Developer drops plans for new apartments by Sarasota Bradenton airport after lawsuit
A developer’s quest to build 372 apartment units on the site of the Sarasota Kennel Club has come to an end, after contract buyer Aventon Companies of Raleigh, N.C., terminated its purchase agreement.
Airport officials had a big problem with plans to build apartments at the intersection of University Parkway and Old Bradenton Road, 1,500 feet off SRQ’s main runway, citing safety and noise concerns.
“We think that’s wrong. Residential is the worst choice they could make,” Piccolo said in 2022.
The Sarasota Manatee Airport Authority last year brought suit against the City of Sarasota over the planned residential development on safety and noise grounds.
On Monday, the Authority approved a settlement agreement dropping the lawsuit.
The City of Sarasota also on Monday voted 5-0 for the settlement which would essentially agree to rescind the land-use plan amendment that would have allowed residential development on the site.
City commissioners will meet in April to vote on formally restore zoning to what it had been before the amendment.
Commercial development of the property would continue to be permitted. Rick Piccolo, the airport’s president and CEO, said he has no issue with commercial development there.
“I sympathize with the kennel club ownership. They were put out of business by a constitutional amendment,” Piccolo said previously.
The Sarasota Kennel Club closed in 2019 after Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment banning dog racing in the state.
The Collins Family, owners of the Sarasota Kennel Club, are also party to the settlement, and remain interested in commercial development of the property, Piccolo said.
City Attorney Ron Fournier said that each of the parties in the lawsuit agreed to pay their own legal fees.
This story was originally published March 7, 2023 at 11:19 AM.
