SIESTA KEY
Observer
Observer Formerly the Pelican Press
YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
VOLUME 46, NO. 2
FREE
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THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2015
ARTS+CULTURE
Affordable housing – at what cost?
NEWS EDITOR
In making the case for a proposed 404-unit apartment development at 2211 Fruitville Road, planning representative Joe Barnette tried to sum up his argument simply: Sarasota needs affordable housing badly, and nobody else is stepping up to provide it. “There are no alternatives,” Barnette said. “There’s none — zip. This is a ready-to-go project.” Barnette represented entrepreneur Harvey Vengroff at a public workshop Monday, the first step toward realizing Vengroff’s plans for an affordable housing complex on more than eight acres of downtown-adjacent land. Those plans have been in the works for more than a decade, and although they’ve been scaled down from an original vision of as many as 800 units, Vengroff is determined to make it a reality. The process to construct that housing will not be easy. Monday’s workshop was designed to introduce the public to a project that would require a comprehensive plan amendment, rezone and alley vacation before work could begin. Vengroff wants the property reclassified as Downtown Core — increasing the allowed density and height of a proposed SEE HOUSING PAGE 6
INSIDE
After nearly a year of construction, the State Street parking garage is open, and nearby stores and restaurants hope to reap the benefits.
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DAVID CONWAY
School 2015
State of the Street
FST IS ‘OLD ENOUGH TO KNOW BETTER’
City leaders have called for the development of more affordable housing. Harvey Vengroff wants to build affordable housing. Why, then, is the future of his project so uncertain?
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THE CLIMB Jace King, 11, has been to so many countries he’s lost count. Last month he successfully climbed Mount Kilimanjaro.
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YOUR TOWN OLYMPIC MEMORIES
Torch bearer Rosemarie Hermann passes the Olympic flame to Hal Hedley.
Our This Week in History column July 9 showed Rosemarie Hermann passing the Olympic torch to Hal Hedley to mark the 1996 Summer Olympic games in Atlanta. Hermann’s friends have been sending her clips of the story and links to it online. Seeing the photo brought back memories for Hermann, who has since moved to Switzerland. “My tears were running down when I recognized that the picture was showing myself and Mr. Hedley when I passed the Olympic flame to him,” Hermann wrote in an email. “I will never forget the sacral moments, carrying the Olympic torch. It was the highlight of my life.”