Newsletter 100

NEWS FROM THE SUNCOAST

QUAY SARASOTA PICKING UP STEAM

Development at the long-deserted Quay Sarasota property on the bayfront is heating up. An 18-story luxury condominium is rising on the southwest corner of the 14-acre property, and construction is expected to begin soon on an 11-story building that will house apartments, restaurants and retail along North Tamiami Trail. Executives with master developer GreenPointe Communities say the $1 billion mixed-use project will be developed in coming years on a block-by-block basis. To read more on this story, courtesy of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, please click here: Quay Sarasota

CONTENTMENT IN SARASOTA COUNTY

In it’s 28th year of taking the pulses of Sarasota County citizens, the county government’s annual commissioned survey revealed that the most pressing concern – as it consistently has been since the region’s emergence from the Great Recession – is growth and development. Traffic congestion, however, is inching upward as a secondary, related complaint. With new housing starts and new residents pouring into Southwest Florida, the topic moved from third place in 2018 to second. But as a whole, the county’s population seems impressively content, with a whopping 27% saying they have no problems with the local quality of life. For more on this story, please click here: Sarasota County Survey

SARASOTA OK’S ‘GRANNY FLATS’

Lifelong local resident Janet Carlson urged Sarasota County commissioners recently against any hesitations about allowing "accessory dwelling units," or second living spaces, on most residential lots outside city limits throughout the county. The Sarasota County Commission voted unanimously to adopt a new ordinance allowing such long-term rental units. Now, homeowners in zoned single-family residential areas – outside of barrier islands, "cluster" subdivisions or neighborhoods with deed restrictions that forbid them – can add living spaces of up to 750 square feet, built in a similar style and finish to the primary home, without having it counted as a separate house. Please follow the jump for more on this story: Granny Flats

RENOURISHMENT RIPPLES REAPPEAR AT LIDO BEACH

Another back-and-forth between the city and county of Sarasota is taking shape – this one having to do with a beach renourishment project on Lido Key. Recently, the City Manager asked the commission for permission to allow contractors to stage the project on the north and west portions of Ted Sperling Park, which is county-owned. Having this piece of equipment and groins, it is reported, would save taxpayers "hundreds of thousands of dollars." Time is of the essence, because the Army Corps of Engineers expects to put the project out for bids in November – for the second time. The first round of bids came in unexpectedly high, and the city and the Corps have been working to limit the project’s scope to save money. There’s more on this story here: Renourishment Ripples

RESEARCHERS EXPECT RED TIDE, BUT THAT’S NORMAL

An oceanographer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says a recent switch to twice-a-week red tide reporting was based on above-average concentrations of the toxic algae Karenia brevis found offshore from Lee County close to Captiva Island and Sanibel Islands. The reason for the double-dose of reports that will be released Mondays and Thursday is "out of an abundance of caution," says Edward Davis, NOAA’s lead oceanographic forecaster. "It’s not a response to any sort of emergency," Edwards said. "What we are seeing now is normal for this time of season, but higher than a naturally occurring amount. The very low concentrations are not bloom-level concentrations, but above the natural cell count." Please click here for more: Normal Red Tide

ADDRESSING TEXTING WHILE DRIVING

Florida’s tougher prohibition on texting-while-driving has resulted in almost 1,000 citations and warnings being issued in the first 10 weeks the law has been on the books, a house panel recently learned. The law that took effect on July 1 allows law enforcement officers to stop drivers who are texting and driving, making the action a primary offense. Since 2013, texting while driving has been a secondary offense, meaning it could be enforced only after the cops had another reason to stop the motorist. Florida is among the last states to implement a primary ban. Click here for more: Texting While Driving

INVASIVE DISEASE THREATENS PALMS

Florida’s iconic palm trees are under attack from a fatal disease that turns them into dried crisps in months, with no chance for recovery once they become ill. Spread by a rice-sized, plant-hopping insect, lethal bronzing has gone from a small infestation on Florida’s Gulf Coast to a nearly statewide problem in just over a decade. Ten of thousands of palms have died from the bacterial disease, and the pace of its spread is increasing, adding to environmental woes of a state already struggling to save its other arboreal icon, citrus trees, from two other diseases. There’s more here: Palm Trees Threatened

FISH FARM PROPOSED IN GULF

A floating fish farm, which could be installed in federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico about 45 miles southwest of Sarasota, is being touted as an advancement in aquaculture by the company that wants to create and operate it. Yet it is also slammed as a potential danger to the ecosystem by environmentalists. Kampachi Farms of Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, seeks a federal permit for its Velella Epsilon project. The permit is to discharge "industrial wastewater" from "a marine net-pen aquaculture facility." That facility would consist of a support vessel and a floating cage with a water depth of 130 feet. The cage would contain approximately 20,000 Almaco jack obtained from Florida hatcheries and produce an annual harvest of about 80,000 pounds of fish. It could be anchored to the Gulf’s floor and stabilized with buoys. Click on the link for more: Floating Fish Farm

TRUTH ABOUT ‘SPAGHETTI’ MODELS

Divining a hurricane’s path is far from simple: it includes regular feedings of 85 billion clues to supercomputers – information on everything from the tiniest raindrop to the rowdiest thunderstorm, gentle sea breezes to tree-toppling gales, the heat of the ocean’s surface to the very underside of space. Numbers are crunched, and, voila, a "spaghetti" model is served. Social media and four consecutive years of overachieving storms have given credibility status to certain spaghetti model runs – regularly pitting the Euro against a souped-up American model during dinner chatter. Please click here for more on this story: Spaghetti Models

THE ‘FIXED’ IS IN FOR CORTEZ BRIDGE

The Florida Department of Transportation recently confirmed that it intends to replace the Cortez Bridge with a fixed span with 65 feet of clearance for vessels. Design is underway and acquisition of right of way is funded in fiscal years 2021, 2024 and 2025. The agency considered replacing the aging drawbridge between Bradenton Beach and the fishing village of Cortez with another drawbridge or a 35-foot, mid-level drawbridge. Yet it determined the higher bridge would be a better investment because it would require less repair and maintenance. If you’d like to learn more, then click here: Cortez Bridge