the city’s Multimodal Connection Plan.

On Sept. 11, 2024, the Planning Board held a public hearing and unanimously recommended to the City Commission to approve the street vacation.

• Approved execution of an interlocal agreement between the cities of Sarasota, Venice, North Port and Punta Gorda; the town of Longboat Key; and Charlotte and Sarasota counties regarding mutual aid with regard to building inspections in the wake of natural disasters.

On March 31, 2025, all parties except Charlotte County entered into an agreement that permits sharing of building department staff in the event of a natural disaster. It allows the city of Sarasota to request mutual aid from all parties to the agreement and for the other parties to request support from the city.

• Authorized the Sarasota Utilities Department to execute a purchase order with Apollo Construction & Engineering Services in the amount $408,203.15 for repairs to the seawater intake pier at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall parking lot.

The city owns and operates the pier, which was constructed in 2002 at a length of 161 feet. The structure consists of nine concrete spans with the pump building at the end of the pier. The pier’s primary purpose is to access and house a pump building that supplies salt to the water treatment plant's ion exchange process.

A structural inspection in April 2024 found deterioration of the concrete beams, broken and cracked concrete piles, bent caps and delaminated concrete slabs, all exacerbated by the impacts of Tropical Storm Debby and hurricanes Helene and Milton. The city is proposing a structural rehabilitation project to address the urgent issue of this critical infrastructure.