HISTORIC BURNS SQUARE

BLOG SET UP FOR CHALK FESTIVAL

2009-02-04T07:48:00.007-05:00

The 2nd Annual Burns Square "Avenida de Colores" Chalk Festival has a new blog: http://avenidadecolores.blogspot.com with information on the festival and the artists participating.

Contact: Denise Kowal at denisekowal@mac.com

Website: Festival Information, Artist Applications, Sponsorship Opportunities and Volunteer Forms available at www.avenidadecolores.com

2ND ANNUAL BURNS SQUARE "AVENIDA DE COLORES" CHALK FESTIVAL - MAY 2 & 3

2009-01-19T08:20:00.012-05:00

The 2nd Annual Burns Square Chalk Festival has been announced with the theme being a celebration of the Goddess Flora with a "Avenida de Colores Floralia Festival". Street Painters, or "I Madonnair" who were Italian artists, have used chalk as their medium and the street surfaces as their canvas for over 400 years. This performance art will magically transform Pineapple Avenue - and the observers are a part of the process!

Flora, the sensual goddess of spring, is especially associated with flowers, vines, olives, fruit trees and honey-bearing plants and is usually depicted in paintings in flowing fabric goddess attire surrounded by blossoms. She is a goddess of youthful pleasures, birth and fertility the direct opposite of Halloween. The Floralia festival began in Rome in 238 B.C. to please the goddess so she would protect the spring blossoms.

The Floralia festival celebrates the liberation of blossoms after the confinement of winter. Chalk street painters, knows as "I Madonnair" will tantalize your sights as they chalk examples of romantic, contemporary or neo-classical art onto the street surface of South Pineapple Avenue throughout Saturday and Sunday. Professional I Madonnair, Lori Escalara, who was the people’s choice during the 1st festival, will return. First Place winner, Kitty Dyble Thompson will return and create an anamorphic picture that is beyond amazing to see. Performers will take the stage with various comedies and tragedy shows such as sword swallowing extraordinaire Johnny Fox. The street will capture your sense of smell with flower vendors as well as vendors selling honey, a common gift of the goddess. Women will be dressed in flowing goddess dresses selling flower wreaths to be worn in your hair. There will be a lack of sound by mimes on performing boxes and the beautiful sounds by pantomimes and musicians staged at different areas. Tasty sensations with booths of delectable food selections will be available, such as Nancy Krongold's BBQ and Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream. Booths will be available for consumption of oceans of grog and spirits (Fruit Juice Smoothies, Mimosas, Champagne, and Beer). A true celebration of spring, the renewal of life and flower blossoms in honor of the Goddess Flora.

Various contests involving flowers will be held throughout the event. Best flower decorated light pole, best floral tiara and best floral painting. Have an idea? Please let us know.

A children section will be available for our inspiring artists to play with chalk and flowers.

The entire event is family oriented. For more information contact: Avenida de Colores at Denise.kowal@mac.com.

Federal Highway Administration - Encouraging Roundabouts?

2008-09-03T10:39:00.002-04:00

July 10, 2008, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA, part of the US DOT), issued a guidance memo encouraging all jurisdictions to consider roundabout as a viable intersection alternative. It can be found at http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/memo071008.htm

Roundabouts (Rev. 6/05/08) Description:

The modern roundabout is a type of circular intersection defined by the basic operational priciple of entering traffic yielding to vehicles on the circulatory roadway and certain key design principles to achieve deflection of entering traffic by channelization at the entrance and deflection around a center island. Modern roundabouts have geometric features providing a reduced speed environment that offers substantial safety advantages and excellent operational performance.

Background: Roundabouts have demonstrated substantial safety and operational benefits compared to other forms of intersection control, with reductions in fatal and injury crashed of from 60-87 percent. The benefits apply to roundabouts in urban and rural areas and freeway interchange ramp terminals under a wide range of traffic conditions. Although the safety of all-way stop control is comparable to roundabouts, roundabouts provide much greater capacity and operational benefits. Roundabouts can be an effective tool for managing speed and transitioning traffic from a high speed to a low speed environment. Property site selection and channelization for motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians are essential to making roundabouts accessible to all users. In particular, it is important to ensure safe accommodation of bicyclists at higher speed roundabouts and for pedestrians with visual or cognitive impairments.

Guidance Statement/Application:

Roundabouts are the preferred safety alternative for a wide range of intersections. Although they may not be appropriate in all circumstances, they should be considered as an alternative for all proposed new intersections of Federally-funded highway projects, particularly those with major road volumes less than 90 percent of the total entering volume, Roundabouts should also be considered for all existing intersections that have been identified as needing major safety or operational improvements. This would include freeway interchange ramp terminals and rural intersections.

CNU Sustainable Communities 2008, Sept. 26 in San Francisco

2008-08-31T17:17:00.002-04:00

As top politicians call for more drilling and the Congress contemplates drawing down the national oil reserve, CNU thought you might appreciate a more substantive discussion on how to pull America away from its dependence on oil. Join CNU at Sustainable Communities 2008 for a discussion on how to transform our cities and town into walkable, transit-supported neighborhoods.

Sustainable Communities 2008 will bring together leading innovators Sim Van der Ryn, Paul Hawken, Peter Calthorpe, Stewart Brand, Jerry Brown, Jacky Grimshaw, Judy Corbett and Peter Schwartz for a rare one-day seminar on the past and future of sustainable communities.

This incredible group of people introduced and advanced many of the innovations that formed the backbone of the green building sustainability movements beginning in the 1970's. They helped show that environmentalism must extend beyond quick technological and temporary fixes to encompass a comprehensive vision for human habitats - sustainable cities and towns.

Now it's becoming clear again that our future depends on designing communities that help us overcome fossil fuel dependency and limit our global environmental impact. And it's becoming just as clear that California can lead the nation if it gets passage of SB375 legislation, implementation of AB32 and other key measure right. Participants in Sustainable Communities 2008 are the ultimate guides to the transformation we must make to move forward the thrive. Join CNU for this event's lectures and important interactive afternoon session devoted to the future of sustainable communities and the government policies that will support them.

Visit the website at http://www.cnu.org/sustainablecommunities08 and register today!

ILLUMINATED CROSSWALKS & BRICK PAVERS

2008-08-30T06:44:00.003-04:00

The City of Sarasota will be improving the intersection at Orange and Pineapple by installing motion sensors which trigger the crosswalks to illuminate and flash. In addition the area around the crosswalks will be brick paved. The total improvement is around $300,000 and hopefully will be completed in time for our season.

Some discussion during the last meeting with the city engineering suggested that the Burns Square area property owners may have to create a BID to pay for the maintenance of the illuminated crossings. How ironic that we do not get the improvement that we were willing to contribute to (roundabout) and instead we get this dumbed down design because of mainly Laurel Park neighborhood board members and then they actually suggest we may have to financially maintain it.

In addition this is the only traffic calming device the city has to maintain in the entire Burns Square district and therefore we feel it unreasonable to expect the property owners to contribute to its maintenance. While it may be above a normal level of service found in other areas of downtown, we would argue that this is a very dangerous pedestrian intersection and the city values this intersection as one of the most important gateways into our downtown core, therefore its safety factor and visual appearance would be of high priority.

We also learned the City of Sarasota maintains the crossing in front of Morton's Market and while the property owner installed the crossings, it is within close proximity of a traffic signal crossing. So the city is maintaining two crossings for Southside Village which are within a throw of each other.

WITH GAS OVER $4, CITIES EXPLORE WHETHER IT'S SMART TO BE DENSE

2008-08-26T21:50:00.003-04:00

Sacramento's 'Blueprint' for Growth Draws National Attention

Page A1, Wall Street Journal

SACREMENTO, Calif. -- Gasoline was less than $2 a gallon when Mike McKeever brought his gospel of bikes, light rail and tightly packed neighborhoods to this state synonymous with cars, freeways and suburban sprawl.

"The development industry was very concerned," says Mr. McKeever, head of Sacramento's regional planning agency. "The environmental community was openly negative," concerned that it was "just more talk, talk."

Seven years later, with gasoline hurtling past $4 a gallon, Sacramento has become one of the nation's most-watched experiments in whether urban planning can help solve everything from high fuel prices to the housing bust to global warming.

"They're really the model," says Steve Winkelan, a transportation expert at the Center for Clean Air Policy.

For decade, backers of "smart-growth' planning principles have preached the benefit of clustering the places where people live more closely with the businesses where they work and shop. Less travel would mean less fuel consumption and less air pollution. Several communities built from scratch upon those principles, such as Celebration in Florida, sprouted across the country. But they were often isolated experiments, connected to their surroundings mainly by car.

For the rest of the article...go to http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121538754733231043.htm

Rapid Transit Bus System

2008-08-25T23:15:00.003-04:00

County project - Up and Running in 4 years!

Sarasota County has been working on securing a federal grant for a North-South Rapid Bus Transit system.

The proposed project will improve service for several key markets, shorten times to key destinations and service from elsewhere will benefit from increased frequency and more efficient routing.

The Alignments being considered are US41, Rail Road Corridor, Old Bradenton Road and US301. There are options available for the corridor treatment, such as dedicated busway corridor, exclusive bus lane, signal priorities and queue jumper lanes. The Locations and Styles are to be determined but will have consistent rider amenities at each station. The SCAT service does a good job connecting where the people are and major single employers are already covered well, but this proposed project links north and south to major employment areas.

A recent SCAT survey of riders asked detailed questions about orgin, destination, and trip purpose. Best indicator of future ridership trends. The key travel markets were SRQ to Downtown, SRQ to SMH area, Universities to Downtown, Universities to Southgate, Downtown to Pavilion/Stickney Point Area, MCC North Port to Sarasota, Venice to Downtown, Bee Ridge/Cattlemen to Southgate and MCC Bradenton to Sarasota.

The study time line so far where workshops Sept. - Oct. 2007, public eduction and participation June - Sept. 2008, complete data collection and analysis with technical input in Jan - Aug 2008 and then fall 2008 submittal to FTA, 2009 Complete National Environmental Protection Act Review, 2009-2010 FTA Project Construction Grant Agreement, 2011-2012 Initial Project Implementation.

To view the Ft. Collins Colorado Bus Rapid Transit line go to http://www.fcgov.com/mason/ that has similarities to Sarasota.

Higher-Density Development

2008-08-25T07:35:00.002-04:00

MYTH AND FACT

http://www.nmhc.org/Content/ServeFile.cfm?FileID=4647

The National Multi Housing Council, Sierra Club, American Institute of Architects and the Urban Land Institute partnered to publish the book 'Higher-Density Development, Myth and Fact'.

This cooperative effort was organized and put into publication to help communities find new developing patterns for our growing and changing country needs. This is another example of what I believe the downtown core city leaders support.

The Charter of the New Urbanism

2008-08-21T21:47:00.002-04:00

The Charter of the New Urbanism is another example of principles I believe those of us in the downtown core community support.

We would be very interested in the principles the neighborhoods support.

Bill Dennis has put together a video of The Charter of the New Urbanism for those who would like to learn more.

http://bdennis.com/Site/Charter/Entries/2008/4/1_Charter_of_the_New_Urbanism.html

The Original Green

2008-08-21T21:23:00.004-04:00

Much has been discussed and written lately about an assumed conflict of opinions between our city core community neighborhoods and surrounding city neighborhoods.

Just today, a reporter asked me what I thought the surrounding neighborhood leaders feel so threatened about from those in the downtown core; I responded that I honestly do not know exactly.

I do know the conversations going on with the downtown groups.

