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SAND DOLLARS Taxpayers get more for their money on Siesta Beach. PAGE 3A
OUR TOWN
sound check
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2014
Ricardo Graziano prepares to debut a world premiere. INSIDE
PLAY BALL
Sarasota Little League celebrates 75th opening day. PAGE 1B
by Nolan Peterson | News Editor
Noise ordinance strikes a chord After noise complaints continue at a couple county restaurants, County commissioners consider changing the noise ordinance, a move that some business owners call unfair.
Courtesy photo
Phil Hurwitz brought his daughters, Emma and Katie, to the dance.
+ Dancing duos Temple Emanu-El held its annual Daddy-Daughter Dance Feb. 9. More than 120 fathers and their daughters enjoyed an evening of dining and dancing. A professional makeup artist helped the girls look their best with hair, nails and makeup. After dinner and root beer floats, the dads and daughters danced underneath the disco ball to classic songs such as “My Girl.”
An ongoing spat between Bob’s Boathouse and nearby neighborhoods over the restaurant’s noise has spurred the Sarasota County Commission to consider modifying its noise ordinances countywide. The move, however, has some restaurant and bar owners claim-
ing it will unfairly punish establishments that have been playing by the rules, and it will burden them with new subjectively enforced regulations. Residents in neighborhoods near Bob’s Boathouse, as well as residents living near Walt’s Fish Market, which has an out-
door “chickee hut” featuring live music, claim the existing rules make life unlivable near these noise-emitting sites. According to a public records search, at least 15 residents from neighborhoods near Bob’s Boathouse have emailed commissioners requesting a change in the county noise
ordinances. The problem with current noise measurement standards in the case of Bob’s Boathouse, commissioners explain, is that the restaurant sits on a waterway across from private residences.
SEE NOISE / PAGE 10A
PUPPY LOVE
+ Souper Stars Pine Shores Presbyterian Church came first in Florida and second in the nation in this year’s Souper Bowl of Caring. Twenty young people from Pine Shores Presbyterian Church raised more than $11,000 and 2,600 cans of soup for the annual fundraiser. The funds and canned goods will be donated to All Faiths Food Bank.
+ Host families needed for students STEP of Sarasota is looking for families to host students from Spain this summer. The four-week program is a chance for Sarasota residents to open their home to foreignexchange students interested in exploring the area. Hosts and their guests will be able to go on sightseeing tours and fieldtrips with other members of the program. For more information, call Patricia Hershoring at 441-6801 or email SarasotaPam52@ gmail.com
Harriet Sokmenseur
Sara Smith shares the love with a puppy at the The Humane Society of Sarasota County’s kissing booth at the Phillippi Farmhouse Market Feb. 12. Volunteer Lynn Billi made the Valentine’s Day-themed booth.
BUS-T A MOVE
by David Conway | News Editor
Businesses weigh in on SCAT relocation More prominent downtown figures have stepped forward to ask the county to consider moving the city’s SCAT bus transfer station, but not everybody is on board with the proposal. On Feb. 12, a trio of downtown leaders appeared before the Sarasota County Commission to pitch an idea that was gaining momentum: The county should look into moving the downtown Sarasota County Area Transit transfer station.
What started as a proposal from Downtown Improvement District Chairman Ernie Ritz has quickly garnered the support of two other key organizations. Downtown Sarasota Alliance Chairman Mike Beaumier and Sarasota Downtown Merchants
Association President Ron Soto appeared alongside Ritz to prod the county to further investigate moving the station. Soto, owner of Soto’s Optical and also a member of the Downtown Improvement District board, said he surveyed several
Main Street businesses to gather feedback on the current location. The response he received was overwhelming, he said. “I was surprised to find out that not one person out of all the mer-
SEE SCAT / PAGE 10A
INDEX Opinion.................8A Classifieds ........ 12B
Cops Corner....... 11A Crossword.......... 11B
Permits................ 9B Real Estate.......... 8B
Sports................ 20A Weather............. 11B
Vol. 44, No. 30 | Three sections YourObserver.com