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| 1301 Cattlemen Road, the red dot, is one site now being considered for the new County Administration Center |
1301 Cattlemen Road seems to be the frontrunning site for a new County Administration center. The Board of Sarasota County Commissioners had a lengthy discussion last week about this location, introduced by Commissioner Mike Moran.
A resident of the area is conducting some early inquiries and raising questions about traffic based on her years of experience of the area's roads. Cattlemen Rd. at Bee Ridge is a notoriously poorly designed intersection, and 1301 Cattlemen is north of that, and just south of Bahia Vista and Cattlemen.
The emails below need to be read from the bottom up.
------ Forwarded Message --------
From: Glenna Blomquist <glennablom@hotmail.com>
Date: 4/2/2021 1:45:38 PM
Subject: RE: New Administration Center consideration
To: bgaubatz@scgov.net ]
Dear Mr. Gaubatz,
I understand you have been assigned to work on the new administration center.
My concern is that the board is jumping on the 1301 Cattlemen location because the county owns the property. This location is a poor choice because of transportation limitations. Arteries of travel, both roads and transit, are insufficient for the numbers of employees and visitors that would attend this center.
Before any planning moves forward, consideration of road use needs to be brought into the picture. Surely, it is obvious that this location is a bad choice.
I live in this neighborhood and I'm attuned with existing traffic problems, recent traffic studies, and also the limits of augmentation of travel avenues.
Please let me know if you have been brought in the site selection conversation with our commissioners, particularly Commissioner Mike Moran for District 1.
Sincerely,
Glenna Blomquist
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From: Glenna Blomquist <glennablom@hotmail.com>
Sent: Friday, March 26, 2021 1:16 PM
To: Paula Wiggins <pwiggins@scgov.net>; Kwamena Sankah <Ksankah@scgov.net>
Cc: Jane Grogg <jgrogg@scgov.net>; Michele Norton <mnorton@scgov.net>; Michael Moran <mmoran@scgov.net>
Subject: New Administration Center considerationCaution: This email originated from an external source. Be Suspicious of Attachments, Links and Requests for Login Information
Dear Paula and Kwamena,
As I read today in the Englewood Sun Newspaper, one site under consideration for the new Administration Center is 1301 Cattlemen Road. Did the consultant(s) do a traffic study for Fruitville Road and Palmer Boulevard relative to the discussion of possible Administrative Center sites, including 1301 Cattlemen Road proposed site? Are there impact studies for the area? Have you been asked for input? Will traffic studies be required? If traffic studies have been done, would you please forward them to me?
Assuming that many employees, and visitors, will arrive to this destination daily, how are they going to travel from the east? What impacts will this have on Fruitville Road, Lorraine (formerly Iona) Road, Packinghouse Road, Porter Road, Cattlemen Road, Palmer Boulevard, Debrecen Road, East Road, and Apex/Coburn Road, and Bee Ridge Road?
Please note that although there is a SCAT transit station at 5951 Porter Way, bus routes are not established for east county, and any bus traffic would also add to the burden on local roads. Certainly, an administration center should be readily accessible by public transit.
As I listen to the budget meeting discussion, what occurs to me is that land planning might be important prior to and outside of a budget meeting. Perhaps this would start with long range planning staff creating relevant requirements within the consultant's request for professional services, considering all necessary components. Budget costs are paramount, however transportation impacts are equally important and should not be late in the review.
Thank you,
Glenna Blomquist
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Considerations of the ways and means of siting and building and paying for a new Adminstration Center are still in the formative stage. A discussion of some length about all this was held at the Board's latest budget meeting on March 24, 2021 accessible at this link. Begin around 1 hr and 42 minutes.
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