Neighborhood workshop set for for fire station to serve East Venice Ave and River Road
Sarasota County will conduct an online neighborhood workshop for a proposed new fire station at 3176 East Venice Ave., which would serve a fast-growing area of south Sarasota County, including North River Road.
Sarasota County is seeking a change in zoning for the five-acre site so a single-story, 12,715-square-foot fire station can be built.
Neighborhood workshops are typically the last step before an application is filed for a project.
Where is the proposed fire station located?
The site is on the north side of East Venice Avenue, west of Jackson Road. The two closest subdivisions are Caribbean Village on the northwest corner of River Road and East Venice Avenue and Stonewalk Preserve south of East Venice Avenue, between Lee and Keystone roads.
Just east of Stonewalk, one developer is planning 565-home residential development that would wrap around the North RIver Marketplace development, which would feature both 285 multi-family homes and a 57-acre commercial development that would include a supermarket and self-storage.
Farther west on East Venice Avenue more than 900 homes are envisioned by two separate developers, including owners of a 50-plus acre site once eyed as a hospital location until Community Health Systems Inc. closed its medical operations in Venice.
Where are the closest fire stations now?
Sarasota County operates 23 fire stations in unincorporated Sarasota County. The closest ones to that area are Station 21, located at 721 Center Road, just east of the Venice campus of the YMCA of Southwest Florida, and Station 26, located at 19955 Preto Boulevard and sharing services with the North Port Fire Rescue District.
Venice Fire Station Station 53 is at 5300 E. Laurel Road, at the southwest corner of Laurel Road and Jacaranda Boulevard.
How do you participate in the workshop?
The neighborhood workshop will be hosted on Zoom by Philip DiMaria of Kimley-Horn and Associate. The link registration link is at https://kimley-horn.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_pjI8f8kpRNi8lTn5Ehsh-A#/registration. The Webinar ID is 974 4250 0957.
For more information, contact DiMaria at 941-379-7600 or by email at Philip.DiMaria@kimley-horn.com.
This is the second neighborhood workshop hosted on the proposed fire station.
The first was on Sept. 20, 2022 but the second is required because of how much time has passed since then.
Neighborhood workshops are not public hearings but they are an opportunity to ask questions and learn about a proposed project.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Proposed fire station would serve fast-growing area of N. River Road
