Sarasota/ Observer 2.23.23

Observer

YOU YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.

YOUR TOWN

City learns new seal wasn’t official

In November 2022, the City Commission unanimously adopted a new city seal to replace the century-old original seal that could be mistaken for a third-grade art project. Or did it?

During Tuesday’s City Commission meeting, City Attorney Robert Fournier said for the seal to be formally approved, it had to be codified by an ordinance.

Said Fournier, “I got an email from deputy city auditor and clerk that said, ‘Hey, I think (the seal) is actually adopted by ordinance in the City Charter. Do we need to have an ordinance to formally amend the code to adopt it?’”

Fournier agreed with the assessment, and added the ordinance to the agenda.

With no discussion, commissioners unanimously adopted the new city seal. Again.

Woodworker reveals his craft

Over 30 community members gathered at DutchCrafters on Feb. 20 not necessarily to shop for new furnishings, but to listen to AJ Beechy, an Amish woodworker, speak about his craft and career.

Beechy grew up on a farm, unaware that he could have his own business someday.

“At 18 years old I got my first factory job where they did fan conversions and they had a woodworking division. I think that’s where my love for woodworking came onboard,” Beechy said.

In 1996, he worked for his brother’s kitchen chair making business for four years; however, he was aching to start his own business.

Beecy started his woodwork side hustle about 23 years ago, and now has turned it into AJ’s Furniture, one of the largest living room manufacturing companies with a 24,000-squarefoot facility in Topeka, Indiana.

Dariela Delgado

Dariela Delgado AJ Beechy speaks to the crowd about how he started in the woodworking industry.

WEEK OF FEB. 23, 2023

BY THE NUMBERS

Rocco’s Tacos set to open in UTC on March 6

The long-anticipated Rocco’s Tacos restaurant at University Town Center will open March

6. Veteran restaurateur and owner Rocco Mangel opened his first Rocco’s Tacos 15 years ago in West Palm Beach, following a quest to find the best ways to build an authentic Mexican taco.

Several trips to Mexico were part of the quest, along with trips to California.

“I didn’t want to open the typical Mexican restaurant, you know, with a pinata, a skeleton on the wall, where you would be

playing the Mexican Hat Dance.

So I decided to go to Mexico, buy furniture, fixtures and equipment for my restaurant. I am half Italian and half Jewish, but I wanted to embrace the Mexican culture.”

He used that base knowledge to launch Rocco’s Tacos, and it has worked well. The Sarasota location will be his 10th restaurant.

Mangel, who lives in Palm Beach County, said the Sarasota restaurant will have a new look for his chain.

“We went with a little different design,” he said. “We will have a

Avelo adds route to Raleigh-Durham

A value-priced airline has added another route to and from SarasotaBradenton International Airport.

Avelo Airlines has announced new nonstop service between SRQ and Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina.

One-way fares on the new route will start at $49. Flights will operate on next-next-generation Boeing 737 aircraft. Avelo also operates nonstop service between SRQ and TweedNew Haven Airport in New Haven, Connecticut.

“We appreciate the reception Avelo has received from Florida’s Gulf Coast and look forward to continuing to bolster our presence with Avelo’s convenient and reliable air service,” Avelo Chair and CEO Andrew Levy said.

More than 50 nonstop destinations are now offered at SRQ. Last week, Breeze Airways announced new service to and from T.F. Green International Airport near Providence, Rhode Island.

Painter falls 15 floors at Bayso building site

Sarasota Police Department detectives are investigating a fall at a construction site in The Quay that resulted in the death of a worker. At around 10:30 a.m. Feb. 15, a 21-yearold man was painting on the 18th floor and, for reasons unknown, fell to the fifth floor of the building. He later died from his injuries at Sarasota Memorial Hospital.

The identity of the victim has not been released.

ton of stuff from Mexico, but not as much as in our other stores.”

The outside of the restaurant is lined with seating, including a substantial bar area for those who like to watch the world go past. The menu itself will offers lots of tweaks to traditional Mexican favorites.

Hours will be 11 a.m. to midnight Sundays and Mondays; to 1 a.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays; to 2 a.m. Thursdays through Saturdays. Visit RoccosTacos.com.

Sarasota County Fire Department responded to the initial 911 call. Officers with the SPD were dispatched at about 2:15 p.m.

As is standard procedure, detectives interviewed witnesses and crime scene unit technicians examined and photographed evidence at the site.

SPD considers the death accidental. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating.

The developer of Bayso is Kolter Urban. Kast Construction of West Palm Beach is the general contractor.

“When we got here we were in love with Sarasota. It’s magic for me. It’s like the day is brighter here. I don’t know how to explain it, but it’s so beautiful.”

SOTA developer Rodrigo Trepp. Read more on page 4A

Courtesy photo

Mangel will open his newest location at UTC on March 6.

Lack of convention space — again — concerns leaders

MARK GORDON BUSINESS OBSERVER

The lack of a large, or even midsize, branded convention center and meeting space in downtown Sarasota — long an issue for business and civic leaders — is inching closer to an inflection point.

The crux of the issue: New owners of the Hyatt Regency, at 1000 Boulevard of the Arts, plan to demolish the hotel and rebuild it into a Hyatt-branded Thompson Hotel. A timeline for that project, originally set for summer 2024, isn’t definitive. But whenever the Hyatt goes, a 10,000-square-foot ballroom that can seat some 750 people will go with it.

“The Hyatt has been our meeting lifeline,” says Virginia Haley, President of Visit Sarasota County, the county’s tourism marketing arm. VSC works with dozens of groups and associations globally to hold and host meetings and events in the region. The Hyatt is in the upper end but still reasonably priced sector of the market, and a popular spot for both out-of-town groups and locals. The Sarasota Chamber of Commerce and the Economic Development Corp. of Sarasota County are among the organizations that have recently held major events there.    Sarasota Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Heather Kasten says when the Hyatt is gone, there will be only one primary downtown spot left to hold a large lunch or dinner event with a “ballroom experience.” That would be The Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota, down the street from the Hyatt Regency. The Ritz has a 12,000-square-foot ballroom that can hold 800 people for a banquet and 1,200 for a reception, according to its website.

Kasten says for meetings or events with 200 to 250 people, there are multiple choices across Sarasota County. “But when you get to 500 and 600 people you are running out of options,” she says.

Multiple business leaders in the Sarasota community have heard 2024 is when the Hyatt will come down. But Hyatt Regency Sarasota General Manager Wes Santos says there’s no definitive date on when the development firm that bought the property, Kotler Hospitality, will begin the transformation to a Thompson-branded flag.

Santos says he’s instead focused on the here and now. “We’re not shying away from any convention center business,” Santos says. “We’re at the peak of it right now.”

Officials with Kolter Hospitality, a unit of Delray Beach-based Kolter Group, declined to comment, through a spokeswoman, on a date or timing of the project. In a statement last May, when Kolter bought the property, Kolter Hospitality President Scott Webb confirmed Thompson as the hotel. Webb added that the company was in the “initial stages of the redevelopment plan … which will feature innovative design, luxury and personalized hospitality.”

At the Ritz, meanwhile, General Manager Rajesh “Raj” Khubchandani says it’s mostly business-as-usual at the property, which he boasts is in a higher echelon in the local meeting and convention marketplace. “There’s a possibility we might get some business” when the Hyatt closes, Khubchandani says, adding that the hotel offers a broader array

CAPACITY CRUNCH

of services and options than most others in the market.

A LOOK BACK

The pending Hyatt closure also exacerbates an issue that’s long confounded many leaders in the region: Why doesn’t Sarasota, with its arts and culture a national, even global, draw, have a convention center?

“It’s odd for a county of our size,” Kasten says, “with 400,000 people, that we don’t have a convention center.”

It’s an issue that, at some level, has been floating around since the 1990s. In 1994, a study from KPMG Peat Marwick of St. Petersburg found that Sarasota “needed both a hotel and a meeting facility and suggested a 300-500 room hotel with 70,000 to 125,000 square feet in meeting space,” according to a timeline of stalled convention center projects from the VSC. The report added that the project should “be under one roof.”

In 2004, Sarasota County officials paid $80,000 for a study that found a similar need, calling for a third hotel in addition to the Ritz and Hyatt

Regency. Multiple other entities, from the initial team that worked on the Quay to local developer Charles Githler to the founders of the Sarasota Film Festival, have looked into a conference or convention center downtown in the past two decades.

In addition, according to the VSC timeline, in 2015 all five Sarasota County commissioners supported an effort to look at “conference center feasibility in Sarasota, driven by the need to fill the new hotels under construction in downtown Sarasota.”

And finally in 2019 VSC, in its draft of its 2025 Strategic Plan to Sarasota County Commissioners, called for exploration of a conference center.

All of those efforts, from a combination of cost, inertia, debate and more, have led to the same result: no conference/convention center in Sarasota County, with no one out there proposing one.  Haley says cost is a big issue developers face. She’s heard often that the return on investment, higher than ever with inflation, supply chain and labor challenges, isn’t there when choosing to build more hotel rooms vs. a large meeting space. And

given convention centers only really work in downtown areas, “with a lot of entertainment options,” she adds,  that makes the cost, particularly in land, even higher to justify.

UP NORTH One part of the region where a convention center project has some momentum is 14 miles north of the Hyatt Regency — at the Bradenton Area Convention Center in Palmetto, Manatee County.

Activity is happening there on two fronts. For one, officials with the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau are preparing to go before Manatee County commissioners in March to propose a convention center expansion project that could be worth up to $17 million. If approved, the project would add some 20,000 square feet of space to the center, which is already 32,000 square feet. With capacity for 1,200 people under air conditioning in a banquet setting, it would be the largest convention center space from St. Pete through Naples, says Bradenton CVB Executive Director Elliott Falcione.

The last time the convention center, built in 1985, was renovated was in 2007. That was a $6.5 million project. But in championing the expansion, Falcione says it’s a bit of apples and oranges to compare it to the Hyatt Regency, which is on the water.

“These are two different models,” he says.

In addition to the convention center expansion, a California-turnedFlorida developer is building a 252room Marriott connected to the convention center. Tony DeRusso, with Improvement Network Development Partners, is building the hotel, branded the Marriott Palmetto Resort. The eight-story project, including a roof-top pool and restaurant, in addition to 10,000 square feet of convention and meeting space, is on target to be open in January 2024.

DeRusso, who says he moved from northern California to the region to oversee this project, looks at the Marriott as a 50-50 partner with the convention center in being an economic development magnet.

“We want to be able to attract Fortune 500 companies and CEOs here,” he says. “And to do that you need a full-service upscale hotel and a convention center.”

With the pending demolition of one major property, a go-to ballroom spot for Sarasota events is being taken off the board.

File photo Kolter Hospitality intends to demolish the Hyatt Regency in Sarasota and rebuild it into a Thompsonbranded hotel.