I am posting an initiative that has been started by a friend of mine, Steve Mouzon. He is a New Urbanist. I believe those I work with in the downtown core believe in the principles and direction Steve is heading with sustainability.

http://web.mac.com/stephenamouzon/Original_Green_Site/Home.html

SARASOTA RULES PLAZA PROJECT IS A HOTEL

2008-07-30T08:27:00.001-04:00

Sarasota rules Plaza project is a hotel

By Doug Sword

SARASOTA - The Plaza Hotel is a hotel, after all, according to a new ruling by a city planning director.

Plans for the Plaza Hotel features a restaurant and two rooftop pools. The hotel is one of several planned for downtown.

An earlier review had denied developer Al Hochstadt’s plans for a 173-room hotel, finding the five-story structure between Orange and Palm avenues would be more time-share than hotel.

But in a July 15 letter Hochstadt amended those plans, committing to make just over half the rooms available for daily or weekly rentals. That makes Plaza Hotel primarily a hotel, according to a ruling by Timothy Litchet, director of the city’s neighborhood and development services, dated Wednesday.

The deadline to appeal Litchet’s ruling is Aug. 7.

Hochstadt’s plans drew criticisms from neighbors, including Lottie Varano who had successfully challenged the idea that the project is a hotel, since it was to involve sale of units under fractional ownership similar to a time share.

In May, Hochstadt filed suit against Varano, alleging he was spreading misinformation about the project, creating delays and costing the developer’s business money. Varano claims the lawsuit was aimed at intimidating him.

Neither Hochstadt nor Varano could be reached for comment Friday.

Hochstadt’s altered plans defined the project in terms of time: 173 rooms split into 9,020 weeks each year. He committed to making guest rooms totalling 4,520 weeks each year available for daily or weekly rental, while the remaining 4,500 weeks could be sold.

The new ruling sets the project on two paths. Hochstadt had appealed the city’s finding that his earlier project was not a hotel. That appeal could ultimately go to court and if Hochstadt wins he could be allowed to build as earlier planned, City Attorney Robert Fournier wrote in a memo to Litchet. If that happens Hochstadt would be in a position of picking which of the two approved options he wanted to build.

Antique Wood Water Pipe Found In Burns Square

2008-06-26T09:54:00.006-04:00

wood pipe on top of new water line being installed

The constructions workers uncovered an antique wood water pipe this past week in Burns Square while installing new storm water and water lines. The piece is about 2 feet long by 5 inches square with a 2 1/2 inch drilled out water line. Contrast between this and the new water lines being installed today, one can see how progress and technology has changed in such a short period of time...one's lifetime.

CITY COMMISSION MEETING 6/16/08 BSQ PRESIDENT COMMENTS ON IMPROVEMENTS TO PEDESTRIAN CROSSING AT ORANGE & PINEAPPLE

2008-06-16T12:56:00.008-04:00

I sit here today very frustrated by a process that purported to build consensus but in actuality produced only a "least-common-denominator" solution to a complex urban design problem. We in BSQ hold as truth that we in Sarasota shoot for something higher than the "least common denominator."

It has been well over a year since BSQ first presented the roundabout project to the city commission but somehow we continue to hear there was not enough time to achieve a real solution.

Here is where our "least common denominator" thinkng has left us:

We have eliminated the synergy with the County to save the City hundreds of thousands of dollars and the BSQ businesses the inconvenience of multiple construction projects, eliminated needed crosswalks, removed access for thousands of customers a day, eliminated additional parking opportunities, did not reduced traffic speeds, lost the opportunity to make the pedestrian a priority over the vehicle, maintained all the dangerous car crash conflict areas, eliminated reduction of our carbon footprint, have not reduced unneeded traffic lanes and took away opportunities for additional greenspace.

Yes, you preserved the left hand turn out of Oak Street so the handful of residents who travel that way do not have to go around a block, but this choice was at the expense of the thousands of downtown customers a day who now have no access.

This design preserves an intersection that whether it is or is not the most beautiful it can be is subjective; let alone, how the city has quantified that is questionable at best.

The design before you is a design that the Burns Square Property Owners Association has been requesting since our 2005 charrette, which was prior to 2007 study which resulted in the roundabout recommendation and all of the benefits that came with it.

Therefore, if this is all we can get out of this thing the commission tagged "process", our original 2005 design, then we hope you vote for these improvements before you today as well as immediately fund the Alderman roundabout for construction during the County Storm Water project.

Denise Kowal, President

Burns Square Property Owners

BURNS SQUARE RESIDENTS ALLIANCE FORMED

2008-06-16T10:37:00.002-04:00

A group of residents in BSQ formed the Burns Square Residents Alliance because too often the voice of the over 80 residents is being lost. Additional encouragement came from the city commission for BSQ to follow the St. Armand's LMR (landowner, merchant, resident). BSQ now has a PMR, which is the Property Owners, Merchants and Residents Associations.

BSQ PRESIDENT COMMENTS ON SLAPP AND CITIZEN INPUT

2008-06-16T10:32:00.003-04:00

I personally found the article very informative about SLAPP.

As far as the Plaza Hotel and the developer, we in Burns Square continue to work WITH the developer to get the best possible project we can mentor in a positive way. If the developer is proposing a project that is within the right THE CITY COMMISSION dictated in our codes, then what about his proposal makes him a ‘sob developer’ or has ‘developers greed’? As they say, “don’t shoot the messenger”.

I have great respect for the citizens concerned and nobody is saying they do not have a right to speak up; in fact it was never discouraged but honored. As president of the Burns Square Property Owners Association, I spent time speaking with most of them and attended a condominium meeting on the subject as guest speaker. But they choose to go in a different direction, hire a lawyer and stop open dialogue for constructive change.

The hand was open but they have nobody to blame but them for the conflict that is now created by their actions…hopefully they will accept the open hand again and constructive debate can restart.

Denise Kowal, President, BSQ Property Owners

Critic Sued By Plaza Hotel Developer

2008-06-16T10:31:00.000-04:00

HERALD TRIBUNE - SARASOTA Lottie Varano organized his neighbors, got an attorney involved and wrote letters to city officials to fight a five-story, 173-room hotel planned for his Burns Square neighborhood.

The developer is firing back with a lawsuit, blaming Varano for spreading misinformation, creating delays and costing his business money.

The lawsuit, filed less than a month before city officials consider the planned Plaza Hotel, has characteristics of a so-called SLAPP lawsuit, a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation. Such lawsuits aim to silence dissent and limit public participation in government decisions.

Those suits are discouraged in Florida, one of 26 states to adopt laws to protect people like Varano.

But experts say Florida's law is weak and leaves residents who complain about developments open to legal fees and hassles involved with defending themselves in court.

Varano, who did not think discussing the project with neighbors and city officials would land him in court, now has had to hire an attorney and filed a motion to dismiss the case.

"It's someone who's trying to bully me around and prevent me from asserting my First Amendment rights," Varano said.

Developer Al Hochstadt said he would not have sued if Varano's complaints were credible. He declined to say how much he was seeking in damages, although Varano said Hochstadt told him it was $10 million.

"They've caused a lot of delays, they've cost us a lot of money," Hochstadt said. "These people have a lot of money and have a lot of political pressure."

The project is in line for a fast-track approval under the city's new downtown code: It can be approved by staff and does not need to go before the City Commission.

Seeds of dissent

Hochstadt began buying up land between Palm and Orange avenues more than 20 years ago, and sees his planned hotel as "a little piece of Europe" that will become a destination here.

He wants to break ground and complete the hotel by 2010.

Nearby merchants see the project as a way to boost foot traffic in the Burns Square area.

But residents say the project is too big and will generate too much traffic, clogging two narrow side streets.

On May 12, Varano sent a letter to the city challenging the idea that the project is a hotel, as it will involve the sale of some units under "fractional ownership" similar to a time share.

Varano and his neighbors are also outraged that the hotel could be built without a vote by elected officials.

Hochstadt met with Varano, the president of the Essex House Association, and other residents of condominiums in the area about those concerns on April 9.

In the lawsuit, Hochstadt says that meeting was an ambush orchestrated by Varano. Instead of a few residents, he says he was met by more than 50 people who pushed him for information about the project. Hochstadt says they were fishing for details they could use against him.

Neighbors have since organized a group called Concerned Citizens of Palm Avenue, and have hired attorney Richard Ulrich, who sent a letter to the city saying the hotel suites are more like condominiums.

Hochstadt also sent an e-mail to Ulrich threatening a lawsuit.

A hearing for the Plaza Hotel project is scheduled for Wednesday before the Development Review Committee. If the plan meets all the standards of the city's new downtown code, the board has to approve it.

Hochstadt said he hopes the lawsuit sends a message to Varano and others opposed to his development.

"He's got to be very careful in what he does," Hochstadt said. "People must be responsible for their actions."

Obligations under the law

That approach is problematic because it is not up to a developer to decide what information is credible enough to be presented to decision-makers, said University of Central Florida sociology professor Penelope Canan.

Canan coined the term SLAPP in the 1980s, when she researched suits brought by developers to silence critics, especially environmentalists.

"If the government can't hear from the people it's supposed to represent, then the government can't do its job," Canan said. "It undermines good decision-making."

Florida law allows for a SLAPP lawsuit to be thrown out of court quickly and awards legal fees to the defendant, but it is weak compared to other states such as California.

In Florida, defendants have to convince a judge that the lawsuit is "without merit" and filed only because they used their free speech rights to address the government. If it is deemed a SLAPP suit, then the law allows the defendant to get attorneys fees and possibly damages from the person who filed it.

In California, the burden is on the plaintiffs to establish that they are probably going to win the lawsuit, or the case gets thrown out.

In both states, the battle can become complicated and expensive just to determine whether the lawsuit is a SLAPP lawsuit.

Canan said the average SLAPP lawsuit takes two years to go through the court system.

Threat of a similar lawsuit might make other citizens think twice about speaking up in their neighborhood, she said.

So far, SLAPP suits have been rare in Sarasota County.

Ann Kaplan, president of the Sarasota Council of Neighborhood Associations, or CONA, said her group's opposition has gotten her threatened with a lawsuit, but she has not heard of a SLAPP lawsuit filed in Sarasota County recently.

Sarasota attorney Morgan Bentley said there have been fewer SLAPP lawsuits filed since the state law was adopted.

Every case depends on the details, so it is hard for legislators to pre-empt an entire type of lawsuit, Bentley said.

As it is written, the law tries to balance two fundamental rights: the right to free speech and the right to sue someone for damages, Bentley said.

And the law's provision allowing for defendants to get damages against the person or company that filed the suit can be an effective deterrent, Bentley said.

"You just don't want to step in it," Bentley said.

THE CITY ALLIANCE FORMED

2008-06-11T08:47:00.002-04:00

THE CITY ALLIANCE FORMED TO PROMOTE A VIBRANT AND SUSTAINABLE DOWNTOWN

SARASOTA, Fla.---- Major downtown Sarasota associations and constituencies representing over 3000 members have joined voices and resources to form The City Alliance. The City Alliance has the common vision of building a vibrant and sustainable downtown Sarasota. At the start of 2008, The City Alliance defined its mission to “Leverage the combined energy and resources of private sector stakeholder associations through collaboration, shared ideas, and group action on targeted initiatives.”

The City Alliance is a coalition of four major downtown constituencies:

§ business and civic groups, including cultural and religious institutions

§ commercial property owners

§ residents and their condominium associations

§ The Merchants Alliance of the five major downtown merchants associations.

The City Alliance was formed to present a united voice representative of the views and interests of downtown stakeholders in all public dialogue concerning downtown and city affairs. The goal is to work to insure that downtown Sarasota is an attractive and prosperous city center that sustains an attractive and prosperous city. The City Alliance is eager to join in public-private sector collaboration to help Sarasota weather the difficult economic times we face as a community, including the fiscal constraints on local governments.

