Growth Pains

A letter to the editor (SHT) on the 16th, indicated some of the dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs in downtown Sarasota. The writer said:

"I did not vote for Lou Ann Palmer or Richard Martin, the incumbents, because they let the Ritz-Carlton developers off the hook on their developer's agreement-requirement to build an express lane along U.S. 41 and Gulf Stream Avenue, to speed up traffic between the Ringling Causeway Bridge and Fruitville Road."

While growth will happen, we do have the ability to control it and we do have tools to manage the growth so we can all live with it. Our policy makers need to stay in touch with the needs of all the residents. We all know the devil is in the details, looking at only the big-picture ideas of a walkable, lively downtown, allows the devil to creep in.

We would like to see more attention paid to the real effects of the rapid growth currently happening downtown. With 2500+ new living units arriving downtown over the next couple years, how many new ways will the residents of Sarasota be be-deviled? Are our policy makers up to the task?