Courtesy renderings

Improvement Network Development Partners is building an eight-story hotel next to the Bradenton Area Convention Center.

A new 252room Marriott is planned for the Bradenton Area Convention Center in Palmetto.

SOTA at the center of ‘what’s happening next’

ANDREW WARFIELD STAFF WRITER

Rodrigo Trepp was visiting the east coast of Florida with his family on a half-vacation, half-site exploration tour for development sites for his company, Trepp Developments, when his financial partner, Michael Ealy, suggested he take a look at Sarasota.  That was in December 2019, just before the world turned upsidedown, but the city and Gulf Coast made a lasting impression. So much so that Trepp assembled a local team of well-known development and real estate names — Hoyt Architects, Michael Saunders and Joel Freedman — to help bring to life the Boliviabased company’s first U.S. project, SOTA Residences & Hotel, to the corner of Main Street and Goodrich Avenue.

Located at 1703 Main St., most well known as the  site of Il Panificio Pizzeria, SOTA will be a 16-story tower with 35 condominium residences, 120 hotel rooms managed by Tapestry Collection by Hilton, and a 4,500-square-foot restaurant. The company is developing SOTA under the entity 1703 Main Developers LLC.

SOTA is only the first project Trepp plans to build in Sarasota, where he plans to relocate his company. Trepp has set up an office at 741 S. Orange Ave. and is purchasing a home in Lakewood Ranch for his family, where he plans to move at

the end of the school year.

“When we got here we were in love with Sarasota because of the beaches, the people, everything,” Trepp said.

Making the decision to move here and develop in downtown was quick and easy.

“When we started looking around it was like this aha moment when you say this is the place we want to be,” he said.

Where he wants to develop, for the time being at least, is in downtown. With final approvals to build SOTA in hand, the company is already looking for its next site with an an emphasis on high-end boutique residential.

“We enjoy doing boutique, luxury, multifamily condominium developments, and I’m open to every every kind of business that could support the mission of the community,” Trepp said. “What we love about development is that when you do a development, you have a dream, and

•

•

Rodrigo Trepp likes the prospect of developing in Sarasota so much he’s moving his company and his family here from Bolivia. His first project, SOTA, breaks ground soon.

Courtesy photos

Rodrigo Trepp is president of Trepp Developments, which will build the 16-story SOTA in downtown Sarasota.

that dream adds to the community and also gives work to 200 or 300 families. That’s our purpose, not just a business. It has to have a purpose.”

‘WHAT’S HAPPENING NEXT’

One purpose of SOTA is to extend the lifestyle of the downtown core farther east on Main Street. SOTA, in fact, will be the only hotel on Main Street, several blocks removed from those along the bayfront. The location of SOTA is approximately at the mid-point between the heart of the downtown restaurant and entertainment scene and One Main Plaza, which will bring 418 luxury rental apartments and 55,000 square feet of street-level commercial and retail space a few blocks to the east.

That entire stretch of Main Street isn’t in the center of what’s happening now, but Trepp calls SOTA an opportunity to live and lodge “in the heart of what’s next.”

“We wanted a hotel there because there’s a lot of demand for a hotel, but also people want to be in the middle of downtown to walk around, not have to have a car, and be in the middle of everything,” Trepp said.

The 12-story building will stand above a four-level, 144-space parking structure that will offer valet parking for hotel guests and dedicated parking spaces for the residences.

Separate hotel and residential lobbies will be on the ground level with hotel and reception amenities on the fifth level. Six floors of condominium residences will be above the six hotel floors, starting on the 11th floor.

Amenities will include a restaurant and lounge that will be the centerpiece of the fifth floor, in addition to a pool and expansive pool deck with outdoor dining. A private residents’ club room with a catering kitchen and an outdoor terrace will be on the 16th floor.

Hoyt Architects of Sarasota is the building designer with interiors by New York City-based Andre Kikoski.

“Embracing Sarasota’s casual sense of refinement, we created gracious residence floor plans while appointing the spaces with a clean palette of soft neutral tones to offer a distinctly elevated approach to downtown living,” Kikoski said in a news release.

Michael Saunders & Company will market the two- and three-bedroom

condominiums starting at approximately $1.8 million. Beginning March 1, the sales gallery will be at 1734 Main St.

“Trepp Developments is bringing a compelling and unique offering to downtown Sarasota market by combining luxury residences with the amenities and personal services of a boutique hotel centrally located on Main Street,” said Michael Saunders in a news release. “We anticipate a strong market response to SOTA for buyers seeking refined design and an active, urban lifestyle.”

SOTA will stand next to the Sarasota Memorial Hospital Support Services building, fronting Main Street and Goodrich Avenue. That site is currently occupied by Il Panificio Pizzeria on Main Street and two other single-story buildings along Goodrich that house a number of businesses. The entrance and exit for the parking structure will be off Goodrich.

Nick Melone, the owner of Il Panificio, will own the restaurant in SOTA, which will be located on the ground floor fronting Main Street. Details about the restaurant remain under development.

THE MAGIC PEARL

For now at least, Trepp has abandoned developing on the east coast of Florida. Previously, he had been renovating fixer-uppers in the Fort Lauderdale area while considering locations for projects similar to those his company had built for more than a decade in Bolivia — boutique luxury condominiums.

The west coast has greater potential, he said, with plans to build a variety of luxury residential and commercial developments throughout Sarasota northward into the Tampa Bay area.

“I think when you have purpose in your life and your business, everything falls together,” Trepp said. “I love the west coast. I don’t know what God’s going to have planned for me, but I’ll keep going in whatever direction that I can take. With this mission and purpose of supporting communities, there are a lot of things we can do here.”

It all starts, though, in his new hometown.

“I think that Sarasota is like the magic pearl of the west coast of

Florida because it has been discovered business-wise and there’s a lot of movement going on in real estate here,” Trepp said. “All of the west coast is booming and also the east coast for bigger developments. Here it’s like a separate world. It’s more

stable. People are coming here with new families, retired people, people who want to enjoy arts and culture.

“This is an amazing lifestyle that you have here in Sarasota. It’s so comfortable, so quiet, so calm, but it’s also really fun.”

Located at 1703 Main Street in downtown Sarasota, SOTA Hotel & Residences will be a 16-story tower with 35 condominium residences and 120 hotel rooms managed by Tapestry Collection by Hilton.

SOTA offers six floors of condominium residences starting on the 11th floor. This rendering is a view from the terrace of a 16th floor unit.

Little restaurant, big debate

commercial uses.

ANDREW WARFIELD STAFF WRITER

Translated literally, Le Petite Brasserie means “the little restaurant.”

The path to city approval for the diminutive 1,200-squarefoot piano bar/eatery at the corner of South Pineapple and South Lemon avenues followed a big debate Tuesday before the City Commission as nearly two dozen residents of The Mark condominiums spoke in support of and in opposition to the proposal.

After three hours of talk interrupted by a lunch break, commissioners approved applications for a major conditional use permit and site plan approval by a 4-1 vote with Jen Ahearn-Koch opposed.

At the heart of the opposition was whether Le Petite Brasserie is a restaurant at all. With no on-site kitchen, the establishment cannot be categorized by city code as a restaurant. It will serve food prepared in a commissary kitchen, but plated behind the bar. Because it will include outdoor seating, it also could not legally operate as a bar. That leaves it in the category of a nightclub, a misnomer of sorts, argued consultant Joel Freedman, for it will not operate as a typical nightclub.

The piano will be located inside the building with amplification provided only for the singer, Freedman said. The patio seating will close at 11 p.m. weeknights, at midnight on weekends.

Still, the term “nightclub” leaves residents of The Mark anxious, particularly those whose condos are located directly above what is now a boarded up storefront, one of the commercial spaces in The Mark

owned by Ronnie Shugar.

Opponents charged approval of the business would violate the city’s zoning rules, which some commissioners and City Attorney Robert Fournier countered are flexible when it comes to exemptions in the Downtown Core district. Mostly, opponents cited the proximity directly across the street from First United Methodist Church, which is prohibited by the zoning code that requires a 500-foot separation between a nightclub and a church or school.

The church, though, does not oppose the project. And, Shugar and Freedman argued, Le Petite Brasserie is a nightclub only because it can’t be classified as anything else.

Shugar is planning an upscale cocktail lounge evoking the flair of a European sidewalk cafe. It requires a 4-COP liquor license to operate, qualifying it as a nightclub use, which is defined by the zoning code as “any restaurant, dining room, bar or similar establishment providing food or refreshments, which holds a

4-COP liquor license from the State Department of Business Regulation, Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco.”

“As I sat on the bench on the corner, I envisioned the Champs Élysées in France or the streets of Milan,” Shugar said of the space. “People could just enjoy that beautiful scenery and beautiful building and, as an upscale brasserie, a place where mature adults could go to have a drink of champagne, hors d’oeuvres and just enjoy the beauty and surroundings.”

Opponents who reside in The Mark, though, weren’t in such a Paris state of mind as they likened a “nightclub” to the considerably more intense nightlife on the opposite side of The Mark, specifically citing The Gator Club.

Although he insisted Le Petite will be nothing like the activity on the Main Street side of the building, Shugar cited documents signed by residents as they purchased their units that indemnify street-level

“Under nuisances I’ll read, and I quote, ‘Each unit owner by acceptance of a deed or otherwise acquiring title to a unit shall be deemed to understand and agree that if restaurants, cafes, bakeries or other food service operations are operated from the commercial units, such operations may result in the creation of noises and odors, which may affect all portions of the condominium property. Accordingly, each owner agrees that such noises and odors shall not be deemed a nuisance,’” he said. “I believe each and every one of these condo unit owners understood what they were buying.”

Regardless of language in purchase agreements, Ahearn-Koch said Le Petite does not meet the standards of the zoning code.

“A big piece of the conditional use and the site plan talks to having compatibility with the surrounding neighborhood, and it talks about hours of operation, noise, intensity, density, odor, and so forth. I do not see that it complies with those standards,” she said. “I do not believe that this complies with our definition of a restaurant. The meals are not being prepared in this structure … so I do not think that they meet the requirements of what a restaurant is. In that case, if it’s not a restaurant, then it is a bar, and we specifically do not allow outdoor bars in the city of Sarasota.”

In the end, four commissioners determined the little restaurant, albeit classified as a nightclub, is an appropriate use of the space that will have little, if any, impact on residents of The Mark.

Conditions of approval include the property having only a piano for live entertainment. There will be no dance floor, no DJ, no drinking games and no karaoke. Meals will be available to be served, selected from a menu, to customers during all operating hours. Piano music inside the space will end no later than midnight weeknights, 1 a.m. on weekends.

Dr. Boldo is board certified and fellowship trained in Internal Medicine and Endocrinology. She is also certified in endocrine neck ultrasound. Dr. Boldo specializes in diagnosis and medical management of thyroid and parathyroid disorders and metabolic bone disease including comprehensive osteoporosis treatment. Dr. Boldo is fluent in English, Portuguese, Spanish and German.

