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Rosemary District is in perennial bloom. Genus: condominium. On the heels of the almost-finished Zahrada II, the soon-to-be-finished Villa Ballada and The Gallery (which will break ground soon) comes Boheme.
Smaller than the others, with just nine units compared to between 22 and 60, Boheme stands out because of its generous terrace spaces.
On the 5,900-square-foot site, Boheme, located at 420 Kumquat Court, will be just north of Fourth Street and east of Kumquat Court. It will bring nine units, and one of them will be affordable. The nine-unit total come thanks to the Rosemary Residential Overlay District’s affordable housing density bonus. Without the bonus, Boheme would have been just five units.
The affordable unit will target those who earn 80 percent of the area median income, which correlates to charging no more than $1,371 a month rent for a one-bedroom unit and no more than $1,645 a month for a two-bedroom. Whether they sell or rent is yet to be determined. The unit must remain affordable for at least 30 years.
The owner-developer of Boheme, Karel Dudych, is also behind the Zahradas and Villa Ballada, which will hug Boheme. The building will be five stories on a 50-foot-wide lot, and an older two-story single-family home on the site will be cleared first.
It will include just less than 500 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor, which Halflants pictures a Boheme resident using for their business, since it won’t be a high-traffic facade, but will still have “high ceilings and lots of natural light,” he says. The project will include one- and two-bedroom units. The two-bedroom condos will have terraces ranging from 230 to 330 square feet; one will have more than 500. The one-bedroom unit terraces will span 130 square feet. The unit interiors will vary from 500 to 1,300 square feet, each with 14-foot ceilings.
Celebrating St. Patrick's Day means guzzling beer while wearing green. For others, especially Florida families, it might mean visiting a restaurant to take advantage of special menu items and deals in celebration of all things Irish.
The March 17 holiday observes the death of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. St. Patrick's Day has evolved into a celebration of Irish culture with parades, special foods, music, dancing, drinking and a whole lot of green.
The folks at RetailMeNot have compiled a detailed list of food deals and specials at restaurants in Florida that you can check out for the holiday weekend.
*Please read all the promotional details and call your local store to make sure the offer is eligible for your location.
The Gulf Coast Community Foundation Board of Directors has approved a $1 million grant to match $1 million in anonymous donations to benefit The Bay park. That marks the halfway point of a challenge match by the GCCF to raise $4 million for The Bay by Dec. 31, 2024.
The funding will be used to support the design and development of a new resilient shoreline as part of Phase 2 of the city-owned 53-acre park, as well as free park programming. The Bay is being developed and operated under the stewardship of the Bay Park Conservancy in partnership with the city of Sarasota.
Allan Mestel had extensive experience photographing humanitarian crises, but he says his first day near the Poland/Ukraine border was unlike anything he’d seen before.
Just two weeks earlier, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Families — mostly women and children — who just days earlier had been living normal lives were now refugees forced to leave their homes, husbands, brothers and sons behind.
“I’ve spent a lot of time photographing migrants, usually migrants and refugees who are fleeing violence and poverty,” Mestel told News 6 producer Katrina Scales in a recent episode of Your Florida Daily.
“But in those populations... there’s a sense of hope. But [here] there was none of that. This was clearly a shell-shocked refugee population who were in absolute disbelief about what was happening.”
Mestel, a studio photographer based just outside Bradenton, Florida, spent most of his career in the advertising business in Toronto directing TV commercials.
His work documenting his war photography and portraits are on display for an exhibition at the Lexow Gallery, Unitarian Universalists of Sarasota, 3975 Fruitville Rd., from March 15 through April 19.
FLORIDA — Looking for something fun to do this weekend? There’s something fun for every interest: St. Patrick’s Day events, a reggae music festival, a jazz festival and more.
The 100th anniversary of the Sarasota County Fair kicks off this weekend, Friday through Sunday. The weekend includes a rodeo, live music, rides and other live entertainment.
