Venice board approves site plan for 265-unit development

VENICE — A shorthanded Planning Commission made quick work of its final agenda before the City Council and all the city boards go on their summer break.

Chair Barry Snyder was absent and the seven-member Commission has had a vacancy for a couple of meetings due to a member’s resignation.

Five applications came up for consideration Tuesday, with only one of them getting a “no” vote.

Commissioner Jerry Jasper opposed granting Middlebury Development LLC a design alternative to allow up to 18 connected parking spaces in its Hamlet of Venice Crossing development on 24 acres north of Laurel Road and west of Twin Laurel Boulevard.

The city code sets a maximum of 10 contiguous spaces but provides that up to 20 can be permitted under a design alternative. Representing the applicant, attorney Jackson Boone told the Commission the larger groupings of parking spaces would allow residents to park closer to their units.

Jasper joined his colleagues in approving a site-and-development plan for the project, whose 265 units would be a mix of cottages and townhomes, with an amenity center that will include pickleball courts.

The Commission also unanimously voted to recommend City Council approval of a petition for the annexation of 2695 Curry Lane, one of two parcels north of the road that are not in the city limits, as well as a proposed comprehensive plan amendment and a zoning map amendment for the property.

It’s the intended future home of Flagship Venice Medical Office Building, a 55,000-square-foot facility for medical professional. It would be situated among Sarasota Memorial Hospital-Venice to the north, PAM Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Venice to the east, The Sophia apartment complex to the south and Pinebrook Medical Office to the west.

The video and audio recordings of the meeting are at VeniceGov.com at the ”Meetings” button.