Board Certification: American Board of Internal MedicineEndocrinology

Medical School: Universidade Estadual De Campinas, Campinas, Brazil

ROAST BEEF

Residencies:

Universidade De Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil; University of Connecticut, Farmington, CT

Fellowship:

Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH

CLAM ROLL

CLAM CHOWDER

LOBSTER ROLL

For more than 70 years, Kelly’s Roast Beef has been the staple of the North Shore of Boston, renowned for its thinly sliced “meltin-your-mouth” roast-beef sandwiches and generous platters of Fresh New England seafood.

Whether it’s a nightclub or a restaurant, Le Petite Brasserie wins city approval. The piano bar/ eatery will occupy space at the base of The Mark condominiums.

Le Petite Brasserie will be near the corner of South Pineapple and South Lemon avenues next to The Mark condominiums.

Mind the Mental Health Gap

Nearly two years after forming a mental health district, the Sarasota County Commission has yet to distribute $8 million in funding. Now Commissioner Mike Moran wants to restructure the process — and change which services get funded.

recommendations for 12 programs that addressed eight of nine boardapproved priorities with a request to rebid priority eight: “Increase psychiatric and outpatient capacity, particularly child and adolescent psychiatry.”

AGENCIES/PROGRAMS POTENTIALLY TO BE DEFUNDED

Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders Association, Inc.

■ Sarasota County Caregiver Connection Program

Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast, Inc.

“If we are to build a better world, we must remember that the guiding principle is this — a policy of freedom for the individual is the only truly progressive policy.”

Friedrich Hayek “Road to Serfdom,” 1944

Once the champion behind creating a mental health taxing district to raise funds for mental health services, Commissioner Mike Moran seemed visibly upset during the Nov. 15, 2022 Sarasota County Commission meeting after the board-appointed Behavioral Health Advisory Council (BHAC) presented its funding recommendations, commenting, “Boy, we’ve lost our way.”

After years of research, surveys and hundreds of hours of volunteer committee work, the commission wants more time to discuss the process of funding human services and behavioral health programs and exactly what services should be funded with taxpayer dollars at a March 8 workshop.

“I don’t think there is another county in the country, especially in Florida, that has done as much research and no action has been done since 2018,” said Jennifer Johnston of the Gulf Coast Community Foundation and a member of BHAC. “The lack of action is not improving any outcomes, and many people are struggling.”

In 2018, a University of South Florida research scan of mental health services in Sarasota County commissioned by the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation and the Gulf Coast Community Foundation identified gaps in mental health, behavioral and human services. A year later, Moran first introduced the idea of a mental health taxing district. This prompted the county to launch its own survey on the proposed district in 2020, in which 79% of respondents said they would be willing to pay more taxes to support mental health services. Commissioners created the Mental Health Dependent Special District in June 2021 and discussed raising the millage rate 1/10 of a mill, which would generate $6.5 million for behavioral health funding.

Ultimately, the commission did not raise taxes but put together a task force to assess mental health needs and appointed seven behavioral health experts and professionals to the BHAC to recommend funding for agencies and programs with the potentially earned $6.5 million as a guide. In March of 2022, the commission allocated $8 million of APRA funds to be distributed by the BHAC over three years beginning in 2023. From June to September of 2022, BHAC conducted 18 site visits and volunteered 526 hours evaluating 35 program applications. It finalized its funding

The BHAC presented these recommendations to county commissioners in November 2022. That meeting is where Moran’s frustration surfaced, especially when it came to priority eight. The BHAC recommended that priority eight applicant, Teen Court of Sarasota, not be funded for its Mental Health Counseling Expansion and Screening program. Moran’s wife, Lori, is chief operating officer of Teen Court of Sarasota. (As of press time, Moran did not respond for comment.)

After much discussion, the commission decided to delay the funding decision until the newly elected commissioners were in place and continued the agenda item until January. Prior to the Jan. 31 commission meeting, Moran attended a BHAC meeting where he presented a new proposal to restructure the process and what programs should be funded, causing alarm among multiple human services and behavioral health agencies.

In Moran’s new proposal, the BHAC would be replaced by a fiveperson advisory board appointed by the county commissioners. This new board would give recommendations on where Sarasota County should be spending resources with the commission setting the final priorities and allocating funds to the county staff. Staff would then review grant applications and bring back their recommendations to the commissioners, who would discuss and vote on the final allocations.

Moran has also proposed that social economic programs, such as: housing subsidies, daycare subsidies, job training and free legal services, should be funded by nonprofits, community foundations, religious institutions and philanthropists. And that taxpayer dollars should fund the following:

■ Jail Diversion — Programs that help reduce jail population and/or diverts incarceration.

Examples: Substance abuse facilities, drug-free youth programs, youth court diversion programs and county jail programs.

■ Mental Health & Substance Abuse — Focus on individual & family counseling services. Examples: Any organization that directly provides or sub-contracts licensed counseling services to families or individuals for mental health and/ or substance abuse, including inpatient services.

■ Food, Shelter & Safety

— Basic human necessities such as nutrition and shelter. Examples: Food distribution, children’s supervised visitation programs, early childhood court, senior meal delivery programs, youth shelters and emergency shelters.

At a Behavioral Health Stakeholders Consortium meeting on Feb. 17, chaired by P.J. Brooks, COO of Community Assisted & Supported Living Inc. (CASL),the group

■ One to One Mentoring Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota and DeSoto Counties, Inc.

■ Boys & Girls Clubs

■ Teen Program

Children First, Inc.

■ Early Head Start/Early Childhood

Education (0-3 years old)

■ Early Head Start/Early

Childhood Education (3-5 years old)

■ Family First Institute/ Nurturing Dads (FFI)

Community Assisted & Supported Living, Inc.

(CASL)

■ 16th Street Renaissance Manor

■ Arbor Village Life Skills Support

Florida Center for Early Childhood, Inc. (The)

■ The Starfish Academy

Forty Carrots of Sarasota, Inc.

■ Parenting Program

Girls Incorporated of Sarasota County

■ Girls Inc.

Jewish Family & Children’s Services of the Suncoast Inc.

highlighted multiple agencies and programs have the potential to be defunded (see box), under Moran’s new proposal. These organizations collectively received $1,971,128 in county funding in 2022.

Jon Thaxton, Gulf Coast Community Foundation’s senior vice president for community leadership and former Sarasota County commissioner, reminds us how blessed Sarasota County is with philanthropy. “However, we have this expectation or sense of entitlement that foundations will do it. Government is responsible for the health, safety and welfare of its citizens. With mental health there is a group of citizens in crisis and declining. It’s the government’s duty to provide so people can live sustainable lives, not end up in jails or youth programs or become a suicide statistic. Foundations can add to that. If it were working the way it should, Sarasota County would have the model for the country.”

With all the time, research and expertise allocated to getting mental health services and funding correct thus far, we must be able to come to some sort of consensus so lives are not disrupted by programs and services going unfunded. Reach out to your commissioners and attend the workshop scheduled from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. March 8, at the Sarasota County Administration building.

■ Senior Outreach Services

Loveland Center, Inc. (The)

■ Adult Day Training (ADT)

NAMI Sarasota and Manatee Counties, inc.

■ NAMI EEC (Education, Empower, Connect)

Parenting Matters

■ Parent Partner Program

Safe Children Coalition, Inc.

■ Achievers

■ Home Instruction for

Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY)

Sarasota Housing Funding Corp.

■ Sarasota Housing Authority

Youth Thrive

School Readiness Coalition of Sarasota County, Inc.

(The) d/b/a/ Early Learning

Coalition of Sarasota County

■ Child Care Quality & Training

■ Child Care Training

Senior Friendship Centers, Inc.

■ Caregiver Resource Center

■ In-Home Case Managed Services

■ Senior Centers

Women’s Resource Center of Manatee, Inc.

■ Project UpLift

YMCA of Southwest Florida Inc. (FKA SKY Family Young Men’s Christian Association, Inc.)

■ Early Childhood Education Initiative

■ School Age Care

President and Publisher / Emily Walsh, EWalsh@YourObserver.com

Executive Editor and COO / Kat Wingert, KWingert@YourObserver.com

Sports Editor / Ryan Kohn, RKohn@YourObserver.com

Staff Writers / Andrew Warfield, AWarfield@YourObserver.com; Dariela Delgado, DDelgado@YourObserver.com

Digital & Engagement Editor / Kaelyn Adix, KAdix@YourObserver.com

Copy Editor / Gina Reynolds Haskins, GRHaskins@YourObserver.com

Senior Editorial Designer / Melissa Leduc, MLeduc@YourObserver.com

Black Tie Editor / Harry Sayer, HSayer@YourObserver.com

Director of Advertising / Jill Raleigh, JRaleigh@YourObserver.com

Sales Manager / Penny Nowicki, PNowicki@YourObserver.com

Regional Digital Director / Kathleen O’Hara, KOHara@YourObserver.com

Senior Advertising Executive / Laura Ritter, LRitter@YourObserver.com Advertising Executives / Richeal Bair, RBair@YourObserver.com; Beth Jacobson, BJacobson@YourObserver.com; Jennifer Kane, JKane@YourObserver.com; Honesty Mantkowski, HMantkowski@YourObserver. com; Toni Perren, TPerren@YourObserver. com; Brenda White, BWhite@ YourObserver.com

Classified Advertising Sales Executive / Lexi Huelsman, LHuelsman@ YourObserver.com

Sales Operations Manager / Susan Leedom, SLeedom@YourObserver.com

Sales Coordinator / Account Manager Lori Downey, LDowney@ YourObserver.com

Digital Fulfillment Specialist / Emma B. Jolly, EJolly@YourObserver.com

Director of Marketing / Robin Lankton, RLankton@YourObserver.com

Marketing Specialist / Melanie Melone, MMelone@YourObserver.com

Director of Creative Services / Caleb Stanton, CStanton@YourObserver.com

Creative Services Administrator / Marjorie Holloway, MHolloway@ YourObserver.com

Advertising Graphic Designers / Luis Trujillo, Taylor Poe, Louise Martin, Shawna Polana

Digital Developer / Jason Camillo, JCamillo@YourObserver.com

Director of Information Technology / Adam Quinlin, AQuinlin@YourObserver.com

Chief Financial Officer / Laura Strickland, LStrickland@YourObserver.com

Controller / Rafael Labrin, RLabrin@ YourObserver.com

Office and Accounting Coordinator / Donna Condon, DCondon @YourObserver.com

Observer Media Group Inc. is locally owned.

Publisher of the Longboat Observer, East County Observer, Sarasota/Siesta Key Observer, Palm Coast Observer, Ormond Beach Observer, West Orange Times & Observer, Southwest Orange Observer, Business Observer, Jacksonville Daily Record, LWR Life Magazine, Baldwin Park Living Magazine and Season Magazine

CEO / Matt Walsh

Vice President / Lisa Walsh

Chairman Emeritus / David Beliles

1970 Main St. Sarasota, FL 34236 941-366-3468

EMILY WALSH

Bath & Racquet neighbors file suit in court

A complaint filed by nearby residents alleges that the city failed to follow its own rules to deny hearing their appeal.

