Will the old dog track near SRQ airport turn into new apartments? Officials debate
Sarasota Bradenton International Airport officials are strongly opposing a developer’s plans to build 372 apartment units at the former Sarasota Kennel Club site.
The dog track at 5400 Bradenton Road closed in 2019 after Florida voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment banning dog racing in the state.
In 2021, Aventon Companies of Raleigh, North Carolina, the contract purchasers of the property, requested that the City of Sarasota amend its future land use map to allow construction of the apartment complex. The site includes 26 acres in the City of Sarasota and 3.24 acres in unincorporated Sarasota County.
Rick Piccolo, president and CEO of the airport, said he has a big problem with the project.
The planned apartments are 1,500 feet off SRQ’s main runway, and would be the closest residential area to the airport’s air space, a large part of it falling within the airport’s noise contour, he said.
“We think that’s wrong. Residential is the worst choice they could make,” Piccolo told members of the Sarasota Manatee Airport Authority this week.
Piccolo and airport authority attorney Dan Bailey have appeared before the Sarasota City Commission to express the airport’s concern and opposition to the project.
“I want to be sure that if anything happens in the future, we can go on the record and say we did everything we could to protect the public. I sympathize with the kennel club ownership. They were put out of business by a constitutional amendment,” Piccolo said.
It’s a issue of safety and of dealing with noise complaints from future tenants, Piccolo said, adding that he intended to take the airport’s concerns to the state.
In 2021, SRQ recorded over 140,000 aircraft operations with 40,829 from commercial airline flights, 100,007 from general aviation operations, and 2,820 from military aircraft.
Departures create the greatest noise impact on the ground as jet engines generally engage higher thrusts during takeoffs than landings. However, reverse thrust during landing operations also generates substantial noise, Sarasota city staff reported.
Sarasota City Commissioner Liz Alpert voted for a change in zoning that would allow the proposed apartments as a permitted use.
“On balance it’s a good project. The airport has some very compelling arguments. The developer also has some compelling arguments,” Alpert said.
The developer has done this kind of project before and knows how to soundproof the apartments. Tenants would have to sign their understanding that they would be living near an airport and understand the risks, she said.
Although the commission changed the zoning to allow apartments as a permitted use, the developer still need to return with a site plan which would require city approval before being allowed to proceed, Alpert said.
The developer could have applied to build as many as 640 units on the site but instead submitted a plan limiting density to 372 units, making it a medium density residential development.
Sarasota City Commissioner Hagen Brody also voted in favor of the zoning change.
The property was falling into disrepair and had been used for heavy truck parking and for COVID testing during the height of the pandemic, Brody said.
“The general idea of having housing there is a good one. We need more moderate, middle class housing. We have a huge affordable housing crisis in our community. The concerns of the airport are little bit extreme considering there is a lot of housing in that area already. People need a place to live. How can multi-family housing be incompatible with other multifamily housing?” Brody said.
“It’s a choice that people make all the time, based on what they can afford. Let the consumer and the renter decide whether they want to live there,” Brody said.
The proposed development is scheduled to return for a second hearing before Sarasota city commissioners on Sept. 6, Jan Thornburg, Sarasota communications manager, said.
