Despite a majority of public speakers who opposed the move, Sarasota County’s commissioners voted 4-1 for another hotel on Siesta Key – this one from Gary Kompothecras, Founder of the medical service 1-800-ASK-GARY. Kompothecras already owns the Captiva Beach Resort with 20 rooms on Siesta Key and the Hibiscus Inn and Suites on Old Stickney Point Road and the island’s Crescent Club. He was also an executive producer MTV’s Siesta Key.
Kompothecras’ project, located at 1260 and 1266 Old Stickney Point Road, follows another Siesta Key hotel chosen by the district commissioners last week, on October 27th.
This hotel is said to be on 1.17 hectares and have seven floors with 120 rooms. Commissioners’ vote will allow the developer to build up to 83 feet tall, more than double the current height limit of 35 feet, and four times the current density limit of 25 rooms per acre.
Across the street from the hotel, the project includes a separate, 53-foot, five-story car garage spanning 0.58 acres with retail space on the ground floor. It will accommodate 72 parking spaces for hotel guests and 103 public spaces. Another 60 places on the lower floors of the hotel building will be used by hotel guests. The parcels, which were once used by a number of restaurants and bars, have been empty since 2016.
Many of the public speakers at the meeting were residents of the Marina Del Sol condominium complex adjacent to the proposed hotel. They challenged the commissioners against the special exemptions Kompothecras needed to move the project forward, arguing that their water views and property values would suffer. Traffic jams and traffic safety were also among the top issues.
In addition, many who opposed the density and height exceptions, such as public speaker Lourdes Ramirez, argued that they violated the county’s 1989 comprehensive plan of “temporary accommodation” (aka hotels) with a maximum density of Describes 26 units per acre. Ramirez is also president of the Siesta Key Community, a group dedicated to preserving the quality of life and the environment on the barrier island.
“The county decided to ignore the law. Why growth management when you just ignore it?” She asked.
Another speaker pointed to the negative environmental impact of the backfilling of Lake Sabal, which protects the area from flooding. Project representatives objected that Lake Sabal is an artificial rainwater lake and is not an indigenous habitat. They also added that the project will include updated rainwater systems to deal with the runoff.
In response to concerns about service trucks on the narrow cul-de-sacs next to the proposed hotel, such as Peacock Road, project officials said service vehicles and delivery drivers use an internal hotel road and goods will be unloaded at a designated service elevator in the hotel.
District Administrator Christian Ziegler, who voted against the previous hotel project on October 27th, also voted to continue this project because of the location.
“I think there is a big difference between the Siesta Key Village area and this area. I think this area is more suitable for a hotel, ”he said. (Last week’s 170-room hotel project is slated to be built in the heart of Siesta Key Village, where both pedestrian and automobile traffic are heavy.)
To allay fears of opening the floodgates to other high-density developments on the macaw barrier islands, commissioners advised that they would vote on exceptions and that future developments would be weighed on a case-by-case basis.
Sarasota County’s commissioners are due to vote on two more upcoming Siesta Key hotel projects in the near future. Dates are not yet fixed.
Meanwhile, Siesta Key residents are pushing back with the option to start their own local community, and Ramirez is working with residents to seek legal action against Sarasota County for violating the Comprehensive Plan. Stay tuned.
