Sarasota & Manatee Counties news thread

[wondermint2]

Hundreds watch eclipse at Robinson Preserve

For full article:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other...ba2c2144&ei=36

Hundreds of residents and visitors headed out to Robinson Preserve on Monday to watch the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse. The event was put on by the Suncoast Stargazers who said the maximum eclipse of 64% coverage would happen at 2:59 p.m.

“It’s every five years you’ll get one of this, an eclipse like this here and the next total one, which I didn’t make, is 2045. I know I won’t be making that one,” said George Grimm with the Suncoast Stargazers.

[wondermint2]

Gulf Shellfish Institute cleans our Suncoast waters with recycled oysters

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/new...ba2c2144&ei=44

The team at Gulf Shellfish Insitute took over Mar Vista Dockside Restaurant and Pub in Longboat Key to hang vertical oyster gardens off the dock.

Vertical oyster gardens are recycled oyster shells they get from local restaurants like Mar Vista, they put them on a wire and hang them from a sea wall or pier.

“One individual oyster can filter about 50 gallons of water per day,” said Olivia Blondheim, a scientific outreach coordinator at the Gulf Shellfish Institute.

The team compares it to gardening in the ocean. The oyster shells also help other marine species grow.

This effort is a part of a community lead initiative that you can be a part of. You can adopt one of these vertical oyster gardens from Mar Vista, register it with the QR code at the restaurant, hang it on your dock or pier, and the Institute will monitor the garden overtime.

The Institute is also working on a project called Clams on Deck, for more information on their research and mission, click here:

https://www.gulfshellfish.org/

[wondermint2]

Originally Posted by wondermint2

Advocates for saving historic Colson Hotel in Sarasota urging city’s Historic Preservation Board to deny demolition application

Hearing set for April 9 at City Hall

For full article:

https://sarasotanewsleader.com/advoc...n-application/

Advocates for saving historic structures in the city of Sarasota are urging the public to protest plans for the demolition of yet another building: the Colson Hotel on Eighth Street, in what was Overtown, “the original African American community in Sarasota,” as the Sarasota Alliance for Historic Preservation has pointed out in a post on its Facebook page.

At 3 p.m. on Tuesday, April 9, the City of Sarasota’s Historic Preservation Board will conduct a hearing on a demolition application submitted by the owners of that property, which stands at 1425 Eighth St., the meeting agenda says.

The board will meet in the City Commission Chambers of City Hall, which is located at 1565 First St. in downtown Sarasota.

As the city staff report explains, “The Colson Hotel is a two-story U-Shaped Mediterranean Revival Style building” that was constructed by Owen O. Burns, one of the city’s most notable builders. The structure was named for the Rev. Lewis Colson, the report adds.

“This was the first hotel built in segregated Sarasota to accommodate African American temporary workers and travelers looking for lodging,” the report continues.

The Colson Hotel is listed in the Florida Master Site File as eligible for both national and local designation as a historic building, the report adds, “and it is a contributing structure to the National Overtown Historic District.”

On its Facebook page, the Sarasota Alliance for Historic Preservation emphasizes that the Colson Hotel “is one of the last remaining African American landmarks in the City of Sarasota. … Our community cannot afford to lose this one!”

Along with the Alliance, Friends of “Seagate” Inc. is urging the members of the Historic Preservation Board to deny the demolition application.

Colson Hotel demolition talk spurs controversy among Sarasota historians, leaders

For full article:

Preservationists and leaders in Sarasota are raising concerns at an upcoming city commission meeting in hopes of preserving the city's historic Colson Hotel.

The two-story U-shaped Mediterranean Revival Style Colson Hotel at 1425 8th Street is a significant part of the city of Sarasota's history.

It was the first hotel constructed and opened in the mid-20th Century amid the Jim Crow laws that allowed Black travelers and workers to reserve rooms and lodge overnight in Sarasota. The Colson Hotel made its grand debut in the first African American neighborhood in the city, Overtown (now known as the Rosemary District) in December 1926.