The Argus Foundation last month wrote about the City of North Port increasing city fees dramatically and the lack of transparency as to how that occurred. Unfortunately, we are seeing a disturbing trend in artistically crafted language that seems to be unchecked by the City Commission in terms of accountability, the commission’s main responsibility in city government.
As a reminder, we detailed the inability to secure background on the proposed staff recommendation for North Port city fee increases. The language as to the justification changed from “Analysis and comparison to local market fee rates” to what the City Manager called, “Unorganized Analysis” after constituents and groups attempted to secure the background and data without success. City Commissioners never publicly asked to clarify this, questioned it, or asked to make this transparent to the public.
Now, however, we have a different topic and new artistically crafted language carefully used to cover the real situation.
North Port needs a new and bigger police station. This has been a need but came to the forefront after the current station suffered damage from Hurricane Ian. The City Manager has proposed reallocation of Surtax IV dollars in order to do this.
Surtax IV is the extra penny consumers pay on the purchase of goods, which stays here in Sarasota County for building and paying for infrastructure like government buildings, roads, technology and other capital items. The money goes to the School Board, the county and all of the cities in the county. It is a referendum that comes around every 15 years.
As part of this process, each local government, including North Port, goes through a public process to put together a list of capital projects for the next 15 years that the governments each represent the money will be spent on. They submit those lists to the county and they are attached to the county ordinance that places the referendum on the ballot.
It was last passed in 2022 with the support of the Coalition of Business Associations members leading the way by paying for the campaign to ensure the community understood its importance. The community widely supported this effort and Sarasota County had the highest surtax passage rate in the state in 2022.
Now, the City Manager is proposing, less than two years later, reallocating significant surtax dollars from the publicly vetted project list to the police station. He is proposing to move the projects, Price Boulevard widening phases 2 and 3, and shifting the funding of those projects to the next surtax, Surtax V.
The problem is that there is no Surtax V, and therefore, there is no Surtax V project list. The Argus Foundation submitted a public records request to the City of North Port asking for the “Surtax V project list” and received the response, “The City of North Port has reviewed its files and has determined there are no responsive documents to your request.”
When the City says they would be shifting projects to Surtax V, they are really saying they are UNFUNDING projects, namely two phases of the widening of Price Boulevard, the main east-west artery through the city, but don’t want to say that out loud. That sounds bad after they held out a list of infrastructure promises to voters that enticed them to tax themselves just months ago.
Now, let us be clear, this is a funding source issue, not an issue about supporting the police department or whether they need a new station. This is about the city’s transparency problem and not properly planning for its future.
This is a wakeup call for City Commissioners. The city fee situation should have been a wakeup call on its own. But now, North Port is risking its infrastructure future, and, with that, the trust of voters for referendums in the future.
Project Pride’s New Headquarters Provides a Gathering Place for Sarasota’s LGBTQ+ Community
The new location “is about creating safe spaces while providing opportunities for marginalized groups within the community to meet and organize,” says Project Pride president Jason Champion.
Snuggled in between a yoga studio and a former ballroom dance studio, the new headquarters of Project Pride is a beacon for Sarasota’s LGBTQ+ community. Located on Boulevard of the Arts in the Rosemary District, the cheerful facility, which opened in January, represents the culmination of the work the nonprofit has done so far.
Although formed in 2019, Project Pride didn’t explode in popularity until more recently. Taking advantage of what he calls 18 years of “longevity in Sarasota, pizzazz and connections,” Project Pride president Jason Champion says he was able “to pour gas onto what [had already been] created.” He has worked to rally supporters and local businesses, impressing upon them the contributions the LGBTQ+ community can make through their voting and spending power.