ANDREW WARFIELD

STAFF WRITER

Redevelopment of Sarasota’s Bath & Racquet Club into a multiuse residential and recreational project hasn’t cleared the net just yet.

The combination condominium, commercial and private tennis and pickleball club is now the subject of legal volleying as a number of residences surrounding the site have filed for a writ of certiorari, seeking judicial review and a reversal of minor conditional use and site plan approval of the project.

On Feb. 8, the complaint was filed in the 12th Judicial Circuit Court, challenging the project’s approval.

The petitioners cite a number of alleged irregularities and inconsistencies with the zoning code, and that their appeal was never heard by the City Commission because their aggrieved persons status was improperly dismissed.

In Florida state courts, a writ of certiorari refers to a proceeding in which a party asks a district court of appeal to review a decision of a trial court. Because the Bath & Racquet approval occurred in a quasi-judicial process, the city is effectively the trial court in question.

The petitioners filed the complaint with the 12th Circuit Court on Feb. 8. The city attorney’s office received the order to show cause from the court on Feb. 15, giving it until March 17 to respond to the petition. Once it does, the petitioners will have 20 days to file a reply.

The complaint also names Bath & Racquet Club developer Sarasota Springs LLC as a respondent.

In November 2022, the Planning Board by a 3-2 vote gave final approval to Bath & Racquet, a plan

that includes 256 condominiums and 65,448 square feet of office and retail space in addition to restoration of the venerable tennis club with 16 tennis and 16 pickleball courts, plus pool and fitness facilities. In July 2021, the City Commission approved rezoning of the site to facilitate the project.

The Planning Board’s final approval was appealed to the City Commission, which on Jan. 9 declined to take up the appeal, ruling by a 4-1 vote — with Jen Ahearn-Koch opposed — that the surrounding residents failed to meet the standards of aggrieved persons, which is required to allow the action to proceed.

An aggrieved party is defined as any whose personal, property or financial interests or rights are negatively impacted by another’s action or by a statute, judgment or order. An aggrieved party is entitled to challenge a decision or action legally in court.

All of the 19 petitioners reside on either on Mill Terrace, which runs alongside the southern boundary of the site, or Riverview Court, which ends in a cul-de-sac abutting the western side.

“This is a challenge to quasi-judicial application for minor conditional use and site plan approval that is properly brought by petition for writ of certiorari,” the complaint reads.

“The minor conditional use and site plan should have been denied for failing to meet the requirements of the city of Sarasota code.”

The complaint challenges the determination that the appeal was not heard by the City Commission because the parties lacked standing.

In addition, petitioners site:

Insufficient landscape buffer.

n Missing buffer along northern boundary.

n Missing buffer along eastern boundary.

n Improperly configured buffer along southern and eastern boundaries.

n Improperly configured buffer along the north portion of eastern boundary.

n Improperly configured buffer along the east portion of southern boundary.

n Building coverage exceeds the maximum allowed.

n Tree preservation parking cred-

its improperly taken.

n Missing parking spaces for proposed outdoor recreation use.

n Missing parking spaces for proposed stadium use. The plan includes a grandstand area.

The complaint states a failure to provide parking spaces to meet the minimum requirements of the parking code. It alleges 746 total parking spaces are required by code, but only 507 are provided.

In addition, it alleges the site plan cannot be approved because the city’s Development Review Committee sign-off on the project was not complete, specifically a failure of the site plan to show sufficient lighting and drainage information.

The Bath & Racquet Club has been closed since 2020. Tucked behind Trader Joe’s off  U.S. 41 on Robinhood Street, the property was acquired by Sarasota Springs LLC in January 2022 for $15.35 million with the intention to build the plan conceived for prior owner Mark Lucas by the Sarasota architecture firm Halflants + Pichette.

Should the project move forward as planned, condos will be offered in 84

THE PETITIONERS

Name, address and proximity to the Bath & Racquet Club project.

n Daniel Shanahan, 2113 Mill Terrace, Abuts.

n Margaret Shanahan 2113 Mill Terrace, Abuts.

n Shannon (Clarke) Wight 2205 Mill Terrace, Abuts.

n Caitlin Miller 2217 Mill Terrace, Abuts.

n Luis Tamayo 2121 Mill Terrace, Abuts. Khalin Van Raadhorst 2121 Mill Terrace, Abuts.

n Brennan Troyer, 2212 Riverwood Court, Adjacent.

n James Guttridge, 2233 Riverwood Court, 180 feet.

n Karen Guttridge, 2233 Riverwood Court, 180 feet.

n Cheryl Boldin, 2230 Mill Terrace, <500 feet.

n James Boldin, 2230 Mill Terrace, <500 feet.

n Mary Brown, 2276 Riverwood Court, 430 feet.

n Ben Cannon, 2277 Riverwood Court, 415 feet.

n Hysen Muhametaj, 2130 Mill Terrace, <500 feet.

n Garrett R. Shaffer, 2254 Riverwood Court, 330 feet.

n Glenna Shrock, 2255 Riverwood Court, 304 feet.

n Ronald Solt, 2232 Riverwood Court, 220 feet.

n Michael Speth, 2246 Mill Terrace, <500 feet.

n Jennifer Zak, 2216 Mill Terrace, <500 feet.

one-, 112 two- and 51 three-bedroom models ranging from 700 to 2,200 square feet. Of the one-bedroom units, 15% will be reserved as attainable housing. They will include the same floor plans and finishes as the market rate units, and will be scattered throughout the community. A percentage of the condos will be held by the developer as rentals and may be sold individually at a later date. Built in 1969, the club had 29 courts when it closed, in addition to several racquetball courts and a swimming pool.

Courtesy rendering

The planned Bath & Racquet redevelopment includes apartments surrounding a private tennis, pickleball and swim club.

1372 Point Crisp ON SIESTA KEY $5,750,000

2 BAY VIEWS! Modern masterpiece with walls of glass and expansive north and south Bay views. Perfect escape, stunning Siesta Key home on exclusive Point Crisp. Guest casita, private beach, dock and pool.

16,872 SqFt Lot

MLS A4555983

OPENSUN12-3

3455 Anglin Dr $2,350,000 TOTALLY RENOVATED! Open floorplan, perfect for entertaining. On Bay Island, just minutes to the mainland, yet close to Siesta Key Beach and Siesta Village. New heated salt water pool and inviting outdoor living spaces. Move in ready.

MLS A4557968

22 Sandy Cove #502 $1,800,000 SIESTA KEY PENTHOUSE. Gulf front private beach. Panoramic views of the Gulf and Cedar Lake. 3 en suite bedrooms. Completely renovated unit in coveted Sandy Cove. Kayak storage, fishing pier. Near the Village. Big dogs welcome.

MLS A4533408

Affordable housing project granted 3-year extension

cell: 941-914-5540 betsy@betsydemanio.com

1030 Sylvan Dr $1,899,000 SYLVAN SHORES. Waterfront investment opportunity. Build your dream home or rent the existing cottage on Whitaker Bayou, just north of Downtown Sarasota. Direct access to the Bay.

MLS A4536183

As the city continues to craft plans to incentivize and encourage workforce and attainably priced housing, a developer that specializes in that market is demonstrating how difficult such projects are to finance and build.

On Tuesday, the City Commission unanimously approved a threeyear extension for plans by One Stop Housing of Sarasota for its proposed Sarasota Station development just north of Fruitville Road in the Park East neighborhood, just east of Gillespie Park. Led by Mark Vengroff, whose late father, Harvey, first conceived the idea in 2016, One Stop Housing wants to build 393 apartments over three phases at the site of a Vengroff Williams Inc. call center and vacant industrial property. At least 20% of the units would be priced at or below 80% of the county’s area median income (AMI).

One Stop was seeking a two-year extension of the timeline to secure its first building permit, but at the suggestion of Commissioner Erik Arroyo amended that request to three years.

The project has had a number of setbacks since its conception, including the death of Harvey Vengroff in 2018, followed by the challenges posed by COVID-19.

said attorney Alicia Lewis, who represents One Stop Housing.

In 2021, One Stop requested and received a two-year extension to begin construction, but found it still needed more time.

“I would love to promise you 100% that we won’t be back asking for more time, but as you all know unforeseen circumstances happen,” Lewis said.

“Our goal is within this timeframe to pull that first building permit so that you can start to see some vertical construction on this site.”

Although 20% of the apartments renting at or below 80% AMI is the minimum target, commissioners asked if that number could be higher. Vengroff replied that it all depends on the availability of financing favorable to affordable housing projects.

“That (20%) is what we are committing to, but our goal is to make it 100% affordable,” Vengroff said.

File photo

This nearly 8-acre site at 2211 Fruitville Road is proposed for Sarasota Station, a nearly 400-unit affordable rental community with at least 20% of the apartments priced at or below 80% of the city’s average median income.

cell: 201-233-1959 Jackie@JackieEberley.com demanioeberleygroup.com

“The project was initially approved in 2016, and in 2018 we believed that we were going to proceed as scheduled within five years and be able to obtain the first building permit,”

“One of the biggest hurdles for affordable housing is the financing for developers. That’s something that we’re pushing through, but the more that we commit to, the harder it is to finance that type of project. If we can do 80% — if we can do 99% — we will do it. But if we commit to that today, when we go to finance the construction of the project, it may be very difficult to do.”

398936-1

ANDREW WARFIELD STAFF WRITER

With setbacks including the death of Harvey Vengroff and COVID-19, the Sarasota City Commission grants One Stop Housing more time to begin building apartments in Park East.

Parklet dining gets a six-month stay

ANDREW WARFIELD STAFF WRITER

As the March 31 sunset for parklet dining draws near, the Sarasota City Commission instructed staff on Tuesday to develop a permanent program to permit restaurants in downtown and at St. Armands Circle to occupy street parking spaces for outdoor dining.

The COVID-era program that helped restaurants stay in business by adding seating outdoors received a three-month extension in December, time to allow City Attorney Robert Fournier to craft an opinion on the legal aspects of parklet dining.

He found that many cities in Florida have implemented programs for restaurants to continue the practice.

On Tuesday, commissioners unanimously approved a six-month extension of parklets and directed Fournier to draft an ordinance for consideration. The action also includes a town hall session to gather public input.

Fournier told commissioners an ordinance should include a specific set of design and engineering standards for restaurants to follow. Currently, parklets range from metal barricades surrounding a parking space to permanent-looking installations that evoke an outdoor extension of the restaurant.