The City Alliance has selected five initiatives for immediate attention:

§ implement the redesign of Fruitville Road from US 301 to US 41 as an attractive gateway to downtown and the bay front

§ establish a downtown improvement district

§ pursue the city’s project to make Tamiami Trail through the downtown corridor pedestrian-friendly for easy access between downtown and the bay front

§ faithfully implement the city’s master plan

§ continue to develop a Downtown Historic District.

RESPONSE TO COMMISSIONER CLAPP ON LMR

2008-06-11T08:35:00.001-04:00

Good Morning Dick:

I wanted to respond to your comments about Burns Square considering a model such as St. Armands LMR. I feel we are on that path with the recent formation of the Burns Square Residents Alliance. We now have a PMR for Burns Square (property owners, merchants and residents) and I have faith we will continue to work well together.

I going to reach and say this is not exactly your intended suggestion and possibly feel our PMR should include, well, I am not exactly sure. I will make the assumption you feel it should include all the surrounding areas to the North, East, South and West. I disagree to some extent because you are asking us to do something different than St. Armands model but I will address your 'consensus' comments in another email at another time. Regardless, we would welcome those not in our PMR to the table, just as the LMR does.

As you know St. Armands LMR is just St. Armands, which makes sense because those are the direct stakeholders. It does not include Lido or Coon Key but I am sure they are listened too but their voice is not a part of the LMR the city so relies upon.

St. Armands circle itself is not a mixed use area either which Burns Square is. We have had that wonderful mix of residential and commercial since the first building was built. We are also historically within the dense city boundaries and do not seek to impose beyond our boundaries into our neighboring communities. We wish to be sustainable by being compact, dense and cozy within our zoning area and rights. We want improvements that support our rights to be vibrant.

The new president of the residents group, prior to the formation stated the following:

Hi Denise, As you may know I was just re-elected to the board of Burn’s Court Villa’s Association and will be representing all 23 owners. My residents are getting more and more concerned with the lack of cooperation from not only the City of Sarasota but also with a select few residents of Laurel Park. All of our residents moved to Burn’s Court because of the “pedestrian friendly” atmosphere that welcomed our residents to shopping and restaurants. As time goes by it seems that more and more places are closing down right in our back yard and to make it worse the City and a few Laurel Park residents are standing up to block any progress or future development in our part of town which could lead to a “re-birth” and feed the remaining local merchants. We all moved to this area so that we could walk to everything- that all becomes a mute point if the local businesses can’t keep their doors open. Please let me know what we can do to help save the area before it’s too late. Best regards, Mark Miller

Burns Square is also very far away from the build-out and financial success of St. Armands. They are successful for a number of reasons. The main one is the continual storefronts throughout, creating that walking experience so talked about in New Urbanism, something we do not have in Burns Square but strive for. You seem to think they are improving, I sort of agree and disagree. The St. Armands I remember was like a Rodeo Drive and not infested with T-shirt and Trinket stores or cheap replicas of art and canned music. I think John Ringling would be horrified. Regardless of what is tasteful in one's eye, I do know if they could do it over, they would follow Burns Square model and worked on a Master Plan prior to any improvements they did. That they regret to this day because improvements were done that were not well thought out, such as the current intersection in front of my building.

Lastly, we are open to a facilitator from the city as you suggested.

Fondly, Denise Kowal, President

Burns Square Property Owners Association

Richard Clapp Wrote May 23, 2008 EXCERPT:

As you know, St Armands has a well functioning association of landowners merchants and residents (LMR Group). While each of the separate groups has their own considerations, they have a common vision for St Armands. They meet regularly (with a city facilitator) and make progress. One of their sacred principles is that none of the members will make changes without the knowledge and input from the other members. They realize that they all need to be together for the success of everyone. They also realize the value of a neutral facilitator to keep the discussion fair and within proper bounds. This group has worked well over the last 8 years or so.

RESPONSE TO COMMISSIONER CLAPP ON 'CONSENSUS'

2008-06-05T11:26:00.000-04:00

Dear Dick:

We are slowly getting to your other comments in your email of May 23rd. We offer this conversation on 'consensus' to hopefully improve process for Burns Square (BSQ) and City Hall.

We in BSQ have been struggling with your (appears Kelly's, LouAnn's and Bob's too) 'consensus' approach for BSQ projects that lead to the city commission denial of the Orange/Pineapple roundabout. We feel the 'consensus' system is drastically flawed.

The city manager and the majority of the commission relied on the multiple choice design sheet in which a select group of people placed personal preferences and a 'consensus' was drawn as you state, "The roundabout discussion clearly was not agreed to by most of those affected."

While we feel the Laurel Park (LP) board successfully organized and rallied people to vote for 'no change', and the people on Palm, majority of whom supported the roundabout, filled out sheets requesting 'no change' for friends from LP, we wonder why Hudson Bayou and Main Street were not notified to give input? They are our neighbors to the South and North. Since the overwhelming number of people actually travel in (north) and out (south) of downtown instead of sideways (east/west) through BSQ, wouldn't their input be as important?

In addition you state, "The vitality of a city is a function of everyone - residents, businesses, functionality, personal preference, etc." (questionable since our 60+ year sprawl mentality). If this is the case, then why was every other city neighborhood denied notification? And why wasn't the DTC interests invited, such as the DTP, DTCA and DSMA? Also, shouldn't the city include the city core businesses, residents, property owners and civic community that relies on BSQ's success?

The BSQ Property Owners and BSQ Merchants associations publicly worked together through 2007 on a concept that started in 2005 to offer the city an engineering and new urbanist design that supports our city master plan and the needs of BSQ. Hundreds of BSQ supporters wanted the professionally engineered and planned roundabout but this voice was ignored in this process for the multiple choice design sheet. Admittedly, there was a select group in BSQ (11 out of hundreds) who filled out forms for friends supporting 'no change' (even though 9 of those supported the roundabout and still do).

So here we are. This monumental project for one of the city's most important intersection has been reduced to a few people from BSQ, LP and Palm sitting around a table in the engineering conference room trying to get 'consensus' on a dumbed down 'do nothing' design. BSQ is threatened with no improvements unless we can find 'consensus' with the two LP spokespersons who did not share BSQ values the first time around. But we are told the commission will agree with this 'consensus' design created by 4, 5 6 or 7 of us instead of the professional thoughtful planning BSQ did with hundreds involved?

Therefore I ask, is this how our city government is going to continue to make decisions? Is 'consensus' Kate Lowman and Denise Kowal agreeing? Or is it two people from LP, Burns and Palm? Or is it ten people from LP, BSQ and Palm? Or is the presidents of the associations and which associations? Is it each individual condo on Palm or the Downtown Condo Association? Or a few from every neighborhood in the city? Who and how many of our 50,000 residents exactly makes up 'consensus'? And if we meet with you on Monday at the city commission meeting with a 'consensus' design, did the city commission really accomplish something great for this city of ours or is it as I stated: BSQ "needs are continually ignored for political reasons and a few residents who are content on controlling things that are counterproductive for business and the city's vitality"?

Respectfully, Denise Kowal, President

Burns Square Property Owners Association

PS... That LP & Palm neighborhoods were not included or timely included is demonstrably untrue. It is demonstrably true that they do not include us. There was adequate time for everyone for the construction of the roundabout but so much time was wasted and still is.

PSS...Also, the BSQ intersection is not LP or Palm ( Hudson or Main) and those neighborhoods do not start until outside BSQ DTC zoning, except Main. This is no arbitrary turf line drawn by neighborhood associations but a well defined zoning difference with totally different uses. In addition, our intersection within BSQ boundaries is not encompassed in LP as you state. BSQ and LP are not one, in fact LP only borders 4 of our 13 or so blocks in BSQ.

cc: Burns Square Association (Merchants), Burns Square Residents Alliance, The City Alliance, Downtown Sarasota Merchant Alliance

Richard Clapp wrote May 23, 2008 11:23:37 PM EDT:

The vitality of a city is a function of everyone - residents, businesses, functionality, personal preference, etc. I do not think it is a fair statement that business "needs are continually ignored for political reasons and a few residents who are content on controlling things that are counterproductive for business and the city's vitality". There have been several attempts to look at a vision for the area encompassing Laurel Park and Burns Square. For a number of reasons (history, personalities, etc.) no agreement has ever been found. Recently the Palm Ave condo people have raised issues with the Plaza Hotel concept. I think an honest, open, inclusive visioning process could help. I believe that the residents want to have a lively and functioning Burns Square area but they feel they have been excluded from many of the discussions. The physical connection of these two areas plays a strong role in both areas quality of life and business success expectations. Both need to be involved in the discussions and planning.

The roundabout discussion clearly was not agreed to by most of those affected. Additionally there was little time between when it was proposed and when a decision needed to be made - not enough time to find a solution that most could agree to.

I do not believe the city is saying "consensus is more important than safety". Safety is a factored in the proposed minimal street design changes (as directed by the city commission).

CAN WE FIND MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING? CORE & CITY NEIGHBORHOODS

2008-05-27T08:58:00.000-04:00

DTP Forum 5/27/08 DENISE KOWAL SPEECH

“City Core and Surrounding City Neighborhoods; Can We Find Mutual Understanding?”

I moved from Cohasset, a beautiful town on the rocky shores of the Atlantic coast just south of Boston to Laurel Park in the early 1980’s. This is during a time when homes in Laurel Park could be purchased for $20,000 and that was a double lot. I cried many times my first year and half because downtown was so unappealing to me, then I discovered Siesta Key and moved to Midnight Pass. But in 1983 I cast my lot with downtown, and I made the decision that I was going to do what I could to help it become the best city it could be.

Over the past 60 years, as our addiction to the automobile has become epidemic, the evolution of our cities has taken a path unlike any other in our history. What happened? In a word, we sprawled. We didn't just move westward looking for new, self-sufficient farms and new cities, we moved away from the center of the cities but expected their urban amenities to remain available to us….. And why not? All we had to do was hop into our cars! …… Now, Is there anyone left in the room that hasn't caught on to climate change? & 4 dollar gasoline? - so I’ll move on.

Luckily for us, the City of Sarasota was born just prior to this type of thinking, and even though the industrial revolution was underway at that time, widespread ownership of cars had not happened. Our founders created a city using traditional Urbanist principles, with diverse, compact neighborhoods surrounding a city core. A city in which Sarasota’s population lived in cozy proximity to each other, near everyone's daily needs and entertainment venues. Downtown belonged to everyone, because everyone supported it, and it supported them. Everything important happened downtown.

But the Old Urbanism, which our founders relied upon in designing our city, was systematically shattered, as our society sprawled, and decade-by-decade, we destroyed the downtown community. We no longer took ownership of our downtown, and we started to look outward for our daily needs. We sprawled, we sprawled our living spaces, we sprawled our businesses, we sprawled our entertainment - we sprawled and we are still sprawling today. And as we sprawled, we drove. We drove until "a chicken in every pot" became "Two SUV's in every driveway".

It is through this neglect by sprawling that, we, the citizens of Sarasota, over time lost ownership of downtown. And because so many lost interest and looked outside the city to meet their needs, our city spiraled downward and became blighted. Our economic engine was dying. Downtown no longer belonged to everyone.

As in many beautiful cities, there were people downtown who continued to struggle to put our city back on track, visionaries, and by the turn of the 21st century our city commission did the right thing, and took ownership that in fact our downtown had failed. Both Mayor Palmer and Commissioner Atkins were part of that turnaround, and I am proud to say, “I was too”… and as I look around the room, I see many of you who can say, “so was I”.

That process began by speaking to the responsible part of us, the part that enjoys being grown up and socially responsible locally.