Once a 26-room hotel, the building has suffered from neglect over the years and was purchased last March by Tampa-based JDMAX Development. The new owners’ proposal for demolition to the City of Sarasota has prompted a swell of dissent ahead of Tuesday's Historic Preservation Board Hearing.

[wondermint2]

Downtown condo tower returns with modifications and a new name

Now branded 1260 North Palm Avenue Residences, the 18-story tower proposal shaved a little off the top and made progress toward street-level requirements.

For full article & artist rendering:

https://www.yourobserver.com/news/20...ions-new-name/

Obsidian is no longer being planned for the 1200 block of North Palm Avenue.

That is no cause for celebration for adjacent Bay Plaza residents, though, as the slightly shorter building with expanded street level commercial space is back before the city's Development Review Committee, rebranded as 1260 North Palm Residences.

The project by developer Matt Kihnke remains an 18-story, 14-unit ultra luxury condominium development with condos on floors 9-18 remaining high enough to peer over Bay Plaza toward Sarasota Bay. The redesign has made strides to address objections of nearby residents and the Planning Board, which denied a request to reduce the requirement for street-level commercial frontage and square footage, and in the pocess rejected the building's height.

Changes in the building plan include additional stepbacks at the lower floors to provide more separation from the neighboring Bay Plaza.

Still a sticking point is the height of the building, which has been reduced from 342 feet to 327 feet, still significantly taller than any other downtown building.

[wondermint2]

City will consider building its own workforce housing

Sarasota City Manager Marlon Brown will propose a plan to build 192 units in two towers across from City Hall.

For full article & photo:

https://www.yourobserver.com/news/20...force-housing/

Although the private sector is beginning to respond to the city’s affordable housing incentives programs, even when built, the residences will make only a small dent in the growing demand for attainable workforce housing in Sarasota.

Taking his queue from a discussion in spring of 2023, City Manager Marlon Brown said it’s time for the city to lead by example.

He has spent more than a year working with a local commercial real estate firm to assemble land to build a city-owned, privately managed apartment community in the heart of downtown — directly across First Street from City Hall.

A portion of that block is a city-owned parking lot and separating the two towers and remaining on the block is the Sarasota Municipal Employees Credit Union. The south side of the site is bordered by an alley that separates it from businesses along Main Street.

Brown will formally present to the Sarasota City Commission at its April 15 meeting a proposal to acquire just more than half an acre to build a 192-unit workforce housing apartment complex across two 12-story towers. Purchase agreements with property owners totaling $7.4 million are waiting to be signed, and Brown told the Observer a preliminary estimate for the project is about $80 million.

[wondermint2]

Johnson Preserve raised bar for grassroots conservation efforts

Conserving the land at Braden River for public use was a joint effort between citizens, Manatee County and the Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast.

For full article:

https://www.yourobserver.com/news/20...-conservation/

Brenda Russell is ready to get her back brace off and take a walk through the Johnson Preserve at Braden River.

Years before Russell had to undergo back surgery, she figuratively broke her back working to save the land from development.

The community effort resulted in a 44-acre preserve nestled between the River Club and Braden Woods, where Russell can see the preserve from her front yard.

“I’m anxious to go,” she said. “I see cars in the parking lot regularly. Even before it was finished, it was being used by the community, but it’s definitely being used more now.”

The preserve has been open to the public since shortly after Manatee County purchased the property for $3 million in 2018. But now, the amenities are complete.

The dirt trail was shelled, and a parking lot and pavilion were constructed. The only thing left to install is an information kiosk and sign dedicated to the man who got the project started, Carl Bergstresser.

[wondermint2]

Manatee County and residents at odds over communication restrictions

Residents are not allowed to call in to commission meetings or comment on Manatee County's social media platforms.

For full article:

https://www.yourobserver.com/news/20...-restrictions/

Some residents and at least one commissioner continue to request that everyone be allowed to call in to Manatee County Commission meetings and also be allowed to comment via posts on the county's social media platforms.

