Sarasota County approves major development near new Sarasota Memorial Venice hospital

A mixed-use development that would include 421 residences, a hotel, assisted living facility, storage units, commercial space and offices on about 32 acres in south Sarasota County got five key approvals from the County Commission recently, even though critics said the consent should be tied to construction of a key road link.

Area residents and adjacent developers said the project approval needed a guarantee to develop Twin Laurel Boulevard as a connector road between Honore Avenue and Laurel Road in the Venice area.

The region has become a hotbed of commercial and residential development since Sarasota Memorial Hospital opened its Venice campus on the southeast corner of the intersection of Honore Avenue/Pinebrook Road with Laurel Road in 2021.

At least three separate developers have an interest in seeing the easement that straddles the property lines of several parcels developed as a private road both to facilitate their own interests and to keep traffic away from the increasingly congested intersection of Laurel and Pinebrook roads.

Many of the speakers at last Tuesday's public hearing on the mixed-use development plan voiced concerns over the impact of a potential 80-acre development across the street from Laurel Nokomis School on traffic near the school – especially during pick-up and drop-off hours.

“Laurel Nokomis K-8 school, with over 1,000 students on Laurel Road, is currently experiencing significant traffic challenges that will only be further exacerbated by the expansion of the new regional Sarasota Memorial Hospital expansion and all the ancillary multifamily developments – such as the Twin Laurel development – contributing hundreds, if not thousands of new vehicles at the intersection of Laurel, Honore, Pinebrook,” said Nokomis Area Civic Association President Bill Cantrell, who later called the current multi-developer plan for Twin Laurel a piecemeal approach.

Sarasota County Commission Chairman Ron Cutsinger said that while it makes sense for Twin Laurel Boulevard to be paved, the commission could not get involved in what’s essentially a private property matter, since Twin Laurel Boulevard is a shared easement across private property and not a public road.

“That would be an exaction and we cannot enforce that,” Cutsinger said, referencing a taking of private property.

Residents also suggested that the county seize the easement through eminent domain and build a public road. That, too, was a nonstarter with the board.

Here’s a look at the latest proposed development, as well as four others that may someday be built along that private road.

Twin Laurel

This mixed-use development, northwest of the Sheriff Tom Knight Support Services facility for the Sheriff's Office, would have direct access to Honore Avenue via Twin Laurel Boulevard and two other entrances.

Three separate entities are partnering in a joint venture to develop the site: SteeleHarbour Capital Partners, Middleburg Communities and MidCity Real Estate Partners.

The five approvals by the County Commission include: a growth plan change to designate the land as Village I Commercial Center; a finding that the change is consistent with the county’s comprehensive plan; a critical area plan amendment for the Interstate 75 corridor; a rezoning petition to change the land use from low density resident development and government use to commercial general; and a special exception to allow for the hotel.

According to the binding development concept plan, the 32.4-acre parcel would contain 421 multifamily residences, a 60-bed assisted living facility, a 140-room hotel, as well as 100,000 square feet of mini storage, 20,000 square feet of commercial space and 80,000 square feet of offices.

That plan, created by the local offices of planning consultants Kimley-Horn, currently calls for the western portion of Twin Laurel Boulevard to end in a cul-de-sac, with emergency vehicle access via the rest of Twin Laurel Boulevard from Laurel Road.

Jeffrey Boone, the attorney who represents that joint venture, said negotiations among the private developers to extend the road have not been successful, since his clients want the other developers to pay part of the projected $1.2 million to $2.2 million cost of creating the improved access to Twin Laurel Boulevard.

Instead, Boone said the other developers are seeking a “free ride” to that entrance.

Laurel Vista

Vista Development Partners, represented at the commission meeting by Managing Development Partner Beck Daniel, wants to combine three properties to create a 16.9-acre parcel to build a 216-unit apartment complex.

If no deal is struck with SteeleHarbour, that development would still have access to Laurel Road via the Twin Laurel Boulevard easement.

Daniel argued that development of the Twin Laurel easement corridor should follow the guidelines of the Joint Planning Agreement between Sarasota County and the city of Venice, which calls for interconnectivity.

Andrew Pepper, one of the property owners working with Daniel, urged the county to put the “safety of children, families and future visitors” first.

“We bought into a single-family community with five-plus acre lots,” Pepper said. “Lots of privacy, a private road with a 60-foot easement that for the most part I have been the main person to maintain with my personal tractor, box blade, time and fuel since purchasing in 2018.

“This area should not be developed without all owners on Twin Laurel Boulevard in agreement – the easement should not be impaired without all owners agreeing in writing with a plan for continued, partnership – partnered maintenance and all of Twin Laurel Boulevard to be improved to county standards.”

Shreyvan Real Estate/hotels

Keith Patel, manager of Shreyvan Real Estate LLC, wants to build two hotels on 11 acres along the east side of Twin Laurel Boulevard, along the north side of Laurel Road, more or less across the street from Plaza Venezia.

Patel noted that the preferred access to the two hotels is via Twin Laurel Boulevard – otherwise he would have to punch through an access to Laurel Road.

Attorney Dan Bailey, who was representing Shreyvan Real Estate, argued that the County Commission should adopt the same solution they did six months ago, when he was representing the Sarasota Orchestra during the rezoning of 31 acres on Fruitville Road for its new center.

The orchestra’s concept plan had an interconnect to where it abuts Sam’s Club, but no planned connection to Sarasota Crossing Shopping Center, because the properties are separated by a Sarasota County stormwater canal.

The orchestra agreed to an interconnect, providing the shopping center owner paid for a bridge over the canal.

“This is your opportunity to require an interconnect like you did with the case in the orchestra,” Bailey said, adding later: “The issue is not Twin Laurel Boulevard, it is interconnection … There needs to be a requirement that when the other property is developed, here is an interconnect.”

Hurt properties development in Venice

Complicating this process is an 80-acre mixed-use development on the northwest corner of the Twin Laurel Boulevard Easement and Laurel Road that’s essentially across the road from The Reserve at Venice apartment complex and Laurel Nokomis School.

A Sept. 7 letter sent by Bailey to the commission included an unofficial/unapproved rendering of the parcel that also included multiple accesses directly onto Laurel Road, but it is a separate development from Twin Laurel.

SteeleHarbour/MidCity Partners own about 20 of those 80 acres, with the Joseph W. Hurt trust owning the remainder.

That potential development has yet to be reviewed by the Venice Planning Commission, though since the property owners opted to retain commercial general zoning on the property when it was annexed into the city, developers must receive a conditional use permit do develop multifamily housing on the land.

An application for the conditional use permit is scheduled to be heard by the Planning Commission as soon as Sept. 19.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Developer wins key approvals for large project near SMH-Venice