It was at this time, our commission made history by adopting some highly important documents, the Downtown Master Plan 2020 and the related SmartCode. Those documents intended the city I envision, giving stability, predictability and a vision so that people such as I, who invest our lives in this city, can plan our futures accordingly. I say I support the intent, as opposed to the eventual content, because Sarasota politics took the calibration of those documents away from the professional planners where it belongs, and thrust it into the political arena. This has created instability and un-predictably with an inconsistent vision, reducing those of us who invest in this city to gamblers. From visionaries to gamblers in less than ten years.

Now is the time for us to work together and embrace our Founders' vision while also protecting the intent of our New Urbanist Master Plan by helping our city and downtown reach their full potential. Marrying the Old Urbanism of no cars, with our New Urbanist principles of cars in appropriate amounts and places, and getting a grasp on our human footprint is something we can all support for our downtown. It is something that makes sense.

I say, that if our community chooses to allow... select neighborhood leaders to dictate... a future that is against increased density and growth within our city, then at least lets face those decisions honestly.

Let’s acknowledge that to allow our city neighborhoods the luxury of not increasing their density or even... the density of their neighbors, we are accepting a future that brings a larger impact on our natural resources, produces more pollution and does not support a sustainable future. By doing this, we are accepting all the mistakes we have made over the past 60 years of sprawl. This choice of course will put more of the burden on the city core and suburban areas, because people will go somewhere. That is a decision we can make. However, it is not a decision without consequences.

I just say, do not ask our downtown to follow that same path. Do not impose these so-called "neighborhood values" on our downtown because our downtown, our city core is the only area that can support the big picture changes needed for decreasing our human footprint, protecting our physical commons and moving towards a truly sustainable community. A properly functioning city is more protective of our natural resources than any other human habitat.

We live in an interconnected world in which even one seemingly small change ultimately impacts everything else for years to come.

Under the circumstances, is it okay for us to demand that all change be gradual because change makes us uncomfortable? When more than a hundred species go extinct every day because continued encroachment of sprawl upon natural habitat? I truly hope not.

Therefore I ask of you …..what kind of future do you want? And how do you think we will get there from here? And will we be driving…or walking?

Thank you.

LAND ACQUISITION FOR PARKING AS OF MAY 2008

2008-05-20T10:30:00.003-04:00

Bob, can you address the status of the land purchase for a parking facility and the city's priorities for the intersection of Orange and Pineapple since we are in the midst of construction. Thank you, Denise

Denise: I am meeting with staff next week to see what can be done to move the Orange/Pineapple intersection improvements forward. Parking land acquisition program is still in process. Bob Bartollota

Bob: (ON PARKING) Process... So is the carving of the Grand Canyon but at least you can see progress. Denise

BACKGROUND:
The City Commission approved entering into negotiations with Michael Saunders for the Verizon parcel on November 5th, 2007 (http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20071106/NEWS/711060403/-1). At the following City Commission meeting, the City Commission approved entering into negotiations with the Woman's Exchange for their parcel on November 19th, 2007 (http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20070924/NEWS/709240491/-1/xml&display=Salestirsupneighborhoods).

'GREEN' IN VAIN?

2008-01-10T14:17:00.000-05:00

Guest Column

Sarasota's Downtown Core (DTC) has a unique opportunity to become the highest contributor toward the preservation of our natural environment and resources, if only we have the courage of our convictions. Which convictions? Those defined by the community and reflected in the adoption of the Downtown Master Plan 2020. Not by importing a suburban green band-aid vision of shrubbery, grass and berms into our vital commercial core, but rather by supporting a properly designed urban center that recognizes the importance of the long-term viability of our downtown.

Countries all over the world have welcomed New Urbanism, which is simply a reintroduction of the theories our cherished older towns and cities embraced before succumbing to society's relentless 100-year obsession with the automobile and technology. Sarasota made history by being one of the first cities in the world to adopt a downtown land use code based on the New Urbansim-based SmartCode. The SmartCode supports community vision, local character, conservation of open lands, transit options, and walkable and mixed-use neighborhoods. Before we abandon these higher objectives arguing over the removal of a thin strip of grass or a black olive tree or two, perhaps some fundamental review is in order. If you can forgive the technical nature of the conversation, here are important lessons here for us in Sarasota.

New Urbanists identify the differences among nature, rural land, neighborhoods, towns and cities by indexing human habitat area by 'Transect'. There are six Transects professionally called T-1, T-2, T-3, T-4, T-5 and T-6. Transect One (T-1) is the most natural environment, void of human habitat, with T-6 as the most urban environment humans inhabit. Both T-1 (Natural Land) and T-6 (Urban Core) are the healthiest environments from a sustainability standpoint, with T-3 (Sub-Urban) and T-4 (General Urban) having the most impact on our environment. New York City, particularly Manhattan T-6 zone is America's poster child for protecting the environment, because its density saves land, efficiently uses energy and attracts billions of people.

Each 'Transect' has a comprehensive list of what does, and does not, make up its unique built character. For example, one expects to see a farmer in a barn milking a cow in a T-2 zone, which is farmland, but would not expect to see that in the DTC T-6 zone. Therefore, the city does not allow milking cows or building barns on Main Street - at least one yet!

Many of the city neighborhoods are T-4, and on top of their environmental impact, much of the human habitat we created in Florida does not support a good quality of life. Automobiles generate 30-60% of the carbons warming the air. The average suburban household travels 14 car-trips a day and many Americans walk only four minutes a day. Calibrating our T-6 DTC with T-1 through T-4 environmental tools eliminates the benefits of our T-5 and T-6 culture.

We have built areas that have lost almost all sense of community by virtue of their separation. The DTC and surrounding neighborhoods are supposed to be the opposite of that by being inclusive, cozy and compact. A well designed downtown can include beautiful public spaces without becoming suburbia. Amazingly, our small downtown is capable of achieving a place that embraces a vast variety of people in close proximity, but only by putting the right components in the right place. Such as, a LEEDS building is wonderful, but not so wonderful if it is a Wal-Mart that requires its customers to travel miles to get to it.

Said more simply, it is vital to our future that the larger planning principles that are so widely embraced, and that have guided our planning during the early days of this millennium, not be forgotten or abandoned over the politically correct battle to save every individual tree or patch of grass. Until be embrace a real Downtown Core surrounded by urban neighborhoods, we will continue to be driven by our suburban-sprawl mentality and to use the word 'green' in vain.

Denise Kowal

CITY OF SARASOTA ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT HOSING INFORMAL MEETING ON ROUNDABOUT

2008-01-07T17:03:00.000-05:00

A review of proposed designs for a roundabout at the intersection of Pineapple and Orange Avenue will be held Wednesday, January 9th at 6pm in the Federal Building, located at 111 S. Orange Avenue. Please attend and learn more about this magnificent improvement for our cherished area.

1/20/08 Michael Wallwork and the County Engineering Department joined the City Engineering Department in a mini-charrette type meeting asking those who attended to discuss the problems and solutions they have with the intersection at Orange & Pineapple Avenues. Afterwards, Wallwork gave a short presentation on roundabouts, such as the differences between traffic circles and roundabouts. He will be back for another public meeting with design ideas for the intersection in three weeks.

ROUNDABOUTS - LETTER TO THE EDITOR

2008-01-02T10:07:00.000-05:00

NEW JERSEY SETS A SAFER EXAMPLE - ROUNDABOUTS

The New Jersey Department of Transportation is planning more than a dozen new roundabouts. Modern, state-of-the-art roundabouts are replacing old, poorly designed traffic circels (a circle is not a roundbout). The multilane roundabouts planned in Sarasota and Venice (the latter at Jacaranda Boulevard and Venice Avenue) will benefit from the latest advances in roundabout design.

People will be safer (no head-on or broadside crashed). Fender benders will be more easily removed from the flow, with all drivers moving to the right. No crystal ball is needed to show safety improvements because today's roundabout accident-reduction data are so profound. The Insurance Institute of Highway Safety seems to like roundabouts (www.iihs.org).

Drive through the success of the highest volume multilane roundabout in the United States in Clearwater. (There are lots of seniors up there.) Tourists destinations like Clearwater have roundabout that double as attractive entryways (see Vail or Avon, Colo., which one enters off the interstate through roundabouts). Check out other U.S. roundabout experiences at www.roundaboutusa.com.

Again and again, objections come up before roundabouts are built 9such as Monday's letter to the editor Herald Tribune). Then, once a roundabout is opened, users petition for more roundabouts in the area (as happened in Clearwater).

Expect that is South County. Another source of information is the Nov. 25 New York Times article "A shift, but for some drivers, a vicious circle" (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/25/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/25circlesnj.html?pagewated=1&_r=2).

Rod Warner, Sarasota

ROUNDABOUT PROCESS WITH PROPERTY OWNERS

2007-11-21T21:00:00.000-05:00

Much has been written and said about the roundabout the City of Sarasota is studying for the intersection of Orange and Pineapple Avenues. On behalf of the Burns Square Property Owners, we would like to provide some specific information related to this proposal, which has been approved for further study.

In 2005, Burns Square held a self-funded charrette with Urban Planner Ramon Trias and Michael Carlson (local architecture firm creating the Downtown Master Plan 2020 with DPZ). We also hired Michael Wallwork, PE, as the engineer to study the layout of our pedestrian space in Burns Square. Among other important things, we confirmed our roads were wider than necessary and our sidewalks are not a desired width. He also studied and came up with a few alternatives for the intersection of Orange and Pineapple Avenues, one of them being a roundabout.

At the beginning of 2007, Sarasota County put off a large storm water drainage project that had been planned for the Little Five Points area until April 2008. The project is extensive and projected to last 7 months. The county will be tearing up the intersection of Orange and Pineapple and digging deep holes for new storm water drains. The Burns Square Property Owners felt it was prudent to study this intersection again, to see if we could improve the list of problems it currently has while this construction was taking place. We had a few preconceived ideas but had never focused on the roundabout idea. We decided in May to hire experts to help.

In June, Bill Dennis, Charter Member of the Congress of New urbanism and highly sought-after planner, came to Burns Square for 4 days to study and improve our plans from 2005. (You can see his list of accomplishments on his website www.bdennis.com.) He studied the intersection and played with several design options, finally asking why we did not pursue the roundabout the traffic engineer suggested back in 2005. Ultimately, that was the design he suggested, just as Mr. Wallwork did in 2005, to provide an optimal solution for the geometry of that intersection. (see blog post June 2007 BURNS SQUARE MAPS ITS FUTURE)

In July, the Burns Square Property Owners Association went before the commission to ask for approval for the SurTax Funds to be used to improve the intersection of Orange and Pineapple Avenues by installing a roundabout. We also requested the project be started or completed in conjunction with the Sarasota County storm water project to minimize neighborhood impacts from construction. We presented photographs of the intersection before and after with a roundabout and a whimsical "Carmen Miranda Fountain". (see July blog post ROUNDABOUT APPROVED 5-0 FOR SURTAX FUNDING)

In August, the Burns Square Property Owners immediately hired Michael Wallwork to create a conceptual design to make sure a roundabout would work and create a better pedestrian experience. We presented his conceptual design in September to the City Engineering department to see what they thought and a few weeks later presented them to Sarasota County and Boyle Engineering. All the engineers felt the conceptual design would work.

Immediately after the City and County reviewed the roundabout conceptual design, a neighborhood meeting was scheduled. As a result of those meetings the city engineering department asked for additional funds to work with the concerns that have been expressed and to explore the feasibility with the county. The city commission approved those funds on November 19th.

We know there have been concerns and issues raised. We are excited about this opportunity for further study to guide the rebuilding of this intersection, following completion of the storm water project, into one with greatly improved function and aesthetic appeal. If you have questions or concerns or are simply interested in the outcome of this process, please stay involved. If you have specific questions for us, please feel free to ask.