*Project Pride’s headquarters is located at 1370 Boulevard of the Arts, Sarasota. For more information, visit ppsrq.org. Upcoming events include the Grand Carnival in Bloom at the Circus Arts Conservatory on Saturday, June 1; Silver Pride on Saturday, June 8; and the Gulfcoast Pride festival on Saturday, Oct. 19. Ongoing events include viewing parties for RuPaul’s Drag Race, disco brunches and LGBTQ+ dance classes.
We have all seen the commercials. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is known for its heart-wrenching commercials featuring abused and neglected animals aimed at raising awareness and funds for their cause. While these commercials are undoubtedly effective at tugging at our heartstrings, sending funds does have a downside.
These organizations rarely funnel these funds back to our community animal shelters, where thousands of animals remain up for adoption, fostering, and in need. Here on the Suncoast, we are imploring you to support your local shelter as an alternative to responding to these commercials.
WELLEN PARK — West Villages Improvement District board members were cleared from ethics complaints, according to the Florida Commission on Ethics.
John Meisel, who is also a board member, filed complaints against Chairman John Luczynski, along with board members Steve Lewis, Thomas Buckley and Christine Masney.
After preliminary investigations, the commission cleared all of them.
“The Commission on Ethics finds there is no probable cause to believe" the board members broke state law or violated the Florida Constitution by their actions on the board, a statement read.
The Florida Legislature created the West Villages Improvement District to make infrastructure improvements within the district boundaries, which includes several of the Wellen Park communities. The District can borrow money, issue bonds and levy and impose special assessments, user fees and charges.
The district is governed by a five-member board of supervisors, who are elected to a term of four years. Four of the board members are selected by a one-acre, one-vote system, which means the majority property owner — in this case the West Villages developer Mattamy Homes — has the ability to place its employees in four of the five seats.
The fifth seat, held by John Meisel, is elected by residents.
Meisel's complaint included the accusation of board members acting as a “monopoly” when voting on an irrigation contract between the developer and some of the communities. Meisel is part of a lawsuit challenging the contract in Sarasota County civil court.
The complaint accuses Luczynski and the other board members of voting in line with their employer's interest, rather than the residents of the development.
But due to a lack of reasonable grounds, the complaint was dismissed.
“I’m astounded they took John Luczynski at his word — I’m flabbergasted,” Meisel said. “For the ethics commission to say they have no factual basis makes so sense. I’m very disappointed. If you don’t see the connection to benefit the developer I’d call you naive."
Meisel said the saga is not over yet, though.
“There’s already another ethics complaint in the works,” he said.
The Daily Sun was unable to reach Luczynski for comment.
The recent headline that the 211 helpline will be discontinued in Sarasota County as of April 1 took many people by surprise. But in fact, it was hardly breaking news.
The 24-hour referral service, which last year helped connect thousands of local residents in need or crisis to appropriate services, was part of a a number of significant funding cuts to behavioral health and human services by the Board of Sarasota County Commissioners I reported on last fall.
Many of the nonprofits who did not receive funding after Commissioner Mike Moran rejected advisory council recommendations and instituted a revamped scoring process for grant applications, lobbied the board in hopes of reconsideration; a few – the Boys and Girls Club, the Safe Children’s Coalition and the Loveland Center among them – were successful in having funding restored last December. But United Way Suncoast, the lead organization in the public/private 211 partnership, was not included in the reversals.
If the service ends March 31, callers will be referred to the county’s 311 line, which is only available during business hours, has no access to the social service data base and does not have responders trained in crisis intervention. It would also likely overload the 911 emergency line with non-emergency calls and callers to the newer 988 hotline who have been “deescalated” after a mental health crisis would no longer receive a “warm” (direct and immediate) handoff to 211 for follow up services.
Attempts, in several ways over several days, to reach Moran for comment were not successful. But Commissioner Mark Smith, the only commissioner to vote against the cuts last fall, says 211 is a “vital” service that was unfairly impacted by the last minute change in funding evaluations – a change Smith feels should have been implemented with a new funding cycle, not after applications had already been filed and vetted.