“A lot of places have particular design standards. Some require a certain type of platform be elevated for safety, limitations on the kind and placement of furniture, ADA compliance, specific minimum distance from curbs, specific barrier requirements,” Fournier said. “What I would envision if this went forward would be some kind of a manual or set of rules prepared by engineering that would be incorporated into

an ordinance that someone who got permission to do this would have to comply with.”

Jen Ahearn-Koch pushed fellow commissioners for data on parklets’ benefit for surrounding businesses and not only the restaurants that use them. Both the Downtown Improvement District and St. Armands Business Improvement District, she noted, have opposed parklets.

“I am in support of gathering information to make a wellinformed decision,” she said. “I will support the motion because I hope it will gather information and data for us to base a decision on, but generally I would like to base my decision on something concrete.”

One objection is the loss of parking spaces near the doors to other downtown businesses, particularly when some parklets are not in use.

“This is a usual refrain in cities across the country where if you take away any parking at all, the businesses say this is hurting us,” said Vice Mayor Liz Alpert. “But what they find is when you create this atmosphere like the parklets create, the businesses find that they benefit. People think that if we don’t have (parklets) then their customers are going to be able to park right in front of their store. That’s not true. You never can expect that your customer is going to be able to park right in front of your store.”

More than a dozen restaurants are permitted for parklets, and pay $25 per parking space per day.

The use of city street parking spaces for outdoor dining is extended through September as the city develops rules.

Building events center piqued interest of new COO

same thing ... again and again.”

Our Two Exciting Series

Sarasota • Venice • Lakewood Ranch LECTURE SERIES

Order tickets and complete program details: sillsarasota.org

Next Week’s Programs Include:

Music Mondays

MUSICAL CONVERSATIONS WITH GREAT PERFORMERS

Monday, February 27 Sarasota,10:30 am - Venice, 3:00 pm

Stefan Jackiw, Violin

One of America’s foremost violinists, combining poetry and purity with an impeccable technique, he is hailed for playing of “uncommon musical substance” that is “striking for its intelligence and sensitivity” (Boston Globe).

Global Issues

Tuesday, February 28 Sarasota,10:30 am - Venice, 2:30 pm

Rivers of Iron: High-Speed Railroads and Chinese Power in Southeast Asia

Dr. David Lampton will discuss: What are the implications of China’s infrastructure push abroad?

Wednesday, March 1 Sarasota,10:30 am

U.S.- China Relations: Where Are They Headed Now? Since Richard Nixon went to China fi y years ago, relations with Beijing has become Washington’s most important single bilateral relationship. Was “Engagement” a big mistake? Dr. David Lampton will discuss: Where are U.S.-China relations headed now?

Thursday, March 2 Sarasota,10:30 am Lakewood Ranch, 5:00 Friday, March 3 Venice,10:00 am

India and the World: Its Rise, Power, and Influence Dr Manjari Chatterjee Miller discusses the history of India’s foreign policy, its U.S./China relationships, and how that shapes its role on the global stage.

JAY HEATER MANAGING EDITOR

Michael Taaffe, chair of the Nathan Benderson Park Conservancy’s Board of Trustees, said a new chief operating officer was needed to take the park in a new direction.

After talking to a reporter Feb. 10 about landing that job, Bruce Patneaude demonstrated why he likes that direction.

Instead of heading back to his office, he walked to another area of the park to meet with his maintenance crew.

“I’m a hands-on kind of guy,” Patneaude said.

In his previous 12 years as vice president of operations at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Patneaude had overseen more than $100 million in new construction. At times, though, he lost the ability to get his hands dirty.

And, as he said, “I was doing the

When he accepted a job as Nathan Benderson Park Conservancy’s vice president of operations this past August, he did so with the expectations that he would be involved on all levels of park operations.

Of special interest to him would be the ability to put his own stamp on the park’s planned $40 million, 100,000-square-foot boathouse and indoor events center.

Sarasota County commissioners voted 5-0 in May 2022 to commit $20 million in tourist tax money toward the boathouse and events center. At the time, Taaffe said the conservancy had about $7 million to put toward the $40 million. Last week he said about three-quarters of the funds have been raised.

Taaffe and his board saw Patneaude as the perfect guy to take the park forward. Thus, the promotion to COO on Feb. 8.

“With our planning to build a multisports facility project, his background fits perfectly with this new phase for the park,” Taaffe said. “He managed a staff of 150 (at IMG). He is perfectly aligned to go where we are going.”

While Taaffe said the board has the concept for the new facility in mind, they are visiting boathouses and indoor events facilities around

SARASOTA INSTITUTE OF LIFETIME LEARNING

Former IMG executive Bruce Patneaude wants to put his stamp on Nathan Benderson Park.

Jay Heater

Bruce Patneaude, who served the previous 12 years as vice president of operations at IMG Academy in Bradenton, said he looks forward to being the Nathan Benderson Park Conservancy’s COO.

PARK PROMOTION

BRUCE PATNEAUDE

What: New COO of the Nathan Benderson Park Conservancy

Family: Bruce and wife, Linda, have five children Former job: 12 years working as vice president of operations at IMG Academy Did you know? Patneaude has overseen more than $100 million of new construction at IMG Academy

the country to get more ideas.

“We are working with an architect on a conceptual plan, but we have not selected a final architect,” Taaffe said.

Taaffe said he hopes planning for the new facility is done this spring and then those plans will be presented to Sarasota County commissioners.

“I have a big project,” Patneaude said with a smile. “It’s one I can make my own. This is a new challenge.”

While the board would like construction on the new boathouse/ events center to begin as soon as possible, Patneaude said there is no pressure to hurry.

“We just visited Rock Hill and Spartanburg, South Carolina just to get ideas,” Patneaude said of looking at other events facilities. “It’s all coming together, but we will know (it’s time for construction) when we know. We don’t want to do it twice.”

Besides supervising construction of a new $40 million facility, Patneaude has to run a county park that has become known as North America’s top rowing facility.

“Our first challenge was the hurricane (Ian),” he said. “In January, we put the course back together, but the docks were destroyed.”

The park also suffered damage to its wave attenuator and suffered erosion on its south shore. The damage was estimated at $3 million to fix.

It all needs to be fixed by March when major rowing events begin.

“It should all come together by the end of this month,” Patneaude said.

Although Patneaude is a “weekend warrior” in terms of running and biking, he said he knows little about

rowing except what he has learned by being on his new job since last August.

“I get plenty of great support here,” he said.

He has Bob Whitford, the former operations and facilities manager at Nathan Benderson Park, on speed dial. Whitford resigned in 2020 to become Sacramento State’s facilities director in Sacramento, California.

Whitford was hired in 2010 to help guide the construction of the 600acre park and to help design the rowing facility. When Whitford left, the park had struggled for years to raise the money for what was planned as a $10 million boathouse.

Patneaude said Whitford has been wonderful in answering any question he might have.

Patneaude replaced Stephen Rodriguez, who had served the nonprofit both as a chief executive officer and a chief operating officer. Rodriguez was hired in 2017 by the nonprofit, then known as Suncoast Aquatic Nature Center Associates. Shortly after his hiring, Rodriguez guided the park through the 2017 World Rowing Championships and many major events afterward.

“He has resigned as an employee,” Taaffe said of Rodriguez. “We are trying to come up with a position as a consultant for him. He is good at attracting events to the park. He was very good at that.”

Rodriguez had been acting as the park’s CEO since Tomás HerreraMishler left in 2021 after just a year at the post.

“We are not immediately going to replace that position,” Taaffe said.

“And we are not going to attach that (to Patneaude). We have consultants looking at what we need to do.”

Taaffe, a partner at Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, said the goals at Nathan Benderson Park remain the same. He said, first and foremost, it is a community park and must serve the public in that regard. The programs and community outreach remains the priority.

The next goal is to continue to host quality events, whether that means fireworks, or a circus or rowing events.

The third major goal is to maintain the park’s grounds and structure.

SATURDAY, FEB. 11

NEITHER RAIN NOR SLEET NOR ROADBLOCK

6:15 a.m., intersection of Main Street and Osprey

A truck driver accused of going postal behind the wheel was investigated after an incident during which the driver traveled through an area blocked to set up a street festival. The driver was making a delivery to the U.S. Post Office when he turned onto Main Street between two widely spaced barricades before being stopped by several people who stood in front of the truck. er contacted by police, the driver said he saw the signs for the roadblock, but they were spaced far apart and saw other vehicles moving about the street, so he assumed the street was still open. Those other vehicles were associated with individuals setting up displays for an art fair. He advised that once he entered the street, he was surrounded by people who were shouting at him to leave.

He continued to slowly advance as someone was beating on the hood of the truck and he felt unsafe. The complainant said at no point was the man driving aggressively or at a high rate of speed. The officer advised the complainant to move the signs closer together and no further action was taken.

plainant wants the phone returned because she is still paying for it. She was advised her complaint is civil in nature and she will have to sue the nanny for return of the phone.

MONDAY, FEB. 13

A HAIRY SITUATION

adding her line to the family’s account. An officer heard from the complainant who said she hired the woman, whom she found on Facebook, to care for her children after moving to Sarasota in November 2022. Mother and nanny became close, the complainant said, and in December the nanny talked her into purchasing the phone, valued at $700, and adding her line to the family’s account. The complainant further advised she funded a Brazilian butt lift and liposuction procedures, which cost $3,600, as she “felt bad” for the woman because she could not have what she had. The complainant said she now cannot contact the alleged grifter because her phone number and all social media accounts have been blocked. Although she cannot repossess a butt lift, the com-

3:47 p.m., 3800 block of North Washington Boulevard

Civil dispute: A fractured business relationship between partners in a salon brought officers to settle a dispute at the business. The complainant asked police to remove her former partners, advising that she had been removed from the limited liability corporation while she was recently out to undergo and recover from surgery.

The partnership dispute erupted when the complainant insisted the other two partners pay her half of the rent while she was unable to work. The officers informed the complainant they had no cause to remove the former partners, who advised they will be removing their property from the premises and will be splitting from the complainant.

Fast Break

Rebound the basketball too. That’s all we need to do.”

Mooney will play King’s Academy (23-4) in the state semifinals on Feb. 22 at Lakeland’s RP Funding Center, with the winner advancing to the championship game at 10 a.m. Feb. 25. Mooney would play either Miami Country Day School (23-7) or Providence School (22-5) in that game.

Mooney is the No. 3 ranked team in Class 3A according to MaxPreps; King’s Academy is No. 4, while Miami Country Day School is No. 1 and Providence School is No. 9. To bring home a title, Mooney will need to play its best basketball, something that Davis is expressing to her teammates.

“All eight of us have to go,” Davis said. “Each one of us has an important role. As long as we maximize our roles, we’re going to win.”

non (9).

Cardinal Mooney High senior Jack MacKinnon announced Feb. 18 that he was committing to the University of Michigan football team as a preferred walk-on. MacKinnon, a 6-foot-4 defensive end, was previously committed to play baseball at the University of South Florida. He recorded 58 tackles (26 tackles for loss) and 13 sacks in 2022.