Thank you, Denise Kowal, President

Burns Square Property Owners Association

CIVIC PARKING FOR BURNS SQUARE

2007-11-19T11:27:00.000-05:00

The Downtown Parking Master Plan points out eight top priority locations for civic parking facilities, Burns Square is identified in three of them. First, Burns Square is identified as the number 3 priority with a civic facility to be built on or around the Verizon parcel by 2008. The second time as number 5 priority with a civic facility on the north side of Burns Square around Pineapple Avenue to be completed by 2010 and lastly as the number 6 priority to be completed by 2011 on the County Administration Building on Ringling Boulevard.

It is desirable for Civic parking facilities to be within acceptable distance from various businesses, particularly anchor businesses such as the Burns Court Cinema. Acceptable distance is within 500 walking feet (variables apply). Because of limited available parcels, only three were identified as acceptable locations during the Burns Square Property Owners 2005 Charrette (Orange/Dolphin, Verizon, Woman's Exchange). Today, those remain the locations of interest. Our first choice remains the Orange/Dolphin parcel, second the Woman's Exchange parcel and third the Verizon parcel.

The City Commission approved entering into negotiations with Michael Saunders for the Verizon parcel on November 5th, 2007 (http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20071106/NEWS/711060403/-1). At the following City Commission meeting, the City Commission approved entering into negotiations with the Woman's Exchange for their parcel on November 19th, 2007 (http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20070924/NEWS/709240491/-1/xml&display=Salestirsupneighborhoods). Only one parcel will most likely be purchased for the benefit of a civic parking facility.

In addition, the Burns Square Property Owners through the work completing the 2007 improvements to the 2005 Master Plan identified opportunities for extra on-street parking. Everyone highly values on-street parking and hope over the years the city can continue to look for ways to add those spaces. Through the installment of the roundabout at Orange and Pineapple we will be able to add additional spaces between Alderman and Oak on Orange Avenue. Through various studies, Burns Square needs around 700 addition parking spaces upward to 2000 new spaces as the area develops.

Civic Parking is important to Burns Square so development can be kept within a lower scale excluding the need for buildings to bulk for internal parking requirements.

CHALK FESTIVAL - A BEAUTIFUL EVENT

2007-11-12T16:57:00.000-05:00

Burns Square held its first major event this November, the "Burns Square Chalk Festival" benefiting the Sarasota Film Society.

Over 20 artists worked their fingers raw for two days on the rough street surface of Pineapple Avenue creating beautiful drawings for the pleasure of passerby's, lucky enough to be a part of the expressive process. As each hour passed, every painting evolved upon the pavement making every part of the weekend a new experience.

Today small traces of the works of art can still be seen as they slowly disappear with each car that passes over them. We already have many more artists signed up for the next years event to be held November 15th and 16th, 2008. We are planning to have over 50 artists next year. Volunteers, Sponsors and Artists are very much appreciated and encouraged to participate in this magnificent community event. www.burnssquarechalkfestival.com

BURNS SQUARE NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING

2007-10-30T14:13:00.000-04:00

On October 29th the Burns Square Property Owners and merchants invited over 500 people that live within 750 feet of the intersection of Orange and Pineapple Avenues to a neighborhood meeting. We invited everyone to a discussion/debate about the Burns Square mixed-use area, the possible move of the Woman's Exchange, civic parking garages, the Burns Court Cinema and the proposed roundabout at Orange and Pineapple Avenues. Our goal was to keep our neighbors well informed of the facts as well as have an opportunity to express concerns and have questions answered. We were completely open and transparent about our goals for this special part of Sarasota as we work toward the vitality this mixed-use area depends upon.

Over 75 people attended the meeting throughout the hour discussion over wine and cheesecake. The weather was wonderful and it was a great night for neighbors to bond and meet one another. We want to thank those that came and for spending an hour with us to learn what we are so passionate about. Everyone's support has been greatly appreciated.

WALLWORK REHIRED FOR WORK ON ROUNDABOUT

2007-09-25T11:53:00.000-04:00

Wishing we listened to the expert Michael Wallwork P.E. the first time, the Burns Square area hired him again to study his 2005 proposal to the Burns Square property owners. During the 2005 charrette with Ramon Trias, Mr. Wallwork studied the dangerous and ineffective intersection at Orange and Pineapple Avenues. He came up with three proposals, one of them being a roundabout.

The scheduling of the Storm Water drainage project by Sarasota County for this intersection got the property owners refocused on improving this crossing. If the area was going to be completely torn up, everyone wanted to see if any improvements could be made when it was put back together. Bill Dennis reintroduced the Mr. Wallwork concept of a roundabout this past summer. In order to assist the city, the Burns Square property owners paid for Mr. Wallwork to create a conceptual design.

We are pleased the roundabout will work in the Orange/Pineapple location and will add many advantages to the area which could not be realized with the Orange/Alderman roundabout. In addition to a number of benefits the city and the area merchants will also be able to capitalize on the synergy with the County's Storm Water drainage project starting April 2008. The cooperative effort will allow the merchants to only have to deal with construction on Orange Avenue once.

Benefits the roundabout will bring to our mixed-use area:

1. Make Pedestrian Space a Priority over the Vehicles
2. Connectivity, Access for Customers within Core Shopping area
3. Allow continued Bus Service and Emergency Vehicle Access
4. Accommodate High Volumes of Traffic
5. More Pedestrian Space and Street Trees
6. Pedestrian Safety - 30mph 50/50 chance survival/40mph 20% chance survival/20mph 95% CHANCE OF SURVIVAL
7. Slower Speeds at highest use Pedestrian crossing as well as merchant awareness
8. Addition of Cross Walks - new cross walk on Orange Avenue
9. Gateway Entrance, Mark beginning of Downtown
10. On-Street Parking added
11. Reduction of Traffic Lanes down to 2 instead of 4

The conceptual design had to shift current vehicular compromises that already exist on the main thoroughfare that affects a large customer base to the side streets which effects a small customer base. Vehicles exiting Oak Street onto Orange Avenue can only take a left turn in the current design which may change. A vehicle may have to use Rawls to Alderman or go around the block in Burns Square. But as quoted by the Laurel Park Neighborhood Association President, Ms. Deborah Dart in the November 1, 2007 Pelican Press, "You just turn and go around the block like you do everywhere else downtown." Seems simple to us too.

GUEST COLUMN BY DENISE KOWAL - CONNECTIVITY

2007-09-24T21:45:00.000-04:00

Guest columnist Denise Kowal, Herald Tribune September 24, 2007

SARASOTA SHOULD JOIN THE MANY CITIES THAT HAVE REMOVED HIGHWAYS

The de-designation of U.S. 41 is one of the most important components the Downtown Sarasota Master Plan 2020, which was adopted with enthusiasm by the City Commission by a unanimous vote. The costs were high, the benefits were obvious and it was understood that great things take work. A mobility study group was put together by the city to move this initiative forward.

Little did we know we were being swept up in a political and emotional battle that had very little to do with good urban planning or common sense. One former commissioner actually stated, "I know it (de-designation) is the right thing to do, but it would kill me politically." How can our city be handed a home run within our master plan and yet to our dismay have our City Commission continue to strike out in implementing it?

I first heard about the option to move the highway away from the waterfront from New Urbanist Andres Duany several years ago during the Downtown Master Plan charettes. I also learned we are not alone in facing this challenge. Many cities, for many reasons, are removing highways along their waterfronts. In fact, there are cities not only facing the de-designation challenges but also successfully tackling them and getting the highways removed with great success.

Through the Congress of New Urbanism, I have had the opportunity to hear John Norquist, president and CEO, speak of his efforts while mayor of Milwaukee to reclaim its waterway. While we cower in fear over impacts to the mighty automobile and minimize the benefits of de-designation, other, truly progressive cities have been doing what we think is unthinkable. Here are a few examples:

Milwaukee removed the Park East Freeway, one of the largest highways to ever be purposely destroyed, led by Norquist, who said, "The DOTs simply think of these areas as a places to drive through, but this is your city. This is a place with real value."

San Francisco removed the Embarcadero Freeway after an earthquake. This was after two citizens' initiatives failed because the majority of citizens believed the highway department, saying they could not afford to lose the highway. The city now uses its grid system of streets instead and has no noticeable increase in traffic congestion.

The city had such success that it tore down a second highway, the Central Freeway, replacing it with boulevards with about 50 percent of the vehicular capacity.

Seattle, through the People's Waterfront Coalition, led by Cary Moon, is successful in gaining momentum in removing the Alaskan Way Viaduct that blocked off the city in the 1950s.

Trenton wanted to get the river back for its state Capitol and surrounding neighborhoods from a highway constructed in the 1950s. Ingrid Reed has been instrumental in the movement.

Providence is removing Interstate 95 from its downtown -- imagine that!

Vancouver, which is a fabulous urban city, never had any highways and today will not allow any more road growth to force people into the downtown to use the grid system.

If we want livable communities, transportation must be subordinate to urban design and we need to start using the tools we adopted, the Downtown Sarasota Master Plan 2020 and the SmartCode. As with any major change, critics will find a thousand reasons why this can't be done. This current effort will be no exception to that rule.

Every city I mentioned faced the same types of criticism. But isn't it time we saw past our auto-mindedness and took our bayfront back, connected our neighborhoods and welcomed traffic calmly into our city instead of allowing it to swarm around us like a bunch of bees?

I say it is, and many others agree. Will you join us?

BURNS COURT CINEMA IS NOT MOVING

2007-09-20T19:24:00.000-04:00

For some reason a few individuals chose to spread a rumor that the Burns Court Cinema was moving out of Burns Square...then the press caught wind and printed the rumor, never asking us. We in Burns Square tried to stop the rumor as it spun out of control, pleading for someone to just ask us the truth but nobody did. We can only apologize for any heartache this caused our thousands of loyal customers and want you to know we did the best we could. Please continue to enjoy our charming cinema, Burns Court Cinema, Sarasota's only independent film theater.

Members of the Cinema enjoy added benefits. To become a member of the Sarasota Film Socity go to www.filmsociety.org, they are a non-profit organization bringing the best in independent films to all of us in Sarasota.

PROFESSIONAL PARKING ANALYSIS CONDUCTED

2007-08-27T23:11:00.000-04:00

Further studying the parking needs in the Burns Square area, expert help was sough from Rick Chellman, P.E. of TND Engineering, http://www.tndengineering.com/people/chellman.html. Extensive research was done during the 2005 charrette and some of that information, zoning code regulations as well as the Downtown Parking Master Plan information went into the Chellman report. The report is, "A preliminary analysis of the anticipated parking needs for the proposed redevelopment of the Burns Square area in Sarasota, Florida has been completed in conformance with the Urban Land Institute's 'Shared Parking' methodologies." A first analysis was completed to calculate what might reasonably be construed as the "minimum" parking needed for Burns Square. These calculations assume that all parking - even including residential spaces - are available to be shared, and that several of the existing vacant blocks are not yet redeveloped. A peak weekday demand of 1,990 spaces (20% sharing) and a peak weekend demand of 2,097 spaces (16% sharing).

The Downtown Parking Master Plan adopted by the City Commission shows between 1,265 to 1,620 spaces constructed in three separate civic parking facilities throughout the Burns Square area.

The Downtown Master Plan 2020 identifies three important civic responsibilities, Civic Buildings, Civic Space and Civic Parking. A few quotes from the Master Plan:

“A surface parking lot is an example of the worst type of street frontage, affording the passerby little sense of enclosure, protection or interaction.”

