VENICE — A mixed-use Englewood project touted as a “catalyst” for redevelopment received an unanimous green light from the Sarasota County Board of Commissioners.
But the approval was granted over the objections of neighbors who expressed concerns about the scale of the project and the traffic it could generate.
Buchan’s Bayside Inc. wants to build a 10,000-square-foot restaurant with 2,000 square feet of rooftop seating along with 12 residential villas at 599 W. Dearborn St., Englewood, the property known as Buchan’s Landing.
To help satisfy parking requirements, it also proposes to have offsite valet parking at 51 Old Englewood Road.
Both properties are in the Englewood Community Redevelopment Area.
To move forward, the project needed to: redesignate the 2.47 acre restaurant/ acre property from Commercial to Central Business in the Englewood Town Center Critical Area Plan; rezone it from Commercial Neighborhood, Residential Single-Family 3 and Residential Commercial Transition Overlay District to Commercial General/Main Street Overlay District; and obtain special exceptions for the residential buildings and the offsite valet parking.
Representing the applicant, attorney Bill Merrill said the project is the vision of the Libertore family, former owners of the property who reacquired it in 2022.
“This is one of those projects that can cause and create change in a positive manner,” he said.
The planned “high-end” steak and seafood restaurant will attract people to the area, benefiting other businesses, and the boat basin on the property will provide public access to Lemon Bay, he said.
More people coming to an area with residences on narrow streets is something neighboring residents said they’re worried about.
Infrastructure is lacking, Heather Hooper told the commissioners. She also questioned the scale of the project and the noise residents could experience from the restaurant.
Julie Dickerson said that many of the streets in the area are so narrow they’re virtually one-way. There are already restaurants in vicinity that will compete for parking, she said, adding that including housing in the proposal “seems greedy.”
Ken Kayser’s concern was that the valet parking lot would require restaurant patrons to walk to it and back to their cars.
“This is an accident waiting to happen,” he said.
There was also support for the project, however.
Taylor Meals, who sold the major parcel back to the Libertore family after owning it for 24 years, said that Lemon Bay is the key to planned redevelopment, and Dearborn Street connects to it.
It will make the property and the bay accessible to the public, which was the family’s dream for years, he said.
If he thought the project was bad he’d oppose it, he said. Instead, he urged approval.
So did Joyce Colmar, who formerly owned a restaurant in the area and now operates the Dearborn Street Market.
The project would be the anchor for redevelopment, she said.
“You have to put a business in this area,” she said. “I really don’t see a downside for this.”
The commissioners didn’t, either.
They deferred to Commissioner Ron Cutsinger, who represents Englewood, to make the motion for approval.
“This is exactly what the improvements to Dearborn Street were all about,” he said. “I’ve been waiting for this.”
He said he thinks the project will “ignite” other redevelopment.
Commissioner Neil Rainford agreed, saying he believes it will “put revitalization in overdrive.”
All the applications for the project were approved 5-0.
Other business
A proposal to build two Hilton-family hotels north of Laurel Road across from the Plaza Venezia shopping center died when the County Commission turned down a small-area comprehensive plan amendment.
Nokomis Hospitality was seeking approval of a 117-room Home2 Suites and a 118-room Homewood Suites on 11 acres east of Twin Laurel Boulevard.
Besides the comp plan amendment, the project also required a rezoning; a special exception to build up to 65 feet where the height limit is 35 feet; and an amendment to the county’s I-75 corridor plan.
But none of those items required a vote after the Commission rejected the comp plan amendment.
Rainford made the motion, saying the proposal is too intense for the site and would aggravate existing traffic issues.
Commissioner Joe Neunder agreed, and said he also had a problem with the proposed height.
The comp plan amendment was rejected unanimously.
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