www.lbknews.com Friday, May 13, 2011 Page 3

NewsWorthyFlorida ranks No. 3 top state for business

“Chief Executive” magazine’s seventh annual report on the best and worst states in which to do business has ranked Florida as the third best state in the nation.

More than 500 CEOs considered a wide range of criteria, from taxation and regulation to workforce qual-ity and living environment, in the magazine’s annual ranking of the best states for business. Florida’s posi-tion rose from No. 6 in 2010. For the complete list, visit ChiefExecutive.net.

Sales up, prices down in first quarter

Florida’s existing home and existing condo sales rose 13 percent and 29 percent respectively in the first quar-ter of 2011 compared to the same period a year earlier, according to the latest housing statistics from Florida Realtors.

Median sales prices in both categories continued to slide. Existing homes sales in Sarasota-Bradenton rose 11 percent during the first quarter from 2,464 sales to 2,727. Median existing home prices dropped 9 percent in that period from $159,000 to $144,500.

Sarasota-Bradenton existing condo sales rose 15 per-cent in the first quarter 2011 from 883 to 1,012 sales. The median condo sale price dropped 12 percent from $142,100 to $124,500.

Dining for a causeDining for Women is a giving circle that funds

international programs for women living in extreme poverty through its members’ combined dinner dona-tions. By educating about the circumstances of women in some of the poorest countries in the world, Dining for Women members become agents of change. Women donate a dish and what they might have spent had they gone out for dinner.

This month Dining for Women is collecting money to support Mujeres Aliadas. Her mission is to advance the lives of poor women and adolescent girls in the Lake Pátzcuaro area of Michoacán, México, through the provi-sion of health and educational services in partnership with the community and in a manner that enhances the dignity of women, and with an emphasis on the integra-tion of traditional and occidental health and educational modalities.

The Sarasota chapter of Dining for Women is “chang-ing the world one dinner at a time.” The group meets the fourth Thursday of every other month at The Church of the Redeemer, 222 South Palm Ave., in Sarasota. The next potluck gathering begins at 6 p.m., May 26. For more information, visit www.diningforwomen.org.

Parking meters coming to Downtown Sarasota

By the end of March, it will be a little more expensive and a little more difficult to park in Downtown Sarasota, as parking meters that are already installed will be “open for business.” The machines will take cash or credit/debit cards; the cost of parking will be $1 per hour.

Approximately 460 spots will have the meters, which will charge for parking Monday through Saturday. Those who do not pay will receive a $25 fine. Sarasota city officials say they can adjust the cost of parking up or down by as much as $.50 next year. There will still be less expensive long-term parking in several of the downtown lots and spaces that are farther away from Main Street.

Revenues from the parking enforcement will go into a parking trust fund, which will go toward beautification and maintenance of Downtown Sarasota.

Souza joins Coldwell BankerColdwell Banker Residential Real Estate recently

announced that Tony Souza, a nationally recognized leader in urban development and historic preservation, has joined the com-pany’s Longboat Key office as a sales associate.

Souza is the former president and CEO of the Downtown Partnership of Sarasota Inc., and he served as executive director of Habitat for Humanity Sarasota Inc., a nonprofit organization that develops local affordable housing. Under his lead-ership, the Downtown Partnership strengthened the

popular Saturday Downtown Farmers Market, worked with the city administration to complete the Downtown Master Plan and led the effort for the creation of the Downtown Historic District.

“Tony is extremely active in our community and brings a wealth of housing industry expertise and knowledge that will benefit our buyers and sellers throughout the Longboat Key and Sarasota markets,” said Bob Stanley, managing broker at the company’s Longboat Key office. “Tony and his wife, Elsie, have been instrumental leaders in Sarasota for many years.”

Court strikes down law banning loud car stereos

Drivers who play their car stereos loudly, meaning it can be heard across the street, will no longer face $116 traffic fines. An appellate court struck down a contro-versial state law Wednesday, Florida Statute 316.3045, which made it a nonmoving traffic violation to play music that could be heard from 25 feet away.

The court ruling means that law enforcement offi-cers will have to immediately stop citing drivers in central Florida, including the Gulf Coast counties of Hillsborough, Pinellas, Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte and Lee. This year alone, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office cited 117 drivers for playing car stereos too loudly, court records show, and the city of Sarasota has cited 29 driv-ers in 2011.

SOUZA

A rendering of the building in the concept plan.

Bayfront, from page 1 is a strong movement to keep the existing facility to replace the benefits that the old art center provided. Good idea but it is in the middle of the site and drives design in a major way,” wrote St. Denis to Persson.

Persson replied to St. Denis’ concerns: “The commu-nity center is a part of the whole not the whole of the part…I guess I don’t understand how a community center can be plopped onto the site without a master plan for the site that has been vetted by zoning and approved by the Town Commission.”

Persson also suggested that having a master design plan for the site will help voters understand what will be done for the entire property, not just the recreation center building.

“My fear is that a decision on the community center without consideration of the whole will have conse-quences that might not at first blush be readily appar-ent and may place the town in a position where it doesn’t want to be. That’s one of the reasons I think it would be better to have an approved master plan for the site,” wrote Persson.

Persson also suggested considering the entire town when thinking of a recreation center and park.

FundingThe available funds that could be used to finance the

project include the Infrastructure Surtax, which is $3 million that Longboat Key commissioners have allo-cated for parks and recreation improvements. Also, $1 million is allocated in the town’s budget for improve-ments to public facilities, which could be used for the Bayfront Park project. However, St. Denis advises the commission to use caution before applying these funds to the project. There is another $85,000 remain-ing in the Phase II Infrastructure Surtax that can be applied to the project.

The Land Acquisition Fund that the town has set aside totals $1.9 million and could be used for the proj-ect, but Persson informed that it could only be used on town-owned property and not on the recreation center building itself.

A Parks and Recreation Capital Projects Fund has a balance of $280,000 that could also be used to pay for project development costs, according to St. Denis.

Grants are also available, which St. Denis said the town’s finance department is investigating currently. In the past, the town has received funding from the Florida Recreation Development Assistance Program.

Lastly, St. Denis reminded the commission that the Longboat Key Club has already agreed to make a con-tribution of up to $3 million to the Land Acquisition Fund.

HistoryAccording to Persson, in the 1980s public recre-

ation was provided by a private non-profit entity known as Longboat Key Community Center Inc. The center owned the property where the ball field is now located, the building and the basketball court. The town leased a portion of its property to the cen-ter for expanded recreational purposes.

The center tried to collect fees from the public for its services, but found that it was not possible to pay for the recreation equipment, staff and mortgage sim-ply from the fees collected. The center and the town eventually reached an agreement in 1993 wherein the center donated its property to the town, and stipu-lated that the site should be maintained as an “activity-based recreational site.”

The Town Commission will need to determine if it should keep the ball field. In a letter dated May 11, 2011, Persson stated, “A determination needs to be made as to how the town wishes to approach the 1993 agreement. I remain of the opinion that it is most probable that the town would be in compliance with the agreement so long as it provides an ‘activity-based recreation site where active recreation can be made available.’”

The town also will be working with Sarasota County, which purchased the Albritton property several years ago, to develop the site into one recreation site. The town and the County Board of County Commissioners have approved the conceptual site plan to date.