“The Master Plan proposes allocating particular uses to appropriate location within the Downtown Proper, with incentives that reward future developers for maintaining a low to mid-rise scale for their projects. The Master Plan suggests ways to strengthen the emphasis on pedestrian scale retail and restaurant uses along certain corridors such as Main Street and Palm Avenue. The Master Plan also suggests a broad based public program to develop parking structures; this program coordinates with other forms of private sector development.”

“The new ordinance will contain a provision for providing parking spaces in municipal parking garages to be purchased by the developers of individual buildings thereby preventing the necessary bulking up of buildings in the attempt to provide on-site parking.”

“On-street parking is a key element of the walkable, livable downtown environment.”

“…written and graphically illustrated plan for building form, land use, public open spaces, pedestrian circulation, vehicular circulation and parking.”

SMARTCODE WORKSHOP ORGANIZED BY KOWAL & PLACEMAKERS

2007-08-11T17:57:00.000-04:00

On August 9, 2007 Denise Kowal organized a SmartCode Workshop with Placemakers, instructors of the code and developers of the SmartCode Complete. Over 100 people participated in the day-long workshop at the Payne Park Auditorium.

From the SmartCode:

The SmartCode written by Andres Duany and calibrated and adopted by the City of Sarasota through the Master Planning process incorporates Smart Growth and New Urbanism principles, Transect-based planning, environmental and zoning regulations, and regional, community and building-scaled design provisions.

The principles of Smart Growth and New Urbanism support communities that are town-centered and transit and pedestrian-oriented, with a mix of housing, commercial and retail uses, while preserving open lands and achieving other environmental goals. New Urbanism was born in the early 1980's with the design of the groundbreaking new traditional town of Seaside, Florida. Since then, planning has progressed on over 900 New Urbanist communities across the continent.

Many of the most-loved traditional towns of North America were deliberately and thoughtfully planned. However, in our time, over the past sixty years, places have evolved in a completely different form. They have spread loosely along highways and haphazardly across one-open country, enabled by the widespread ownership of automobiles, cheap petroleum, and generalized wealth. Standards in favor of the automobile over the pedestrian. These practices have created strip shopping, big box stores with enormous parking lots, and sadly gutted downtowns. This movement has made walking or cycling beyond one's own cul-de-sac dangerous or even impossible. There has been simultaneous destruction of both towns and open space - the 20th Century phenomenon known as sprawl. The form of our built environment needs a 21st Century correction.

The SmartCode was created to attack this problem at the point of decisive impact - the intersection of law and design. It is a form-based code, meaning it envisions and encourages a certain physical outcome - the form of region, community, block, and/or building. This form is compact, walkable, and mixed-use, and it is meant to be comfortable, safe, and ecologically sustainable. It allows a mix of uses within the neighborhood, so its residents don't have to drive everywhere.

The operating principle of Transect is that certain forms belong in certain environments; for example, an apartment building belongs in a more urban setting, and a ranch house belongs in a more rural setting.

Denise Kowal, President of the Burns Square Property Owners Association is one of only two people in Sarasota who are professionally trained in the SmartCode.

ROUNDABOUT APPROVED 5-0 FOR SURTAX FUNDING

2007-07-20T13:35:00.000-04:00

As a result of work completed by the Burns Square Property Owners with Urban Planner Bill Dennis, a request for SurTax funding was presented to the City Commission on July 17th, 2007 for a roundabout at the intersection of Orange & Pineapple Avenues. The presentation not only pointed out what a wonderful idea the roundabout was but included an opportunity to have synergy with the County's storm water project that starts in April 2008. A rather comical exchange took place about the whimsical photoshop "Carmen Miranda Fountain" probably costing Burns Square $200,000 less in funding, going from $1,000,000 down to $800,000. We are happy with the $800,000 and feel confident the completion of the roundabout can be achieved and will bring great improvements over the current layout, design and appearance. With or without Carmen Miranda!

BURNS SQUARE MAPS THE FUTURE

2007-06-28T17:36:00.000-04:00

THE SARASOTA OBSERVER, THURSDAY, JUNE 28, 2007

long-term planning by Roger Druin/City Editor

BURNS SQUARE MAPS THE FUTURE

(Photo: Denise Kowal, president of the Burns Square Property Owners Association, shows two roundabouts designed to slow traffic on Orange Avenue.)

With seven of 20 acres primed for development, property owners want to get ready for growth - before it happens.

Denise Kowa, president of the Burns Square Property Owners Association, and urban planner Bill Dennis put the final touches this week on a 3-by 5-foot map of Burns Square.

The map summarized an effort by merchants and property owners to create a blueprint for their commercial district. The challenge is to promote a walkable customer-friendly district that maximizes modern development while preserving historic areas.

"This is us recognizing that Burns Square is changing," Kowal said. "So, how do we contribute to making sure the change matches a vision of where we want the city to go?

"We're not requiring anyone to do anything," she added. "We just care how Burns Square grows up."

The map shows where about 300 on-street parking spaces can be added and where two roundabouts would slow traffic on Orange Avenue, allowing pedestrians to feel at ease walking from store to store. it shows possible future condo and commercial projects, and how they should fit in with the streetscape, sidewalks and existing buildings.

The Burns Square Owners Association funded the process to create the map, which is becoming the foundation for a mini-master plan for the district. Thus far, owners have spent $35,000 on the process.

Kowal sent a scaled-down version of the map to city commissioners Monday. She also sent a copy to the president of the merchants association to distribute to merchants.

Kowal plans to conduct a feasibility study to show how much the improvements would cost, and illustrate how the city would capitalize on financial contributions because of anticipated increases in tax revenue from new projects.

Next, she is going to present the map and the plan to the City Commission. If the commission forwards the plan to city staff, Dennis said he will work with city officials to explain the blue-print and why it is important to the future of the city.

Dennis, a renowned New Urbanist who has created designs for an impressive list of mixed-use projects across the country, said he wants to plan a workshop with city staff to go over the plan.

"In many cases, each department will find what is wrong with the plan and why the city can't do it," Dennis said. ""We have to hold a workshop to find out where the problems are and methods to solve them - instead of just saying 'this can't work."

The map encompasses about $3 million to $4 million in improvements, in addition to several city projects already in the works for the district. Kowal said she expects some funding to come from the city's tax increment financing.

Commissioner Ken Shelin met with Dennis when he was in town.

"I thought he had some very simple ideas that are very do-able and wouldn't cost much," Shelin said.

The commissioner said moving the sidewalk and curbing to create additional parking spaces on Orange Avenue is one improvement the city could begin planning immediately.

Other long-term changes will take time.

One of those improvements is a roundabout at the intersection of Ringling Boulevard and Pineapple Avenue and another at the intersection of Orange Avenue and Oak Street.

dennis envisions public art in the middle of both roundabouts. One possibility is a large pineapple at the Ringling Roundabout. The roundabouts could be designed in a way that enhances the district's identity and makes it more of a destination place.

Vice Mayor Kelly Kirschner said he looks forward to reviewing the district's plan.

"I applaud Mr. Dennis and the Burns Square people for taking the initiative and coming up with a plan that says this is what we want to see our area look like," Kirschner said. "This is a starting point. As far as when something will happen and what the costs are, that is an open discussion that has to take place."

URBAN PLANNER BILL DENNIS REWORKS PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS

2007-06-20T10:05:00.000-04:00

Continuing to be leaders in Urban Planning the Burns Square Property Owners hired renowned Charter Member of the Congress of New Urbanism Bill Dennis to update the public improvement Master Plan created during the 2005 charrette. Dennis came to the city for four days and worked endless hours, day and night with the property owners and meeting with city staff from engineering, parking and planning. His efforts and input is quite valuable on so many levels and Burns Square is quite appreciative and fortunate he is helping us out.

The Burns Square Property Owners have dedicated thousands of hours and tens of thousands of dollars to study and create visions for this great area of our downtown, which is so loved by everyone. No other part of downtown has been studied as extensively or been given the attention to detail as the Property Owners have brought to the table for Burns Square on their own dime.

Not a bit of taxpayer money went into the volunteer hours or costs for plans the property owners and experts continue to put together to help further its success. The City Commissioners were the first to see the finished drawing. At the request of some city commissioners, the property owners presented the current plan to the entire city engineering department and the entire planning department in July 2007 offering assistance with public improvements. We look forward to working with the city, county and community to help our area continue to be an asset.

STORMWATER PROJECT PUT OFF ONE YEAR

2007-04-01T13:00:00.000-04:00

In a cooperative effort between the Burns Square merchants and property owners a decision was made to put off construction of the County's storm water project until April 2008. The project is scheduled to last 7 months. The entire intersection at Orange and Pineapple Avenues will be re-piped along with some sections of Oak Street. The property owners will use the time to study the intersection for improvements.

PRAYERS FOR BURNS SQ PROPERTY OWNER HARRY ROSENBLUM & HIS SON

2006-12-18T09:19:00.000-05:00

Harry's son had a tragic accident in the early hours of December 8th. A Blog has been set up for people to read the progress of his only son, Michael. Michael's birthday is December 22nd; he will be 17 years old. The Blog address is http://michaelarosenblum.blogspot.com and you are encourage to leave a message.

TIF CRAAB Project Prioritization October 25th

2006-10-27T09:58:00.000-04:00

I attended the CRAAB TIF Project Prioritization workshop October 25th. Speakers were allowed a whopping 3 minutes to explain why their project(s) should be a high priority use of the TIF money. I spoke as President of the Burns Square Property Owners Association and refreshed their memories on the requests of Burns Square made several months ago. Our priorities in Burns Square remain Municipal Parking (#5), Ringling Avenue Roundabout (#14) and Burns Square Improvements (#7). What was not on their list was Attainable Housing that they already recommend funding with 1/3 of TIF money. The CRAAB board had 18 items to prioritize. There list will be provided to the City Commission (CRA) who will make the final decisions. The following is the CRAAB board list of priorities:

1. Wayfinding System $1.5 M TIED WITH...
Fruitville Rd Improvements $3.9 M
3. Downtown Historic District $10 M TIED WITH...
Public Private Partnerships $10 M
5. Municipal Parking $14 - 20 M TIED WITH...
Cultural District $35 M
7. Burns Square Improvements $5.23 M
8. Bicycle Network Improvements $0.8 M
9. Selby Five Points Park $2.9 M
10. US 41 & Gulfstream Roundabout $4.5 M
11. Storefront Facade Program $10 M
12. Cocoanut Avenue $1.0 M
13. US 41 Pedestrian Sleeves $1.9 M
14. Ringling Ave Roundabouts $1.7 M
15. US 41 & Fruitville Roundabout $12 M
16. US 301 Pedestrian Sleeves $2.2 M
17. Fruitville Rd & East Ave Sleeve $0.6 M
18. Oak St Belvedere $0.1M

Background:
As some of you may remember, several months ago I presented to the CRAAB board the improvements we came up with during our charrette process. Kate Lowman (LPNA President), Susan (Burns Square Association Vice President), and a Director from the Burns Court Cinema attend the meeting with me to show support for the Burns Square requests. I have also presented our requests to the DTP and have their support. I have asked the CCNA Board twice the opportunity to show our plans to the CCNA members but they declined. I have also met with each commissioner to explain the items on our request since they will ultimately make the decisions as the CRA.

The CRA and CRAAB had a joint meeting back in August and put projects into different levels of priority. This is one of many meetings to prioritize projects. During this meeting Parking, Ringling Roundabout and Burns Square Improvements were kept in the high priority category.

ENVIRONMENTALISTS, WHAT DO THEY KNOW?

