Planning for Pinecraft: Sarasota's Amish and Mennonite Community

Sarasota's Amish and Mennonite community Pinecraft has endured tourists, gawkers and a four-lane road cutting through their community over the years, and now they're faced with how to plan for the future.

Sarasota County held a community planning meeting Tuesday for Pinecraft to make life easier for those on bike, on foot and on the gas pedal. 

This isn't some outsider county government coming in to plan for Pinecraft as this project holds a personal importance to Teresa Mast who works for the county's community outreach department.

"With the last name Mast you probably already know I'm from a Mennonite background. At least my husband is — his parents were raised Amish," Mast told the crowd at Tourist Church. "This community is very near and dear to my personal family just because of my husband's heritage, and I'm very blessed to be a part of it."

A follow-up planning meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. March 20 at Tourist Church.

Pinecraft History

Pinecraft was attractive to Mennonites and Amish just like anyone else, according to author Sherry Gore.

"They came for the sunshine," said Gore, who also writes for the Amish and Mennonite newspaper The Budget.

Others came in the early 1900s for work in the celery fields and settled throughout Sarasota. Pinecraft's first lot was recorded in 1926, and in the 1940s, according to Gore's history and cook book Taste of Pinecraft, the community began to make concerted efforts to have a permanent settlement.

Pinecraft today

Pinecraft has a very active bicycle community as the three-wheeled bikes with baskets are increasing in popularity, but there doesn't seem to be anywhere to lock them up, especially if taking a SCAT bus. And sometimes the connections for the SCAT bus aren't in the ideal spots either, community members told the county.

"That's something we really would like your thoughts are and what would help you as a community to access the SCAT bus in a maybe easier fashion or maybe to be able to place your bikes in a specific location that you'll know will be safe when you come back," Mast said.

Crosswalks and right-of-way was also a hot topic, and a Sarasota County Sheriff's Office representative will be invited to the next meeting to answer questions about pedestrian, biker and driver's rights.

Here's what folks traveling through the village should know, according to Paula Wiggins of Sarasota's Public Works mobility planning manager:

• Pedestrians have the right of the way in the crosswalk and vehicles must stop

• Bicycles should behave as cars on the roadway, except if crossing a roadway at places other than stop signs and stop lights. Instead, the nearest crosswalk should be used.

• Bicycles should travel with traffic on the roadway. On the sidewalks, they can travel in any direction, but pedestrians then gain the right of way.

One idea is to have parking lot to funnel drivers to one area to reduce congestion and the likelihood of accidents, Mast said.

"It would then be a more walkable community," she said.

To make it safe for the walkers themselves, Commissioner Joe Barbetta, who attended the meeting, said he would like to see motion-detected crosswalks that have lights in the pavement that will illuminate when someone walks through it.

The boundaries of Pinecraft could expand, too, to the east, to include residents there who wanted to be a part of the district and have a say in maintaining the village, but each neighborhood within Pinecraft wouldn't lose its identity because of the move, said Tom Polk, Sarasota County planning manager.

"If we're really going to be widening this area, I think we would need to look at quadrants or sections of neighborhoods that are specific to you. Someone who lives by the park might not be as concerned as what's happening to a neighborhood in the north," Polk said.

Central areas could be created in each neighborhood to serve as a focus, he added.

Pinecraft isn't exactly an unknown to tourists as bus loads often flow into Troyer's Dutch Heritage Restaurant and other places around the village and Gore says an information or visitors center is needed to help tell people more about the community.

"The second most asked question I get is where can I find the information center when I come to Pinecraft," Gore said.

An info center is a possibility, Polk said.

"There has been strong conversation that a welcome center might be a great resource for the area," Polk said.

Stories are set to appear soon in The Washington Post, National Geographic and The New York Times, according to residents as reporters have stayed in Pinecraft and interviewed residents to cover the unique village.

Businesses could be expanded in the area by allowing ones to operate out of homes, but residents who spoke at the meeting had mixed feelings on the matter. Others suggested to create guidelines that items sold in Pinecraft should be made by Pinecraft residents or made in Pinecraft only.

One snowbird from Intercourse, Pennsylvania said he's concerned the town would turn into more of a tourist trap, similar to certain parts of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

Polk said that balance between plains people snowbirds and Amish and Mennonite snowbirds has to be considered to balance everyone's desires.

Survey

Here's what Sarasota County asked from Pinecraft in its survey:

• Should homes be allowed to conduct business out of the residence?

• Should there be parking on one side of the street in the neighborhoods?

• Should there be traffic circulation improvements among side streets with Pinecraft?

• Should there be community parking areas?

• Should SCAT bus services be improved within the Pinecraft boundaries?

• Should traffic be slowed on Bahia Vista Street and Beneva Road? 

• Should Pinecraft enhance business along Bahia Vista Street? 

• Should there be a community designated area for seasonal trailers to park within the community?

• Should there be common signage/ or banners throughout Pinecraft?

• Should there be a welcome center?

• Should Pinecraft's boundaries expand?

• Should Pinecraft Park have additional amenities? 

• What are the two examples of Pinecraft culture that should be maintained?

Residents can e-mail Mast with comments at tmast@scgov.net or call 941-526-8134.