Siesta Key advisory task force will include seven members

Likely ths month, a seven-member Siesta Key Beautification Task Force will be seated by the Sarasota County Commission.

Its 24-month mission, according to the commission-approved resolution, is “to review existing reports, studies and findings related to Siesta Key beautification; to identify opportunities to enhance the appearance and character of Siesta Key; to evaluate specific focus areas including, but not limited to, streetscapes and corridors, landscaping and vegetation, signage and wayfinding, public spaces and beach access areas, and cleanliness and maintenance; and to develop and present recommendations.”

County commissioners unanimously agreed to form the task force during their May 19 meeting. It will be composed of one appointee by each commissioner plus two at-large members approved by majority vote. The task force, which will serve in an advisory capacity, may be extended up to an additional 24 months at the will of the commission.

Commissioners eschewed suggestions that the task force have a 48-month sunset, but agreed to extend it from the proposed 18 months to 24 months.

“In all honesty, government works so slow,” said Commissioner Mark Smith. “You get more time, they're just going to take more time.”

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The genesis of the task force, Siesta Key Village Maintenance Corp. spokesperson and real estate agent Natalie Gutwein told the Observer, emerged following the 2024 hurricane season when residents and multiple civic organizations on the key noted what they considered a too-slow response to recovery, and that the key doesn’t get its fair share of tourism development tax revenues that it generates. 

“Residents, business owners, property owners, the Siesta Key Association, the Siesta Key Village Maintenance Corp. and the Siesta Key Chamber all came together and said we really need to look at what's going on out here,” Gutwein told the Observer. “We bring in one-third of the tourism development dollars, but we're not getting any of it back. We get voted best beach and all these great things, but if you don't take care of your asset, you're not going to have it any longer.”

One organization that has frequently found itself in opposition to county government approvals of higher density development is Protect Siesta Key. The group is regularly represented before the commission — and successfully in court against approvals of projects that would permit higher-density development — by resident Lourdes Ramirez.

She told the Observer the organization is in support of the task force, providing it focuses on infrastructure and minimal beautification improvements. One Protect Siesta Key member has applied for a seat on the task force, “to ensure that it stays on course,” Ramirez said.

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Ramirez told commissioners, however, that the formation of the task force aligns suspiciously with that of development of a new Siesta Key Community Master Plan.

“Right now there are two separate processes moving forward, the master plan and the task force,” Ramirez told commissioners. “They're loosely connected by the word ‘beautification,’ but in reality they have very different goals. Honestly, this has all the markings of a scam.

“Residents asked for storm resilience, traffic and infrastructure improvements, but that's not what the master plan is focused on. Instead, the county inserted language about reviewing the zoning code in the comp plan. Residents did not ask for that. Frankly, I don't believe this board asked for that.”

Gutwein told the Observer the coalition of entities that have pushed for the task force since late last year are not in support of any Comprehensive Plan or master plan changes that would weaken protections against higher intensity and density, but rather to coalesce around an effort to draw more attention to Siesta Key’s challenges, such as faster storm recovery and the desire of residents and businesses to maintain its beach village character.

“We're just looking to do things to improve the village,” Gutwein said. “We want to have unified signage. We want infrastructure improvements, lift station improvements, trolley stop pull-offs so traffic doesn't get stopped.”

That and more awareness marketing of the key along highways beyond a couple of exit signs on I-75.

 “We're named consistently year after year nationwide and worldwide among best beach designations, but we're really getting anything back from the county that is indicative of that,” she said. “Beaches on the East Coast of Florida do a better job of advertising on I-75 in our own back yard than what we do.”