2006-09-25T19:53:00.000-04:00

As some of you may remember our fellow property owner Harvey tried on several occasions to get us, the other property owners in the area, to consider environmentally friendly improvements to Burns Square. Improvements such as Sidewalks that breath, thermal heating and cooling and better building products. While I agreed with Harvey 100% because we should recycle, I had little to offer on the subject. I, along with everyone else possibly are just ignorant and being a true environmentalism seemed so complicated, uncertain, difficult and expensive. Everyone settled on the easy options and that was to stick with what we know and not complicate anything especially with a subject no one understood.

Well, first I want to say to Harvey, I hope you accept my apology for allowing everyone to push your ideas aside too quickly. I can also say, thanks to you, I have started to become education on the importance of putting your ideas into our vision. Of course there is the movie Inconvenient Truth...and then at the CNU Conference when I heard a brilliant lecture on mankind destructive behavior on the environment...and then I had the opportunity just a few weeks ago to meet William McDonough and hear his lecture. www.mcdonough.com

Okay....I am on board!

McDonough, architect, is the co-author of the book "Cradle to Cradle" along with Michael Braungart, chemist. A MUST READ!! What I really like about their environmental approach is stated in their book, "We see a world of abundance, not limits. In the midst of a great deal of talk about reducing the human ecological footprint, we offer a different vision. What if humans designed products and systems that celebrated an abundance of human creativity, culture, and productivity? That are so intelligent and safe, our species leaves an ecological footprint to delight in, not lament?" If you have a chance to hear this man talk, then do it but until then, I highly suggest you get the book and read it. I will loan out my copy for anyone who cannot find it.

NEW LIGHTING IN BURNS SQUARE

2006-09-25T19:44:00.000-04:00

We are illuminated!! For those that have not noticed, we in Burns Square have new decorative lighting along Orange & Pineapple from Mound to Ringling and some in between. Five years ago the city approved the Burns Square decorative lighting capital improvement. On schedule the city installed the lighting during the beginning of this year, so thank you to the city and contractors for a job well done.

I used the oportunity to decorate the sidewalks around my building with mosaics.

Please come to a Friday night walk that is the first Friday of each month, or to a movie and dinner at one of our cafe's and see how wonderful our area has become for evening strolling.

JOHN MCKINIGHT ABCD COURSE

2006-09-23T16:13:00.000-04:00

The City and County partnered to bring John McKnight into town and teach his course on Asset Based Community Development. I strongly suggest attending one of his courses.

I went to Chicago about a year ago and took the course with several others from Sarasota including Michael Raposa from the City of Sarasota's Neighborhood Department who organized the whole thing. There are only a few people that impact your life so drastically that you change the way you do or look at things and Mr. McKnight is one of those talented people.

He has been working with neighborhoods to help improve the role of citizens to create stronger communities and able democracies for decades. His approach is refreshing and clear cut, often using stories to get his lesson heard. The course is usually two or three days long. You can call the Partnership Office at City Hall to find out about the next course being offered locally.

SUMMER VACATIONS

2006-09-21T13:01:00.001-04:00

For my summer vacation, I climbed the Grand Teton Mountain!! Talk about putting things into perspective. Rock Climbing is a sport that challenges you not only physically beyond comprehension but also mentally challenges you. It took a day to hike to basecamp were you get to sleep in a tent type hut with 12 other people you do not know. You wake up at 3am to start the climb up the mountain in the dark seeing so many stars that you cannot even find the big dipper that was so clear from the valley. As the sun comes up your view is one that only a few ever see. You make it to the top, something you question from the moment you leave your car, and then you are rushed down before lighting storms roll in threatening your life again. We made it back to our car at 6pm that night. That day was 15 hours of non-stop physical excursion. Cool huh?

Share what you did over the summer.....

BROCHURE for BURNS SQUARE

2006-09-20T20:33:00.000-04:00

It has been over two years since the Burns Square brochure was designed so the Burns Square Association is revamping the brochure. They have been actively meeting, rallying memberships and applying for grants to help support the costs that will be around $4,000.00 for 10,000 brochures.

Please contact Melanie Wright with the Wright Look at 529 South Pineapple, Burns Square Association President for information.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING

2006-09-20T19:26:00.000-04:00

Recently the City of Sarasota held a Saturday morning symposium on affordable housing. During the introduction the audience was told that this was not a symposium to discuss what we already know which is housing prices are increasing drastically while wages are not. The audience was also told that this meeting is for people that want to "do" something and not for those that like to say what "they" should be doing because "they" were not in the room today. At the end of the symposium we were directed to fill out a form that stated exactly what we were willing to "do" to help with affordable housing in our city otherwise we would be unable to ever leave City Hall.

Listening to the different organizations and the volunteers express what they do and have to do to get affordable housing for people is truly humbling. I fully admired the work each group is doing to help the people in our community find affordable housing as well as the partnerships and help the City of Sarasota contributes to these organizations. We have a city lead by our commission that is dedicated to affordable housing and should be applauded for their efforts so far. We have groups not only helping families but also the elderly and handicapped.

Ultimately more help is needed and some speakers spoke from their heart saying you have to dig deep in your personal values to ask, "what meaningful can you contribute to help our community with affordable housing."

During the question and answer time, it seemed many people like to discuss the issue or complain about "them" not doing enough or the best statements being, "if "they" only did this". I promised on my slip at the end of the discussion to get someone 18 to register and vote, stay involved in my neighborhood association, drop off donations to the different organizations such as Goodwill, discuss with other property owners in Burns Square about adopting a house to do lawn and light work around a home for the elderly or disabled.

I asked the organizations to supply a list to the city, giving the locations of homes that need assistance, (therefore the money these organizations get can go to providing homes instead of lawn care) so the neighborhood associations could help by each adopting a home.

The list of speakers included Mike Jacobson (Habitat for Humanity & Rebuild Sarasota), Martina Guilfoil (Community Housing Trust), Laura Carter (GoodHomes), Jane Hindall (Office of Housing and Community Development), Carmen Valenti (Sarasota Housing Authority), Charley Richards (Coalition to Assist Supportive Living), Scott Eller (Coastal Renaissance), peter Routsis-Arroyo (Catholic Charities), Christine Filusch (Raymond James & Associates) and the moderator was Jaimie Ross (Affordable Housing Director in Tallahassee).

If you are interested in attending let me know, I think the city will hold another symposium in the near future.

CONGRESS FOR THE NEW URBANISM

2006-06-15T11:51:00.000-04:00

During the month of May I attended the CNU Conference in Providence RI and highly recommend the next conference to those interested in what New Urbanism is all about. For information about the Conference in RI you can go to http://cnuxiv.org that also has some lectures and links that are very informative.

I particularly enjoyed Andres Duany's lecture on New Urbanism which lasted one entire day and a some very good lectures about our environment and sustainability (something we all could use more education on). CNU is also not for the faint at heart because they love to debate issues passionately. It is not about winning, it is about finding the best solutions for a better life for all and a huge amount of respect for one another is certainly expressed. Not surprisingly, affordable housing was a big topic this year and support and emphasis was on the people really doing or starting the new urbanist developments. A few faces from Sarasota were there....one from the City of Sarasota Planning Department which was great to see. Again, attend the next conference and encourage/support our Commissioners and City Staff to go!!

Downtown Rhode Island is also an amazing city with very talented people pushing it's success, such as Buff Chase. I believe it is the only city listed on the National Register of Historic Places...the whole city!! The Firewalk downtown along the river is an experience that is so moving and exciting one should not miss it. The city is relocating I95 which currently runs right through the city...and we in Sarasota cannot even relocate US41 away from our Bayfront, what is with that?

Of course this conference inspired me to visit Rosemary Beach, Alys Beach and Seaside which is 1/2 an hour north of one of the most awful places I have ever been in Florida, Panama Beach. Nevertheless, the developments were amazing and wonderful. Nothing to snub your nose at as many seem to do. I particularly liked the arcades, the shell roads, the winding walking paths through neighborhoods, the different architecture that all had similarities so the feel of the neighborhoods were warm and maintained, bikes everywere and quaint shops...so charming but not too sickening. Alys Beach is the newest development and my favorite, check it out at alysbeach.com.

HISTORIC DISTRICT - BURNS SQUARE

2006-03-28T08:23:00.000-05:00

Is it just the owners of Burns Square that find it amusing that the Downtown Partnership is organizing to request the City Commission to designate a historic district without including Burns Square?

We have talked with the Partnership a few times about this and they still seem to exclude us. If there is a place the locals call a historic district, it would be Burns Square. Regardless, I think Burns Square should look into this and stay attuned to the Partnerships agenda on this one.

PINEAPPLE SQUARE - DEAL FOR WHO?

2006-02-07T13:07:00.000-05:00

Several months ago the Burns Square Property Owners heard a presentation by the Pineapple Square developer John Simon at our monthly meeting and the overall feelings for the project were positive. The presentation contained very general information about the development and no financial details were offered or asked for. We are just learning what those financial details are and have many questions.

We are currently struggling with the amount of money and land that is being exchanged with the Pineapple Square developer for 350 public parking spaces. We did not hear any logical explanation on how this decision could be justified with the lack of support by the consultants, staff and appraisers. Burns Square certainly did not have this type of approval for the purchase of the Orange Dolphin property, which was to provide much needed parking for our area. Yet Burns Square had the support of staff and the consultants. Burns Square has also been operating, paying taxes and surviving the city's ups and downs for decades. In addition our 350 spaces would have been at least 5.5 million dollars cheaper than those in Pineapple Square, yet the commission stated Orange Pineapple was too expensive. Burns Square's need for parking also has the support of the parking consultants as outlined in the City of Sarasota Master Parking Plan and by Andres Duany in the City of Sarasota Master Plan 2020.

Burns Square has over 200 businesses employing over 1000 people contributing to our economic vitality. We have been paying our taxes in the good and bad years, sticking it out to help our city grow into a better community. For the past twenty years, Burns Square has drastically improved adding Banks, Restaurants, Medical offices, retailers, professionals, the busiest business in all of downtown, the Women's Exchange and brought back a theater to downtown in the 1980's, the Burns Court Cinema. We learned through our charrette process that the existence and growth of our businesses in Burns Square are restricted because of our lack of parking and yet our taxes, licenses and rents continue to climb. So we ask, how does the "new" development receive such an incentive so quickly, while there are so many unanswered questions while our area that has contributed so much over the years get turned down for a desperately needed parking structure?

The Burns Square Property Owners Association had one design request of the City Planning Department and the Pineapple Square developer, which was to keep the view open between the South end of Lemon and Pineapple Avenues and Burns Square. The Downtown Master Plan has recommendations for liner buildings on the city owned property that surrounds the Mermaid Fountain at the intersection of Lemon & Pineapple Avenues, which would block off the view between Burns Square and Pineapple Square. We were happy to see that the proposal by the Isaac Group did not include the liner buildings and they suggested improvements to that park instead.

We hope for the success of the Pineapple Square project, we even support helping the developer financially unless it is at the expense of those already doing their part.

TO ARCADE OR NOT TO ARCADE IS NO LONGER A QUESTION

2006-01-24T09:31:00.000-05:00

Last evening, January 23rd, the City Commission voted down the option of arcades and the ability to build habitable space above them. Mayor Servian, Vice-Mayor Atkins, Commissioner Palmer all voted against arcades. Commissioner Shelin was against arcades but did not vote for the language presented. They did discuss they would like to discuss this option at a later date.

Through our Charrette with Urban Planner, Ramon Trias, we learned that arcades would work and sometime necessary in Burns Square. I spoke at the Commission Meeting last evening to express the view of the Burns Square Property Owners Association. This is what I said:

"Good Evening, my name is Denise Kowal and I am speaking as President of the Burns Square Property Owners Association and as a property owner, resident and business owner in the City of Sarasota.

I cannot speak with authority for the entire city but I can speak for the interests of Burns Square.

