To: Mayor Hammett and Council Members
From: Sue Lang, President, Venice Neighborhoods Coalition, Inc.
Re: 2007 Comprehensive Plan (6/26/07 Council Agenda for Approval of Submission to DCA)
Date: Tue, June 26, 2007, 12:52 PM
Please be advised that Venice Neighborhoods Coalition is opposed to the 2007 Comp Plan as drafted. We will submit to you and to State DCA within the next 60 days the full details of our objections. We are especially alarmed that the Plan does not reflect the overwhelming sentiment at the Envision Venice Comp Plan public workshops held in 2005- 06, which clearly indicated opposition to growth and especially greater density and height.
As you know, we already have significantly greater height and density within the older, developed areas/core of Venice.
The increases suggested in the 2007 Comp Plan not only are contrary to what the community clearly indicated to you and completely out of character, but are simply not remotely sustainable in terms of our resources such water and roads, other infrastructure, and especially hurricane shelters and evacuation. No where in the entire county of Sarasota, save perhaps downtown Sarasota is there development at 25 units per acre. And while the County Comp Plan has a provision in limited circumstances for development of Major Employment Centers that could include up to 25 units per acre in order to provide affordable workforce housing, as you know, not one of these developments has been built to date.
Furthermore, no where in the Venice Comp Plan does it state that the increase to 25 units per acre and also additional heights, are only for affordable/workforce housing, which at any rate, does not require anywhere near 25 units per acre to produce.
We strongly recommend that you not approve this Plan as submitted to you. We are especially objecting to the absence of community input into the creation of "Infill-Redevelopment Community Villages" with provisions for increased density and height which were never presented to our community for comment. The current Comp Plan, as you know, calls for discouraging of tall buildings along the Gulf.
Many of us who bought homes here during the past several years were told that there would be no more tall buildings on the beach. This policy should have been retained in the current Plan because it had overwhelming community support and was the reason many people purchased on the island. We believed that Venice would not become Ft. Lauderdale or Ft. Myers Beach, etc. Indeed, we expected additional height reductions and density reductions on the island.
We hope you respect the sentiment of most residents of Venice and keep Venice the charming small town for which we moved here. Please reject this 2007 Comp Plan until more discussion and revision takes place.
Thank you.
Sue Lang, Venice Neighborhoods Coalition
