On Nov. 18th the City of Sarasota Commissioners will be voting on whether the PUBLIC Right of Way (ROW) on Mango Ave should be vacated. The ROW was acquired by the City of Sarasota almost 100 years ago to allow Mango Avenue to be built as it is located. It is located on the property directly across the street from The Bazaar on Apricot & Lime and behind Creative Liberties and D&D Gutters.

D&R Garage has leased two parcels of land on either side of the ROW to build Sarasota’s largest garage development. Zoning allows them to build a garage on these two parcels. However, they want to vacate the ROW so they can build on top of it.

It is up to the Sarasota City Commission to decide whether to allow this garage to be built on the ROW. We feel the Commission should vote "NO" and deny this request.

We need your help to show the City of Sarasota Commissioners that this is NOT in the public’s best interest.

- The applicant claims it is in the best interest of the public to vacate this ROW.  Giving land up for a private business it NOT in the public’s best interest. There are plenty of other public uses that land could be used for including green space, walkways, or even a pocket park! 

- The applicant claims if it’s not being used, it should be given up. The fact is that this ROW is absolutely being used by the two buildings directly in front of the ROW. One uses it daily for their business and the other uses it to get behind their building. D&D Gutters has been here for almost 20 years. They need the ROW to access their trucks to get behind their building where the garage access is for their supplies. By taking away the use of the ROW, you are essentially putting a long-term business out of business.

- The applicant claims it’s NOT feasible to keep it a ROW. When the non-profit Limelight Community Garden was leasing this property, they were able to maintain it so why can't a private business also maintain it.

- If the ROW is given to D&R to develop a 9,000 sq ft building on top of, this will cause even more problems with the flooding in the neighborhood. It will force more water into the corner at 8th and Apricot. The street already floods with little amounts of rain. This will make it even worse causing harm to the 100s of small businesses on Apricot Ave. and the residents of Lime Ave.

A decision to vacate a ROW is permanent and irreversible. The Limelight District is the city's last hope for a creative live/work/play district. If the city vacates the ROW and a large garage is built on it, future possibilies such as affordable housing are elimiated.

We hope you agree with us that the ROW should STAY a ROW.  We ask that you please sign this letter. We will bring it to the City Commission meeting to prove that the tax paying citizens care about keeping the ROW.

We are also asking you to attend the City Commission meeting on Monday, Nov 18th starting at 9am. We will send you more details shortly and reminder emails.

Thank you for your time and support. If you have additional questions please email me at KimLivengood3@gmail.com.