The Property Owners Association has invested tens of thousands of dollars in our process to create a long-term vision for development, which we hope to present to the City Commission, in an open public meeting sometime in March. Our vision includes arcades in some areas and we found in many cases they were not only completely appropriate in scale and effective but also necessary in Burns Square due to the current downzoning to DTC. The elimination of this option will drastically hinder our process that has been underway for months. We are quite proud of the work we have undertaken, our ability to work together with differences and create a shared vision that will benefit not only the businesses and property owners in Burns Square but the entire city.

We find it upsetting that the Burns Square Property Owners may not be recognized as responsible citizens, working diligently to grow their area into a wonderful destination with the possibility of arcades, should you rescind this option. We ask you to keep the possibility of arcades in the Master Plan and in the very least, keep them as an option that can be approved by the commission.

We hope you respect the work we have done and allow us the opportunity to present our vision before you deny it."

OWNERS SHARE PUBLIC SPACE VISION WITH LAUREL PARK

2006-01-07T15:18:00.000-05:00

The Burns Square Property Owners Assoc. will be sharing its vision for public improvements for the Burns Square area with the Laurel Park neighborhood at the board meeting on Monday, January 9th. There are many issues that affect both areas such as pedestrian safety, parking and traffic. We will be speak about improvements the association will propose to improve public safety that will improve the quality of life for the many residents who walk, drive and Segway within or through the area. We will also discuss strategies, options and recommendations for public parking to eliminate the need for business people from Burns Square to use the streets of Laurel Park for parking. We also have ideas for Morrill, Laurel & Oak Streets, clearly defining the business area in Burns Square from the residential neighborhood of Laurel Park. We look forward to sharing our ideas with Laurel Park and hearing their input.

DESPERATELY BURNS SQUARE NEEDS PARKING

2006-01-05T14:08:00.000-05:00

After a recommendation from Lance Stahl from the Trading Company, one of the Burns Square property owners, we started a petition requesting the city to purchase a location for a parking structure and it goes as follows:

BURNS SQUARE NEEDS PARKING DESPERATELY!!

PETITION To The CITY COMMISSION

I support the purchase of the lot on Dolphin Street and Orange Avenue by the City so they can build a parking facility for the Burns Square area. I feel this lot is centrally located within Burns Square making it an ideal location for a parking facility. I encourage the City Commission to move forward consistent with the Downtown Master Plan 2020 and The City Master Parking Plan and purchase the mentioned property with the TIF funds that were put in place for this purpose. It will never cost less!

End of petition

Signatures are being taken in the area shops. If you wish to support this effort, please stop by, if you can find a parking space and sign the petition. We already have over 200 signatures since December 21st.

Just kidding about if you can find a space. We do have on-street parking and some temporary parking locations. The temporary lot that is open to the public is on the East side of Orange Avenue just north of Laurel Street. We are also working on some other temporary lots that have not gone into construction yet. These locations are temporary and will be unavailable once developed. We thank you for your support.

PUBLIC PARKING STRUCTURE NEEDED

2005-11-30T14:35:00.000-05:00

For the past 15 years the Burns Square area has been desperately pleading with the city to provide a public parking structure. We have had brief moments of excitement with possibilities such as the Verison lot and Dolphin lot but neither made it to closing with the city.

The Downtown Master Plan stated as a civic responsibility, parking is one of the three types of land uses that has to be purchased or reserved for the future of our Downtown. The Plan states the negative impact the current practice of requiring private developers to accommodate most, if not all parking on-site such as additional bulk and height of the structures and it reduces pedestrian life and civic vitality. It also states, Institutionalizing this one program will enhance the vitality of the Downtown and will control the creeping gigantism of recent developments. There are civic parking reservations for Burns Square noted in the Downtown Master Plan 2020.

The Downtown Parking Master Plan also identifies Burns Square. In fact tier 1 of the plan names three locations, Palm Avenue #1, State Street #2 and Burns Square #3. The city owns property on Palm Avenue and State Street and are actively working on those locations. The next priority in the Master Parking Plan is Burns Square yet the city still does not own any land in this area for a parking structure. The Burns Square area is also priority #5 and #6 out of 8 total parking location priorities in this report.

The Burns Square area has 20 acres of land with approximately 7 acres in different stages of development right now. There are only a few locations that will accommodate a parking structure therefore time is of essence. Burns Square needs the city to acquire something soon.

WHEN WILL THE VISION BE SHARED?

2005-11-22T15:41:00.000-05:00

We have been asked, "when will we share our vision that resulted from the charrette with the public?"

Hopefully soon.

Aside from the professionals who conducted our charrette who are paid to help us formulate our vision into a working document, we are all volunteers donating our time to accomplish a huge undertaking by creating a shared vision for the Burns Square area. Understandably a well organized presentation of this magnitude takes time.

We hope to be able to be on a City Commission agenda in the next couple of months presenting to the public our short term and long term visions. We do however have preliminary ideas and are willing to share those with neighborhood or business groups that would like us to speak at any upcoming meeting.

Some have confused our process with an institutional run charrette where not only is the institution the client but the public is as well since the fee is usually paid with public funds. The charrette we conducted had the Burns Square property owners as the client using private money therefore different processes applied to this than one funded with public money. Regardless, the Burns Square area invited the public and was pleased people took the time to come and express their ideas on how we can improve this charming area. We are excited to share our goals and hear feedback with those interested in our vision.

PEDESTRIAN SAFETY

2005-11-22T15:24:00.000-05:00

Pedestrian safety is a concern and we are addressing that issue in our recommendations for improvements to the Burns Square area. We are redesigning our crosswalks and adding several that currently do not exist along both S. Orange & S. Pineapple Avenues. We are also finding ways to increase the size of our sidewalks and number of on-street parking spaces. The intersections at Orange & Pineapple, Ringling & Pineapple and Ringling & Orange, Alderman & Orange have also been redesigned for a better pedestrian experience. We have also looked into ways to mark the transition from the downtown neighborhood to the residential neighborhoods. And of course our lighting is being installed to illuminate your walks in the evenings.

If you have any pedestrian safety concerns you want us to address please let us know.

WEEKEND CHARRETTE A SUCCESS

2005-11-09T09:19:00.001-05:00

This past weekend was a huge success and we are actively working on all the great suggestions from those that attended.

The number one issue on everyone's mind remained our lack of parking. Over the past twenty years our retail climate has increased but we still find people moving out of the area because their clients cannot find parking spaces. Our area is listed as 3rd, 5th and 6th priority on the City of Sarasota Master Parking Plan. The City already owns land for the 1st and 2nd locations on the priority parking plan list. Time is not on our side on this issue.

Safety was a close second and we are working to redesign the intersections, cross walks, street parking and traffic speed. Mr. Trias had the Roundabout guru at our charrette and many were designed for our area. The city is currently installing our new lighting so this will certainly improve walking in the area during the evening hours.

Our surrounding neighborhoods are an important part of our vitality and we have come up with some suggestions for transitions. Laurel Park expressed concern with possible future development of the Women's Exchange or the Short Stop Convenience Store so that will be an ongoing conversation because there are no plans in sight for these locations.

We are working on thoughts for our own land and we are still at the beginning stages of these conversations. Many people expressed they liked the charm of the area and so do we. Please continue to give us input and suggestions on how we can improve our charm.

YOU'RE INVITED TO ATTEND...

2005-10-28T08:31:00.000-04:00

... one of a series of planning charrettes being conducted by the Burns Square Property Owners Association. We encourage you to attend if you have suggestions for improving the Burns Square community and its pedestrian experience. We are looking for ideas that will give us our own sense of place and enhance the qualities we already love about the area.

We have invited the Burns Square neighborhood, which includes all the business owners, tenants, merchants, employees and anyone who is in the Burns Square area on a fairly regular basis to attend a workshop from 8:30am to 10am November 4th, Friday morning. Since you work or live in the area we know you have incredible knowledge about the things that work, the things that do not and how things could be improved. We want to know what those things are!

We have invited the surrounding neighborhoods, and any neighbor that travels through or visits Burns Square. We highly encouraged our neighbors to participate in the workshop from 4pm to 6pm November 4th, Friday afternoon. How can we improve our area for you?

The charrettes will be held in the Garden Building on the second floor located at the corner of Laurel Street and Pineapple Avenue. If you would like to attend and have not been formally invited, we apologize and hope you participate in one way or another. Please let us know if you are interested in attending because space is limited but we will accomodate everyeone who has something to give. If you have an idea we want to hear about it.

PARKING NEEDED

2005-10-27T18:25:00.000-04:00

Burns Square has parking challenges that are unique and different from the rest of our downtown.

For the people that live, work and visit this area there is a negative reality that our area has very little parking and what we do have does not support the volume needed. We have learned that our customers do not frequent our area as many times as they want simply because they do not want to struggle looking for a parking space. Ultimately we have fewer customers and over time this minimizes our business growth and stability. We want to help the businesses in our area thrive instead of losing them to areas that have more parking.

Burns Square has a shortage of available land with no options for growth beyond our area because we are surrounded by residential areas. Currently there are no properties available for purchase and even if available there are very few feasible for a parking structure. Per the City of Sarasota Downtown Parking Master Plan the Burns Square area is third in priority after Palm Avenue and State Street. Currently the city owns land in both of those areas for parking but nothing in Burns Square.

The Burns Square area was very excited at the purchase of the Dolphin Street location simply because it was the best possible location for the benefit of all. Positioned in the middle of the area someone could park in the parking garage and only need to cross one major street (Pineapple) to get the theater instead of having to cross two major streets (Pineapple & Orange). Another bonus was the structure for the garage could have been built and available relatively quickly for neighborhood parking.

Some ask, “why not the Michael Saunders lot?” At this time there is no contract with the city to provide parking for the area. The conversation is not closed and all parties are reviewing this option. The city is also looking into the land on the East side of Orange owned by the County but that is too small. Or why not behind the US Garage Building, owners willing or the Women’s Exchange? Possibly further down south on Orange Avenue? The residential Laurel Park and Palm Avenue do not want our overflow anymore. So where?

We will discuss the smaller properties being developed and their need to purchase off-site parking to encourage ground floor retail.

UPCOMING CHARRETTE - SUGGESTIONS WANTED

2005-09-27T22:55:00.000-04:00

This blog was set up by Denise Kowal, President of the Burns Square Property Owners Association as a tool to help us gather suggestions for our area. Your suggestions will help us with our upcoming charrette scheduled in November, 2005. We are requesting constructive input and ideas that will help us create short term and long term visions for our unique Burns Square area.

For over a year we have been discussing the creation of a plan for our area. Several months ago we each contributed money to hired urban planner Ramon Trias to help us define a vision. Mr. Trias came highly recommended by Andres Duany who the City hired to created the Downtown Sarasota Master Plan 2020. Mr. Trias plans to collaborate with his staff architect Michael Carlson. Mr. Carlson has an office in Burns Square and was a partner in the firm that worked hand in hand with the Duany firm on the Downtown Sarasota Master Plan 2020. We graciously welcome anyone interested in volunteering to help us in this endeavor.

The Burns Square area starts at the intersection of US41/Mound Street and Orange Avenue and runs north on Orange & Pineapple Avenues to Ringling Boulevard including Burns Court/Lane, Rawls Avenue and the cross streets Laurel , Dolphin & Cross. We will be looking at every aspect of our district such as traffic flow, intersections, cross walks, curb cuts, parking and "suggestions" for architectural design. The intention of our plan is not to "police" anyone but create a cooperative vision that can be worked on over the years. We are requesting input from our neighbors, area merchants & professionals, elected officials, City and County staff and anyone else interested in contributing to our process in a positive way.

We look forward to hearing from you and gathering constructive input that we can incorporate into our vision.