Former Riverview High baseball pitcher Karson Ligon a sophomore at the University of Miami, started his 2023 season in sparkling fashion, allowing a single run over 6.2 innings with two strikeouts against Penn State University and collecting the win.

The Sarasota Sharks swim team won the Women’s Team Championship and the Combined Team Championship at the Speedo Southern Zone Sectional Championships, held Feb. 9-12 in Orlando.

The Sarasota Invitational Regatta is happening Feb. 2426 at Nathan Benderson Park. The event will feature youth, middle school, high school and masters rowers from across the state and will include Sarasota Crew, Sarasota Scullers and Manatee County Youth Rowing. The event is free for spectators. For more information visit NathanBendersonPark.org.

Riverview High cornerback Charles Lester III added to his status as a blue-chip national prospect when Rivals named him the top cornerback in the Class of 2024 on Feb. 17. Lester is currently uncommitted.

The Baltimore Orioles will begin their spring training slate of games at 1:05 p.m. Feb. 25 against the Minnesota Twins. You can visit Orioles.com to look at the full game schedule (and promotions schedule) and purchase tickets. See you at Ed Smith Stadium.

BACK AGAIN

Two area girls basketball teams are headed to Lakeland for states as Cardinal Mooney and Booker earned spots in the Final Four.

RYAN KOHN SPORTS EDITOR

This one means more to Olivia Davis.

The Cardinal Mooney senior girls basketball star, who is committed to the University of Tampa, had her eyes well with tears as she hugged her teammates. The Cougars (20-5) had just secured a 56-52 win over Tampa Prep (22-5) Feb. 17 in the Florida High School Athletic Association Class 3A regional finals. The win sent the Cougars to the state Final Four in Lakeland for the third-straight season.

Like in 2022, the Cougars are not alone in representing Sarasota at the Final Four. Booker High (22-7) also reached the state tournament again after a 61-48 win over the Academy of the Holy Names (24-7) Feb. 17. Both programs will be looking for a title win this time; Booker bowed out in the 2022 semifinals while Cardinal Mooney lost 44-41 to Westminster Academy in the championship game.

A shot at redemption is partially why Davis was feeling strong emotions after the Tampa Prep win, but so was the game itself, which Mooney led by nearly 20 points in the second half before Tampa Prep attempted a breakneck comeback. Davis made just two of her 10 shots, but one was a layup and foul late in the game that helped put the Cougars ahead for good.

“This one meant everything,” Davis said. “It was my last home game. It was a hard one to take in, especially in crunch time. I think that last (shot) was a key factor. I said, ‘Come on guys, we have got to get this.’

“It’s my senior year. I don’t plan on losing again.”

Mooney Coach Marlon Williams was not pleased with his team’s fundamentals down the stretch of the Tampa Prep game, particularly its offensive turnovers, which allowed the Terrapins easy points in transition. But he was proud of how the team fixed its mistakes.

It was clear to Williams what his message to his team will be in the days before the state tournament.

“Try not to turn the ball over and move your feet,” Williams said with a grin. “Play defense, how about that?

POTENTIAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME MATCHUPS

CARDINAL MOONEY HIGH

(20-5)

Who: Cardinal Mooney would play either Miami Country Day School (23-7) or Providence School (22-5) in the Class 3A state championship game.

When: 10 a.m. Feb. 25.

Where: RP Funding Center in Lakeland.

But first: Mooney has to beat King’s Academy (23-4) on Feb. 22. Check YourObserver.com for results.

BOOKER HIGH (22-7)

Who: Booker would play Bishop Kenny High (29-1, No. 2) or Cardinal Gibbons High (22-5, No. 4) in the Class 4A state championship game.

When: 12:30 p.m. Feb. 25.

Where: RP Funding Center in Lakeland.

But first: Booker has to beat Lake Highland Prep (23-6) on Feb. 23. Check YourObserver. com for results.

Across town, Booker is preparing for its semifinal matchup against Lake Highland Prep (23-6), the No. 1 ranked team in Class 4A according to MaxPreps. Booker is ranked No. 7. If the Tornadoes can knock off the Highlanders, the championship game may represent a slight downgrade in opponent: the winner will face either Bishop Kenny High (29-1, No. 2) or Cardinal Gibbons High (225, No. 4) at 12:30 p.m. Feb. 25.

Booker knows how tough of a challenge the Highlanders can be. Last season, the Tornadoes lost to Lake Highland in this round, 73-51. The Highlanders have a sizable core of that team back, while the Tornadoes have had to deal with more substantial roster changes. Dealing with those has made Coach Ty Bryant especially proud of his team.

“What (are) they gonna say now!”

Bryant tweeted after his team’s win over Holy Names, a direct message to anyone in the basketball community who doubted the Tornadoes’ resolve. Booker has handled the challenges put in its way, but Lake Highland will represent the biggest yet. A win would bring the team full-circle from a year ago.

Helping matters has been the explosion of junior Jakai Peterson, who is averaging 20.4 points per game over her last five games. Senior guard Sariah Bradley has also been filling the basket, scoring 14 and 17 points in her last two games, respectively. But the key to Booker’s success remains its defensive tenacity: no opponent has scored 50 points or more on the Tornadoes since Jan. 25, when Parrish Community High did it — but Booker still won that game, 58-53.

Holding Lake Highland under 50 will be the team’s biggest task yet. The Highlanders average 67.8 points per game and spread their scoring around, with six players averaging at least 8.3 points per game.

Check YourObserver.com for updates.

“This one meant everything. It was my last home game. It was a hard one to take in, especially in crunch time. I think that last (shot) was a key factor. I said, ‘Come on guys, we have got to get this.’

Olivia Davis

“I think we have all the talent in the world to get where we want to be. ”

— Riverview High’s Billy Snyder

Courtesy photo Cardinal Mooney senior Jack MacKin-

Photos by Ryan Kohn

Booker High junior Jakai Peterson drives the lane against Gibbs.

Cardinal Mooney senior Olivia Davis (12) hugs sophomore teammate Kali Barrett after securing a spot in the Final Four.

PROSE AND KOHN RYAN KOHN

Climb of a lifetime

Steph Davis will always push forward.

It was one of the first lessons she learned as a burgeoning rock climber, on the side of Fitzroy mountain range in Patagonia, Argentina, in 1996. She was stuck 3,000 feet in the air, her tent suspended by ropes and battered by the elements: a raging, windy snowstorm that seemed like it would never die. She had already tried to wait out the storm for days at the mountain’s base before beginning her climb, in hopes of clear skies, and she was low on food and the fuel used to melt the snow on the mountain into water. Things were dire.

Not wanting to risk her life any further, she turned around. Davis failed to climb any of Fitzroy’s seven peaks on that trip. She was, in her own words, demoralized.

But she went back, again and again, until she became the first woman to summit all seven of them.

“The weather didn’t get better (on those trips),” Davis, now 49, said. “The mountains didn’t get easier. What changed was my mindset. I accepted that going forward might mean going sideways or even backwards for a while, because eventually I would get somewhere. The only thing that really mattered was the simple decision to start.”

Davis shared the anecdote at a speaking event hosted by Stifel, a financial services firm, at The RitzCarlton, Sarasota, on Feb. 16. Her talk had little to do with money. It had plenty to do with risk, something that Davis faces each time she starts a new extreme sports challenge. She’s succeeded on many of them, often spectacularly so. In addition to her Patagonia feats, Davis was the second woman to free climb Yosemite National Park’s El Capitan mountain in a day, and the first woman to free climb the

mountain’s notorious 3,000-foot Salathé Wall. She also BASE jumps, skydives and flies in a wingsuit in her free time, in case rock climbing wasn’t thrilling enough. In 2017, Men’s Journal named Davis one of the 25 most adventurous women of the past 25 years.

“It’s a lot of balancing going on between them all the time,” Davis said of her exploits after the event. “It makes it fun for me and keeps it fresh.”

Davis was hooked from the first time she stepped foot on a mountain as a freshman at the University of Maryland, taking a day trip with a guy she randomly met to Carderock Park in Bethesda— a paltry climb compared to what she does now. But the experience was enough to hook her for life.

“It was a whole new world that I had not experienced before,” Davis said. “Today, with social media, everybody sees everything all the time, but back then, it was this weird, unknown thing.”

She quickly moved on to bigger mountains with higher levels of difficulty, and that’s where the need to push forward — both physically and mentally — began. The risk of what Davis does is real. When Davis was stuck on the side of Fitzroy waiting out the snowstorm, she thought about climbers who had died during the attempt, one of whom’s frozen body remained close to where she sat; no one was able to retrieve it. In 2013, Davis’ second husband, Mario Richard, died during a wingsuit jump in Italy. No matter how much preparation someone has, one slip or absent-minded mistake can turn into tragedy. Moving on from Richard’s accident was the hardest thing she’s had to do, Davis said.

Still, she persists because it’s all she knows how to do.

“My parents (Virgil Davis and Connie Davis) have struggled with it,” Davis said. “It’s been 30 years

now, so they have slowly gotten used to it, but they still have some concerns. And at the beginning it was, ‘This whole thing is dangerous. Where are you going all the time?

You’re in some foreign country and not getting a good job? What are you going to do?’ It was extremely hard for them.”

Davis spent many of her early climbing years living out of a handme-down Oldsmobile in Moab, Utah, training as much as she could while waiting tables for just enough money to afford food, beverages and a little bit of gear. Earlier, Davis worked as a teaching assistant for a small stipend while getting her master’s degree in literature at Colorado State University. At all times she kept her overhead as low as possible, Davis said, and still does.   Thirty years later, Davis has indeed made it work, but she’s not one to look back on her accomplishments satisfied, or at all. Davis married her third husband, skydiving instructor Ian Mitchard, in November 2018, and she said Mitchard often encourages her to be happy with what she’s done.

Davis, a self-professed perfectionist, is not, usually reflecting on her deeds with little more than a shrug, or pivoting to thoughts about a new challenge that hasn’t gone as well as she would like.

“I think having an analytic and evaluation-based approach is important for safety, success and achievement,” Davis said. “But it also can be hard to get excited about yourself. There’s more humility than there is self-congratulation.”

Eventually, the push forward will stop, either by choice or by the forces of nature. Davis said she knows that one day, she will no longer have the skill she once did, and that fact may increase the risk to a point where it no longer makes sense to continue. But she’s been saying variations on “This won’t last” for 30 years. It’s now 2023, and she’s still going. Davis said she feels as capable as she ever has.

Until that changes, saying

“enough” won’t even enter her mind.

“I hear people say, ‘Oh, I’m injured, and it’s because I’m getting older,’” Davis said. “But you got injured 30 years ago, too. That’s part of being an athlete. Why does it (being older) mean you can’t get better? It doesn’t make any sense.

“We get into this mentality and I don’t think it’s the right way to look at it. Maybe, physically, we can continue to take care of ourselves and improve. It seems like that so far, for me.”

