Sarasota's proposed tallest building denied zoning changes; appeal goes to Planning Board

A controversial downtown Sarasota luxury condo project will head to the Planning Board after the city's development services director denied a zoning adjustment required to build the project as designed.

Matt Kihnke, the developer of Obsidian Residences, said he plans to appeal the decision to the planning panel, which makes development recommendations to the City Commission.

"It is unfortunate that we were not able to resolve these reasonable adjustments with city staff," he said in an email. "The adjustments are specific to the first two stories of the building and have to do with fire and life safety systems, as well as safe ingress/egress to and from the site."

The Obsidian has drawn opposition from nearby residents over plans for the than 340-foot-tall condo tower with 14 residences that would replace a stretch of retail shops on North Palm Avenue in front of the Bay Plaza condominium.

Residents of Bay Plaza — which borders the property and would be overshadowed by the proposed tower — have organized rallies and demonstrations against the project, including the reduction in retail space they have said will hurt the neighborhood.

Opponents have also pointed to the developer's use of interstitial space — the area in a building between finished floors typically used for HVAC and other building services — to stretch the gap to achieve what would be the tallest building in downtown Sarasota if the project is built as proposed.

Sarasota's zoning code does not have a height limit, but instead caps buildings at 18 stories. However, the developer has pointed to a lack of regulation on the space between finished floors before he submitted his development application as justification for the idea.

Decisions move to Sarasota Planning Board

The latest decision by Lucia Panica, the city's development services director, did not deal with the issue of interstitial space or the administrative site plan — which received partial sign-off from the city's Development Review Committee in June — but instead addressed three zoning adjustments the applicant requested.

Panica approved one adjustment, but she noted in a letter to the developer she could not approve the other two.

She said the project did not qualify for her to adjust "habitable space" requirements on the first two floors, and she couldn't by herself approve a reduction in required retail frontage, because the size of the reduction was too large.

Ron Shapiro, a resident of Bay Plaza who has helped organize nearby residents' opposition, said he agreed with Panica's rationale and praised the work of city staff in evaluating the development.

But he also said he would like other issues raised by opponents to addressed by the staff, including the extra space between finished floors.

"From my perspective, they seem to be valid concerns and issues and I would like to know the outcome," he said.

So far, the process has exclusively considered by the Development Review Committee, which does not allow residents to speak during the public meetings. That means when the issue comes before the Planning Board, it will be the first chance for the opponents formally provide input.

Sarasota spokeswoman Jan Thornburg said the developer has 15 days to file an appeal from Friday and that the project has not been scheduled for consideration at any upcoming meetings.

Kihnke said he thought his team was close to working out the issues with the adjustments he sought, but that ultimately he will get approval from the Planning Board.

"We are confident that we will be successful in our appeal of this decision to the Planning Board and trust that they will grant the necessary adjustments," he said. "The adjustments are very minor and I feel that if my team had one last meeting with city staff this would have been resolved."

Previous reporting: Fate of Sarasota's proposed tallest building now in hands of development services director

More: Rally to save Sarasota from 'skyscrapers' as tallest building project goes to officials

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Proposed condo project in Sarasota to take case to Planning Board