Commissioner George Kruse started making motions over a year ago that would allow citizens the same opportunity afforded to commissioners — to call in to meetings when they can’t attend in person because of work, child care responsibilities or transportation issues.

Kruse said the board is hearing the same request at every meeting. However, his most recent attempt to change the policy was met with complete silence from the rest of the board.

Outside of Commission Chair Mike Rahn being procedurally obligated to state that the motion had failed for lack of a second, the March 12 commission meeting continued on as if Kruse never made a motion.

Manatee County has no current plans to accommodate call-ins or turn on the comment feature for social media posts.

“My concern was, does this create a hostile work environment,” Rahn said about social media. “There are people out there haranguing certain members of staff consistently.”

He cited examples of staff members’ home addresses being posted, along with what schools their children attend.

The decision to shut off comments at the end of December 2023 was not a board decision, although Rahn said all but one commissioner supports it.

The decision was made by County Administrator Charlie Bishop after he consulted with the county attorney’s office. There’s no law that says the public must be afforded the right to comment on posts or call in to meetings.

Bill Logan, the county’s information outreach manager, said the purpose of the county’s social media pages are to disseminate information, not to provide a public forum.

---------------------------------------------------

*Here's a look at how surrounding counties handle call-ins and social media comments.

Allows call-ins | Allows social media comments

- Sarasota No Yes
- DeSoto No Yes
- Hardee No Yes
- Polk No Yes
- Hillsborough Yes Yes
- Pinellas Yes Yes

[wondermint2]

Installation of AT&T service upgrades permitted on Longboat

Town commissioners voted to change the wording in the zoning code to allow AT&T to install cellphone service upgrades.

For full article:

https://www.yourobserver.com/news/20...ades-longboat/

[wondermint2]

Set the Bar cocktail contest returns this weekend to Ed Smith Stadium

For full article:

https://www.yourobserver.com/news/20...ktail-contest/

No doubt there is bound to be a juggling bartender or two among the 25 mixologists represented at the Set the Bar cocktail competition on April 14 at Ed Smith Stadium.

If you can’t remember attending last season’s Set the Bar event, don’t worry, you’re not losing your memory. There wasn’t one because of scheduling issues.

Set the Bar is brought to you by Sarasota-Manatee Originals, the same group of local restaurateurs who bring you the Forks & Corks Food and Wine Festival each year. That upscale event, which culminates in the Grand Testing in the courtyard of The Ringling Museum, sells out in minutes each year.

That’s why it’s good news that one of the items that will be raffled off at this year’s Set the Bar is a pair of tickets to the 2025 Forks & Corks event.

There will also be entertainment and light bites from the participating restaurants as a panel of judges and event attendees decide on the best cocktail in five categories: gin, tequila, vodka, whiskey and rum.

------------------------------------------------

*f You Go

Set the Bar. 4-7 p.m. April 14. Ed Smith Stadium, 2700 12th St., Sarasota. $85. For more info:

https://www.eatlikealocal.com/events/setthebar

[wondermint2]

Originally Posted by wondermint2

The Ringling Museum to open new Greatest Show on Earth Gallery

Interactive and immersive exhibits cover Feld Entertainment's ownership of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

For full article:

https://www.yourobserver.com/news/20...-show-gallery/

Photo story: The Greatest Show on Earth® at The Ringling in Sarasota

For photo gallery:

https://www.83degreesmedia.com/featu...ow-040924.aspx

The latest addition to the Circus Museum at The Ringling in Sarasota celebrates the emergence of the modern circus experience that began with Irvin Feld’s purchase of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® circus in 1967.

The Greatest Show On Earth® Gallery takes visitors through the entire transformation from back of the house to front and center stage under the big top as the circus adapts to the modern era.

Get a preview by scrolling through the images published in this photo story.

Read more, including information on when, where and how to visit, on The Ringling’s website:

https://www.ringling.org/event/the-g...earth-gallery/