Courtesy photo

Steph Davis said she has not considered a timetable for slowing down her climbing career, though she’s been doing it for three decades.

Ryan Kohn

Steph Davis said pushing forward is a choice, and that changing her mindset to always start a challenge instead of hesitating has helped her climbing career.

Billy Snyder

Billy Snyder is a senior on the Riverview High boys lacrosse team. Snyder scored the game-winning goal with 5.8 seconds left Feb. 21 in the Rams’ 9-8 road win against Sarasota High.

When did you start playing lacrosse?

I have been playing since third grade because I grew up in Columbia, Maryland, where lacrosse is popular. I actually took a bit of a break from it. I played soccer for a while. I came back to lacrosse in seventh grade and I have played ever since.

What is the appeal to you?

First off, I love my boys. I love my team. I moved down here during the pandemic and it was hard to meet people while wearing masks and staying 6 feet apart. The first time I got to meet people for real was with this team. They helped me feel comfortable and turned this place into a home.

What is your best skill?

I feel like I’m a ground ball machine, especially last game. I’m going to have quite a few bruises from running up and down the field and getting hacked the whole time, but I like doing it, even though it winds me.

What have you been working to improve?

Definitely my shooting. I used to have a good shot, but I started fo cusing on other things and I feel like I lost some of that ability, especially shooting high. I’m trying to get that back.

What happened on the gamewinning goal?

Well, I got two feeds in those last 30 seconds. I’m lucky. The first one, I wasn’t in the right place and the ball wasn’t in the right

If you would like to make a recommendation for the Sarasota Observer’s Athlete of the Week feature, send it to Ryan Kohn at RKohn@ YourObserver.com. ATHLETE

place. It just wasn’t meant to be and we turned it over. But our defense made a good play stopping the clear and I have to thank Solano (Benitez, a senior) for the second look. I actually dropped the ball off his pass, but I picked it up and I still had a chance to shoot even though a couple guys hit me.

What are this team’s expectations?

We can go as far as we want to go. This is a young team. We have a lot of sophomores. It’s about integrity and discipline. We’re learning that stuff day in and day out. We just have to keep working together. It’s a mental thing. I think we have all the talent in the world to get where we want to be.

Finish this sentence: “Billy Snyder is …” … Charismatic. I may look tired sometimes, but I’m always open to conversation and, not to toot my own horn, but I think I’m a likable guy.

OF THE WEEK

HOOP DREAMS

“Looking back at my personal story, I didn’t have anybody to guide me, to point me in the right direction,” he said.

The 37-year-old considers himself a Sarasota native. Having graduated from Booker High School and later becoming assistant coach for the girls basketball team, he is familiar with finding and nurturing talented young athletes.

The Lions provide several opportunities for players to build and showcase their skills, including a summer league.

Edwards emphasized that these training camps can be the last opportunity for these athletes to pursue their dream of playing professionally.

“For some of these guys, this is it,” he said.

OFF THE COURT

Aside from being a place where young players can grow, the Gulf Coast Lions want to have that same impact in the community. The Lions help put on a basketball league to help elementary to high school players gain skills via camps and competitions. They also conduct Lions Play 90, a program to get kids moving.

DARIELA DELGADO STAFF WRITER

When LD Edwards reflects on his basketball career, it stings to reflect on how near he was to achieving his dream without quite reaching it. “Man, I was this close to the NBA, but I didn’t make it,” he said.

So how does he live with that disappointment? The 43-year-old assistant coach of the Gulf Coast Lions said he wakes up every morning intent on achieving a new goal: “Helping someone who is this close by giving what I didn’t have.”

That something is a second chance to play, get better and maybe even achieve their dreams of going professional at a higher level. The Newtown-based Gulf Coast Lions are part of The Basketball League, a men’s professional basketball minor league that’s considered below the NBA’s G League, the league’s official minor league.

Started in 2018 with eight teams, it now has more than 44 teams across the country. In each of the past two years, The Basketball League has sent more than 250 basketball players overseas. Ten of those players have made it into the G-League and three into the NBA.

For many players, it could be their last — or only — shot at the NBA or a higher paying professional career.

PURSUING THE DREAM

In the Newtown Estates Gym, players glisten with sweat amidst a sym-

phony of squeaking sounds their shoes make rubbing the gym floor.

Everyone’s focused. Everyone knows what’s at stake with every practice and game.

“At first, this was a hobby,” said point guard and shooting guard Nasir Core, 25. Core started in football but decided to give basketball a try in high school as a way to get out of football conditioning. Turns out, he loved it.

After receiving his bachelor’s and master’s in sports management from Florida A&M University, Core played

professional basketball in Africa and Europe for two years. For his third year, he decided to come back to the U.S. Because he didn’t want to take a gap year, he joined the Lions.

“This is a great opportunity to continue your basketball career,” said Core. He has even started his own YouTube channel as a way to expand his personal brand. He has more than 29,000 subscribers.

Lions President Marcus Tilghman said this team was a way for him to give players the direction he was lacking in his career.

One of the things Tilghman is most proud of is the league’s mentorship program, A Lion’s Reach, which connects area youth with players for activities that range from playing a game of pick-up to attending the St. Armands tree lighting ceremony.

“The bigger thing about this team was not so much about having a professional team,” he said. “It opened up the door for us to push the mentoring and development of the youth.”

That opportunity to reach area kids is perhaps most satisfying to him. “There are so many kids that have the talent, the level of competition, but just might not know how to do a few things and need that extra push or guidance,” he said. “I promised myself that I would be that.”

IF YOU GO

Gulf Coast Lions vs. the Coastal Georgia Buccaneers

When: March 17

Where: Bradenton Christian School Tickets: $10$20 Info: Visit GulfCoastLionsInc. com.

The Gulf Coast Lions have a few missions. But they all involve using the game of basketball to improve lives.

Gulf Coast Lions President Marcus Tilghman (right) leads the team in a cheer.

Photos by Dariela Delgado

The Gulf Coast Lions on their last day of training camp at Newtown Estates Gym.

Kids learn about all things cat

Asked if they would rather have a flying pig or a cat, all nine students that registered for Cat University at Cat Depot Community Center on Feb. 20 belted, “Cats!”

Cat Depot Humane Educator Ellie Levine was a public school teacher for 10 years, so teaching the basics of cat caretaking came easy. Levine got the idea for a Cat University after seeing other Florida rescues doing similar camps. “I said to myself, ‘we can do that too,’” said Levine.

Students started with a lesson on where cats like to be petted, the different types of catnip and toys and how to detect a healthy weight.

Kids later got creative with making handmade cat toys with chopsticks, fabric and multicolor feathers. They even got the wiggles out with some kid-friendly yoga before meeting the special guest: Winney, the long-haired tabby.

Winney is a senior cat that was surrendered by an assisted living facility because his owner died.

Before kids got the chance to pet Winney, Levine recapped the lesson on where cats like to be petted and how sensitive their hearing and sense of smell can be.

“He was so soft,” said Olivia Albury, 9. “He likes being touched behind the ear.”

— DARIELA DELGADO

EYE CARE to Our Specialists

We are following CDC guidelines for your safety. Call us today to schedule your appointment!

Sarah Pansey shows off her finished cat toy.

Abby Graison shows off her cat toy in her cat ears and cat sweater.

Winney makes a special appearance at Cat University.

Cat Depot Humane Educator Ellie Levine brings Winney to kids to be petted.

Photos by Dariela Delgado

Kids showoff their handmade cat toys while pretending to be cats.

Cat Depot volunteer Louann Laybourn, Mairead Reardon, Blake Brown and Cat Depot Humane Educator Ellie Levine welcome kids to Cat University.

941-315-2114

COMMUNITY

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24

THROUGH SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25

FLOWER FESTIVAL & TRADITIONAL ENGLISH TEA

9:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. at Church of the Nativity, 5900 N. Lockwood Ridge Road. Stop and smell the roses. The annual Flower Festival & English Tea is back after a pandemic hiatus. Over two dozen floral arrangements and music will fill the church for the public to experience with a cup of tea. Tickets for tea are $25. For information, visit ChurchOfTheNativity.com.

46TH ANNUAL SIMPLY SARASOTA

TOUR OF HOMES

10 a.m.-4 p.m. at various homes around Sarasota. Over two days, attendees will get to tour six of Sarasota’s most notable homes, ranging from mid-century modern to coastal chic. Hosted annually by the Junior League of Sarasota, the Simply Sarasota Tour of Homes will conclude with a happy hour 4-6:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25. Tickets are $50 and available for one-day only. For information, visit JLSarasota.org.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25

SARASOTA CHORUS OF THE KEYS

73RD ANNUAL SHOW

2:30 - 4:30 p.m. at Riverview Performing Arts Center, 1 Ram Way.

Enjoy the afternoon with “Nightlife.”

This four-part acapella group from Southern California will perform standards from the Great American Songbook. Tickets $30-$35. For information, visit ChorusOfTheKeys. org.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28

NATIONAL TOOTH FAIRY DAY

11 - 11:30 a.m. at The Sarasota

Children’s Garden, 1670 10th Way. Are you curious to learn more about the Tooth Fairy? Kids can learn about this mystical tooth lover starting with a story, then creating a fairy house. Free admission for 2-year-olds and under; $6 for 3-6 year-olds; $10 for teens-adults; $9 for seniors. For information, visit SarasotaChildrensGarden.com

BEST BET

2023 SARASOTA FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25 THROUGH SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 26

10 a.m - 5 p.m. at JD Hamel Park, 199 Bayfront Drive. Take a look and admire creativity. Check out this outdoor arts festival and gallery, which will showcase over 70 artisans’ work. This is a free event. For information, visit ParagonFestivals.com.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1

PHILLIPPI FARMHOUSE MARKET

8 a.m. - 1 p.m. at Phillippi Estate Park, 5500 S. Tamiami Trail. Need more veggies in your diet? Come and shop local produce with over 60 vendors and jam out to live music. This is a free event. For information, call 861-5000.

THURSDAY, MARCH 2

RINGLING UNDERGROUND

8 - 11 p.m. at The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, 5401 Bay Shore Road. Music lovers unite and enjoy Sarasota’s nightlife surrounded by art and music. Local bands will perform and give you a reason to dance. Tickets are $15; Free for members and students with ID. For information, visit Ringling.org.

it all begins.

HERMITAGE TURNS 20:

To celebrate the 20th Anniversary Season of this leading national arts incubator, Hermitage Artistic Director Andy Sandberg returns to his roots as a performer to sing a benefit concert at Sarasota’s iconic Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall

This one-night-only event will raise funds for the Hermitage Artist Retreat following the impact of Hurricane Ian earlier this season.

