Ringling Walmart Appeal Hearing Continued To Feb. 26

The next chapter of the proposed Walmart Supercenter on Ringling Bouelvard will be continued Feb. 26.

The City Commission voted to continue the meeting at 6 p.m., Feb. 26 at City Hall due to the length of the Tuesday's meeting, which wrapped up at 11:18 p.m.

The commission still had 40 people, at about 3 minutes per speaker, left to get through the meeting, including their own deliberations, putting the next meeting at least two hours long.

The City Commission is tasked with deciding whether the Walmart's site plan complies the the CSC-N zoning code.

Walmart officials as well as Timothy Litchet, director of Neighborhood and Development Services, laid out that the store is allowed in the Commercial Shopping Center-Neighborhood because it is defined as a large retail store structure. 

Therein is a fine line as Litchet said there are allowed structures and allowed uses.

"You can't mistake structure types for uses," he said.

Litchet went on to explain that shopping malls and shopping centers are not specifically listed in allowed uses in any of the shopping center zoning districts, which would mean the Southgate Mall could not have been built or expanded, but structure types are listed in a table of what is allowed.

"In that theory, then the mall expansion to bring Saks Fifth Avenue and other stores wouldn't have been allowed," he said.

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Because it is not specifically mentioned does not mean the structure is explicitly not allowed, he explained. And the large store structure type is able to comply with the retail uses permitted, he said.

Alta Vista's team, lead through expert testimony by Michael Taylor, the City of Sarasota’s immediate past General Manager of Neighborhoods, Redevelopment & Special Projects said the store should not be allowed. The shopping center would be demolished and is considered new construction, which would mean the 98,000-square-foot store would be too big as stores are limited to 15,000 square feet as a variety retail store, he said. But Taylor was not sure how many 15,000-square-foot stores could be allowed on the site. In theory, you could have several 15,000-square-foot stores connected in some way.

For example, you could have two delis on the site, no more than 15,000 square feet and a 30,000-square-foot hardware store.

Taylor blamed the formatting of the section to extract structure types from use table and place them in a different format, prompting readers to understand the whole zoning language and not.

Taylor was employed with the city while Walmart application was pending but never prepared a memo outlining the concerns he presented, he told Bill Galvano, a Florida State Senator and litigation specialist for Walmart in this case.

Taylor said it wasn't part of his job to review Walmart's site plan or offer comment on it.

"My role was not to review site plans nor to interpret the code," he said. "I occasionally tried to offer advice. Occasionally it was well received, sometimes it wasn't."

Taylor said he is not accepting payment for his services, but is receiving compensation from the city, but is free to express his opinion without placing his compensation from the city in danger. 

Additionally, Taylor and the Alta Vista appellants argued that if a use is not listed, it shall be exempt.

Commissioner Terry Turner said he was concerned about the compatibility of the project, wondering if Walmart would be willing to reduce its hours at the site.

"I'm concerned about truck traffic, truck traffic noise and 24-hour operation," he said.

City Attorney Robert Fournier advised that Walmart should wait to respond to those questions on Feb. 26.

The Planning Board approved the site plan for the Walmart in November, and the City Commission granted a de novo hearing in January. If the store stands to be approved, the store would open in 2014.

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• Alta Vista Neighbors Set To Request Walmart Appeal
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