Wednesday kick off launches first Sarasota Comprehensive Plan update in 8 years

SARASOTA -- Sarasota County wants to ensure its Comprehensive Plan goals still align with community goals.

To check, the county is holding a public meeting on its Comprehensive Plan update from 5:30-7 p.m. Wednesday at the Gulf Gate Library, 7112 Curtiss Ave., Sarasota.

"The kickoff is geared to inform the public of what's happening for the next 18 months with the Comprehensive Plan update," said Sarasota County planner Elma Felix.

The public can look at county changes in terms of demographics, hear about the update process and find out about the next steps and ways to stay involved, Felix said.

"The goal is to inform the public through a presentation and then have them take some action steps at the end," Felix said.

When the plan was last updated in 2006, there were community workshops, but the county is making a more concerted effort to ensure the public has plenty of opportunities to have their voices heard this time, Felix said.

"We like to ensure we have as many voices as possible," Felix said, adding there will also be online engagement tools. "We know we have a large seasonal population."

The Comprehensive Plan serves as the general guidebook of the county, Felix said.

"It really tells us where to grow," she said.

The plan for land use is also related to infrastructure, roadways, parks and libraries.

"We are trying to emphasize the Comprehensive Plan as a synergy document," she said.

The current plan is 1,300 pages and some data dates to 2000 so Felix said they are trying to make the "document easier to read and understand."

The project will focus on five areas:

Updating baseline data and information;

Improving plan clarity, purpose and intent;

Strengthening connections between chapter and topic areas;

Concentrating focus on lands inside the urban service boundary; and

Improving implementation.

The first draft will be completed in September 2016 with county commissioner workshops held first in October and then May 2016. A public hearing and plan adoption is tentatively scheduled for December 2016.

"We want to emphasize that the Comprehensive Plan is not just about land use and urban design," Planning Division Manager Allen Parsons said in a news release. "Planning for a successful community is just as much about the future of our libraries, educational systems and infrastructure. Each priority fuels the others, and no community can call itself a success unless it carefully considers how each theme can ultimately serve all of its citizens."

Information: scgov.net/CompPlanUpdate.

Claire Aronson, University Parkway/Sarasota reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7024 or at caronson@bradenton.com. Follow her on Twitter@Claire_Aronson.

This story was originally published February 10, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Wednesday kick off launches first Sarasota Comprehensive Plan update in 8 years."