In addition to his role at the Hermitage, Sandberg is a director, writer, performer, and Tony Award-winning producer. He will be performing a concert of Broadway songs and will be joined on stage by Broadway guest stars, accompanied by 2023 Grammy Award nominee and Hermitage Fellow Rona Siddiqui

Accompanied by 2023 Grammy Nominee RONA

FOR TICKETS ($25, $50, $75, $250):

Online: HermitageArtistRetreat.org

Phone: (941) 263-6799

Van Wezel Box Office, 777 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota

Sarabande condo on South Palm Avenue tops this week’s sales at $2.5 million

ADAM HUGHES RESEARCH EDITOR

Acondominium in Sarabande tops all transactions in this week’s real estate. Andrew Rudnick, trustee, sold the Unit 75 condominium at 340 S. Palm Ave. to John and Doreen Hollenbach, of Sarasota, for $2.5 million. Built in 1998, it has three bedrooms, three baths and 2,761 square feet of living area. It sold for $1.9 million in 2015.

SARASOTA

SARASOTA BAY CLUB

Sarasota Bay Club LLC sold the Unit 127 condominium at 1299 Tamiami Trail to Simone Booth, of Sarasota, for $2.3 million. Built in 2003, it has three bedrooms, two-and-ahalf baths and 2,343 square feet of living area. It sold for $1.15 million in 2009.

INDIAN BEACH

Scott Wickless, of Sarasota, sold his home at 2137 Bay Shore Road to Marc and Clothilde Gagliardi, of Sarasota, for $2,275,000. Built in 1953, it has three bedrooms, threeand-a-half baths, a pool and 3,219 square feet of living area. It sold for $1,555,000 in 2019.

Michelle Bennett, trustee, of Sarasota, sold the home at 5311 Winchester Drive to Eliecer Rivera and Kathryn Coleman, trustees, of Sarasota, for $650,000. Built in 1952, it has three bedrooms, three baths and 2,962 square feet of living area.

EMERALD HARBOR

Nadia Nachesty and Marko Zivkovic, of Longboat Key, sold their home at 6319 Hollywood Blvd. to Michelle Mattison, of Sarasota, for $1.19 million. Built in 1951, it has four bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,161 square feet of living area. It sold for $450,000 in 2020.

ESPLANADE BY SIESTA KEY

George Howard Harmon, trustee, of Osprey, sold the home at 2468 Vaccaro Drive to Daniel and Janice Mullin, of Ontario, Canada, for $1,132,000. Built in 2013, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,262 square feet of living area. It sold for $517,900 in 2013.

Other top sales by area

SIESTA KEY: $1.35 MILLION

Crystal Sands Morgan Florida Properties LLC sold the Unit 803 condominium at 6300 Midnight Pass Road to Christopher Ebert, of Mount Vernon, Ohio, for $1.35 million. Built in 1970, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,240 square feet of living area. It sold for $1 million in 2007.

PALMER RANCH: $2 MILLION

Legacy Estates on Palmer Ranch

Wesley Howard Van Pelt and Laura Ann Van

Pelt and Ryan Wesley Van Pelt and Megan Kathleen Van Pelt, of Austin, Texas, sold their home at 12000 Trails Reserve Court to Todd and Sheli Peplinski, of Sarasota, for $2 million. Built in 2019, it has four bedrooms, four-andtwo-half baths, a pool and 4,493 square feet of living area. It sold for $969,500 in 2019.

OSPREY: $737,000

MARBLEHEAD

Dan and Emily Johnson, of Nokomis, sold their home at 2509 Marblehead Drive to James and Amber Lynch, of Sarasota, for $1.1 million. Built in 2006, it has three bedrooms, three-and-a-half baths, a pool and 2,869 square feet of living area. It sold for $515,000 in 2021.

RIVO AT RINGLING

John Riley Pendergrass Jr. and Dorothy Pendergrass, trustees, of Sarasota, sold the Unit 810 condominium at 1771 Ringling Blvd. to Cory Modersohn, of Sarasota, for $960,000. Built in 2006, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,895 square feet of living area. It sold for $730,000 in 2016.

PALM LAKES

Kyle Kluska and Emily Eagle Kluska sold their home at 3026 Mayflower St. to Giovanni Dalotto and Muriel Gonzalez Grandoli, of Sarasota, for $750,000. Built in 1965, it has two bedrooms, two baths, a pool and 1,860 square feet of living area. It sold for $255,000 in 2012.

THE LANDINGS — CARRIAGEHOUSE

Sue Ruhle, of Sarasota, sold the Unit 6 condominium at 4967 N. Kestral Park Way to Roberta Duban, of Sarasota, for $750,000. Built in 1982, it has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,903 square feet of living area. It sold for $373,500 in 2020.

TOP BUILDING PERMITS

KALLA’S Susana Tapia, of Sarasota, sold her home at 3201 Peachtree St. to Alex Lee Aberle and Violette Harrington Levy, trustees, of Philadelphia, for $703,300. Built in 1971, it has three bedrooms, one bath and 1,268 square feet of living area. It sold for $229,000 in 2018.

ONLINE

See more transactions at YourObserver.com

Bay Pointe Vista II Sharon Bauckman, trustee, of Crofton, Maryland, Susan Huyck, of Framingham, Massachusetts, and Steven Bauer, of Winter Garden, sold the Unit 504 condominium at 232 Hidden Bay Drive to Lars Isaksson, trustee, of Scottsdale, Arizona, for $737,000. Built in 2001, it has three bedrooms, three baths and 2,000 square feet of living area.

NOKOMIS: $1,199,000

Blackburn Ridge Lawrence and Susan Ann Siebl, trustees, of Nokomis, sold the home at 4955 Topsail Drive to Edward and Elizabeth Jesella, of Nokomis, for $1,199,000. Built in 2014, it has three bedrooms, three baths, a pool and 2,338 square feet of living area. It sold for $595,000 in 2017.

SARASOTA COUNTY

Courtesy photo

The condo at 340 S. Palm Ave., Unit 75 was built in 1998. It has three bedrooms, three baths and 2,761 square feet of living area.

It’s a frustrating reality for many Gulf Coast homeowners – discolored, pitted and tarnished exterior door hardware caused by our harsh salt-rich air.

We eventually learn that the tease of “lifetime brass” really means a lifetime of maintenance and repair. There is a practical solution to this common problem – Bronze or Stainless

Empath Health asks for a helping hand

ATidewell patient was celebrating his 80th birthday one Sunday afternoon. As part of his birthday party, Terry Purcell, a seven-year Tidewell volunteer, honored this veteran for his service with a pinning ceremony.

Several months later, Purcell received a card written by the veteran’s daughter, saying that her father died two weeks later.

But for the last two weeks of his life, every morning the veteran would insist the pin be on his shirt and could not stop talking about that one event.

“To be the person who can bring that to a family…” said Purcell as his face flushes and he struggles to find the words to finish his sentence.

Purcell is a retired Air Force veteran, so volunteering with a focus on the veterans that come to Tidewell was a no brainer. And he has a special spot in his heart for those who served in Vietnam.

Many locals know Tidewell Hospice, which is a member of Empath Health, as an organization that provides support at difficult times.

At Empath Health, volunteers play a vital role in giving patients and their families an extra friend during the emotional burden of life departure. Volunteers help this nonprofit by donating their time and doing the small things like writing a thank you card to a patient who is a veteran — or conduct a pinning ceremony.

“The business of Tidewell is to take care of people when they’re on their last mission,” said Purcell.

Like many health care facilities, the effect of COVID-19 has impacted Empath Health. The area that has been affected the greatest is one of the most important: volunteers.

“Post pandemic, we are down to almost 50% of what we had prepandemic, and the volunteers are so relied on to make a difference in the lives of those who are terminally ill or in supporting areas of the hospice program,” said Empath Health Vice

President of Volunteer Engagement

Stacy Groff in an email.

Lynda Anderson has been an Empath volunteer for 10 years and said that this was one of the things that brought her a sense of fulfillment. “I used to volunteer elsewhere, and I felt like I wasn’t doing enough and wanted to do more. I found my niche with hospice volunteer work. Everyone appreciates you so much: the staff, the patients, their families. You really feel like you’re making a difference,” she said.

Groff said the need for volunteers is critical, and they are looking for anyone who is willing to give a helping hand.

“I talked to two friends that are looking for volunteer work and said, ‘I don’t think I can do that.’ But there are so many volunteer opportunities at hospice that you don’t really have to do what maybe they perceive is the scary part. There are administrative opportunities and greeters,” said Anderson.

Empath has a variety of volunteer opportunities, such as being a cashier at Tidewell Treasure Thrift Shop or visiting patients with a pet, or even participating in crafts. “Every time I put this (lanyard) around my neck, I look in the mirror and say, ‘Make a difference where you’re going today,’” said Purcell.

Interested in volunteering? Call Stacy Groff at 941-894-1753.

Both materials offer excellent salt tolerance and oxidation/corrosion resistance with a minimum of maintenance. A variety of styles and finishes provide a perfect match to existing color schemes including rich patinas of classic bronze, contemporary polished or matte nickel, and black.

It’s a frustrating reality for many Gulf Coast homeowners – discolored, pitted and tarnished exterior door hardware caused by our harsh salt-rich air.

Smitty’s Architectural Hardware, located The

Place, displays many lines of door hardware in beautiful styles for your home that are well suited for our demanding environment, and will create the first impression your front door deserves.

We eventually learn that the tease of “lifetime brass” really means a lifetime of maintenance and repair. There is a practical solution to this common problem – Bronze or Stainless

SERVICE.

Both materials

kitchen fixtures,

and accessories from leading designers. Masterpieces of functionality and style showcased in an astounding showroom. Visit

DARIELA DELGADO STAFF WRITER

Courtesy photo Volunteer BJ Branson, Volunteer Coordinator Shirley Perdisatt and volunteer Joanne Terwilliger get crafty with project for the residents.

NATURE’S BEAUTY WITH

By

Celebrity Cipher cryptograms are created from quotations by famous people, past and present. Each letter in the cipher stands for another.

“LT CAOBTL UYB ANAO MTLTOAH ETO

UMYV MA OAPAXNAH. MTLTO MYB FAAL

VMA OAUYOH ETO UMYV MA DYNA.” PYKNXL PTTKXHDA

“W’XH VHXHZ MHHV NTZH IZTDE WV NL

RWBH CT MH F UTDZVFRWPC. ... CAH

UTM WP PT WVKZHEWMRL WNITZCFVC.”

VTZFA T’ETVVHRR

“EB NRC’TH GCTERCP, NRC’UU DTRIOIUN

IH O YRRS XRCTZOUEPA IHGOCPH MH

BRUURM RCT GCTERPEAN UEFH GOAP.”

SEOZH

©

DOCTOR’S ORDERS by Amie Walker and Jeff Chen, edited by David Steinberg

Luis Campos

All real

advertised herein is subject to the Federal Fair Housing Act, which makes it illegal to advertise any preference, limitation, or discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin, or intention to make any such preference, limitation or discrimination. All persons are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised are available on an equal opportunity basis.