Goodwill Appeal on Fast Track

Sarasota's City Commission will hear an appeal on Dec. 12 to the appoved development of a 30,000-square-foot Goodwill superstore on North Tamiami Trail.

The appeal will be heard at 3:30 p.m., at City Hall in Room 112, when the commission is scheduled for its informal meeting.

Goodwill requested that the commission move up the date for the hearing from January, because of the length of time it will take to build the superstore.

The Rev. Donald Roberts made the request, so that the store may have a Jan. 1, 2013 opening.

"We're requesting the city to fast track a meeting in December for us so we know one way or another," Roberts said. The reason being is that the store's lease is up on Dec. 31, 2012, and the store wants to have everything moved into the new store from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31.

"Our project takes about 9 1/2 months to complete and another 60 days to get it open," he said.

At issue is an appeal by Citizens for a Responsible North Trail, which criticized the traffic plan, tree protection, landscaping and security. With as many a six semi-trailer trucks servicing the store every day, noise is a major neighborhood concern, according to people who live near the proposed store.

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The city commission can either reaffirm the approval, modify the approval or reject it, City Attorney Robert Fournier said.

About 17,000 square feet are proposed as a retail center, selling secondhand goods, with the remainder of the space reserved for job training, goods processing, offices and a “community center” available for the neighborhood.

The new Goodwill will be a few blocks north of another big-box store, at US 41 and Myrtle Avenue. The 33,000-square-foot , replacing a 40-year-old Winn-Dixie. 

The two-acre site is in the 5100-block of North Tamiami Trail, at the intersection with Mecca Drive. The site is the location of the former Café of the Arts and Old Hickory Restaurant.

If the commission decided not to hear the appeal, the Circuit Court would have heard the case, Fournier said.