“These organizations are all connected,” Smith said. “When we remove one link, we weaken the entire chain.”
Which is why Smith has added a reconsideration of 211 funding to the agenda for the upcoming board meeting on Tuesday, March 19. “I don’t know if it will do any good, but it’s the right thing to do,” Smith said. “This is the last chance before the money runs out.”
This is not the first time Moran, who is term limiting off the board in November and running for Sarasota Tax Collector against longtime incumbent Barbara Ford-Coates, has grandstanded the need to “protect taxpayers’ money.” But cutting 211 is as short-sighted and misguided as his previous efforts to curtail spending on mental health services and divert arts and culture funding to tourism.
Sarasota County Commission to discuss 211 funds before residents lose access to helpline
The Sarasota County Commission is scheduled to discuss the fate of 211 at its regular meeting Tuesday following an announcement this month by United Way Suncoast that the helpline will go offline on April 1 for county residents due to the county cutting funds for the program.
Commissioner Mark Smith, who had opposed those cuts last fall, has put the item on the agenda in the hopes that his fellow commissioners will reconsider and agree to restore funding in time to maintain a program that helps more than 10,000 county residents every year.
“I believe we have the financial wherewithal to make it happen,” Smith said.
Following 20 years of support for 211, the commission voted during September’s budget talks to eliminate funding for it this fiscal year amid a confusing overhaul of the way it distributes money to social services.
In cutting 211, it went against the recommendations of its own human services advisory council, which had highly ranked the program and proposed granting it more than $109,000 this year.
That amount makes up almost a third of the helpline’s operating costs under 211 Suncoast Care, whose service area includes Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties.
Manatee County pays an almost equal share as Sarasota, while United Way Suncoast has covered the rest – slightly more than a third.
After Sarasota County’s shortfall cuts, United Way Suncoast said it could not merely make up the difference by encroaching on other funds already committed to donor-supported programs.
As a result, 211 would have to be closed to Sarasota County residents starting on April 1, the nonprofit’s leaders said. After that date, Sarasota County callers will be diverted to the county’s 311 information line.
But Smith said he worried that county staff would soon be overwhelmed – not only by the number of calls diverted from 211, but by their nature, too.
The two lines are vastly different: While 311 only operates during weekday business hours and only informs callers about county services, 211 is available around the clock, every day of the week, and its trauma-trained operators can refer callers in crisis to hundreds of programs offered by area nonprofits.
“My opinion is that all of our social service providers work together as a team, and that 211 is a great way to coordinate that team,” Smith said.
“By not funding it and not making it available to Sarasota County residents,” he added, “it really creates a hindrance not only to residents and folks who need help, but it also puts a burden on the county staff that might not be equipped to handle these calls for help.”
Losing 211 will have a negative impact on those in need, especially older people
Last year alone, 211 assisted almost 12,000 Sarasota County callers with nearly 19,000 referrals, according to United Way Suncoast.
The announcement of 211’s pending suspension sent shockwaves through the community. Worried residents called United Way directly. Area nonprofits and foundations reached out to the commission, asking for it to restore funding.
Members of North Port’s Homeless Outreach Team expressed concern that 211's disappearance would make the already challenging prospect of helping people in the housing crisis that much more arduous.
Kevin Stiff, interim CEO of Suncoast Partnership to End Homelessness, said 211 is a crucial resource for his agency and the greater community.
While his staff receives referrals from 211 regarding housing, it also steers clients to 211 for help finding services outside his agency's scope – for other aspects of their crisis, such as mental health.
“We are not actually an emergency response center,” he said. “We are not set up for that.”
It will have a particular impact on older residents, who are not as accustomed to navigating text messages or the Internet for information as their younger counterparts – especially in the middle of a crisis, said Ola Medrzycki, friendship at home manager for the Senior Friendship Centers.
“It’s very important for our seniors to get a live person,” Medrzycki said. “They are not good with press this, press this, go here.”
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