North Port board gives first approval needed for 180-unit luxury apartments, new RV resort

NORTH PORT – North Port city commissioners gave preliminary approval to a growth plan change to increase development allowed on 18.6 acres off of Toledo Blade Boulevard for Serenity at North Port, a 180-unit, upscale apartment complex.

In addition to changing the future land use map from low to medium density residential the board changed the land-use classification from single-family to multi-family development.

Both votes were 4-1, with Commissioner Debbie McDowell dissenting.

The commission is scheduled to review the development master plan at its next meeting, though attorney Jeff Boone showcased one during a presentation to the commission, along with Mark Forlenza, managing director of construction and development for the developer, Hamden, Connecticut-based Belfonti Companies.

According to the Belfonti Companies website, this would be the company’s second venture outside of New England – the other is a multi-story development on Biscayne Boulevard in Miami.

Without the changes, the acreage could be developed as 70 single-family homes.

From 1992 to '98 the land was owned by the First Christian Church of Port Charlotte.

Access to the uniquely shaped parcel would be directly from Toledo Blade Boulevard to the east. It is bordered on the northwest by Fernway Drive, on the west by Oakley Road and southwest by Lovett Road.

Residents living in neighborhoods on or adjacent to those roads opposes the changes.

The chief complaints revolved around compatibility with the multifamily complex, as well as concerns about decreased property values. The upscale complex was also likened to recent affordable and workforce apartment complexes just to the north, near the intersection of Toledo Blade and Price boulevards.

John Maredes, who lives on Sunnyvale Road, southwest of the proposed project, bemoaned the recent development.

“Who’s going to live in them? We don’t need all of the buildings going up on Toledo Blade,” he said.

Another Sunnyvale Road resident, Gabriela Donley, had more issues about the location than the development style.

“This is not the place for that,” Donley said. “This is our home, this is our backyard – we want this to stay the way it is.

“What’s wrong with single-family homes?” she added.

Much of North Port – especially the original portion of North Port created by General Development Company almost 65 years ago – was carved up into quarter-acre single-family lots.

Boone noted that roughly 0.6% of available land in the city is eligible for multifamily development.

He repeated statements he previously made about the need for upscale rental homes, once Sarasota Memorial Hospital opens a planned campus at the intersection of Sumter Boulevard and Interstate 75 – with those residents then patronizing local shops and restaurants when off work.

“This city is nothing more than single-family housing,” agreed Vice Mayor Phil Stokes. “ It needs higher density” development.

Stokes also took issue with what he felt was a characterization of renters as second-class citizens vs. single-family homeowners.

Stokes has been renting at Tropia, the new apartment complex in Wellen Park, since he sold his home in Gran Paradiso, while waiting for a new home in Wysteria to be finished.

Master plan for 458-space RV resort approved

The commission unanimously approved a development master plan for a Solana RV Resort, being proposed by Zeman RV Resorts, that would be south of Tamiami Trail and west of Talon Bay Boulevard.

Zeman currently operates Sarasota Sunny South, a 55-and-older RV resort at 2100 Doud Street, Sarasota.

The 458-space Solana RV Resort would include 318 standard recreational vehicle slots, as well as 140 “park model” RV slots, two clubhouse buildings, a resort-style pool, pickleball courts, a maintenance building and stormwater improvements.

The 71-acre site is accessed by Talon Bay Drive and is east of LaCasa Mobile Home Park and north of Talon Bay.

The proposal was already permitted under the planned commercial development zoning.

In 2020, the city had considered purchasing a portion of the parcel for a new public works facility but that was quashed after LaCasa and Talon Bay residents voiced strong opposition.

Clilnt Cuffle, principal at WRA Engineering, noted that the stormwater system is being designed to handle the impact of a 500-year storm.

That is significantly more than required by the city of North Port and the Southwest Florida Water Management District, and equal to the impact of Hurricane Ian in 2022.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Connecticut company eyes North Port for 180 upscale apartments