Meeting Minutes-Draft

Laurel Park Neighborhood Association Board

A regular board meeting, held at 2198 Main Street, was called to order by LPNA Board President, Deb Dart, at

Meeting Minutes-Draft

Laurel Park Neighborhood Association Board

1.      UPCOMING SOCIAL EVENTS

Tree Lighting and Holiday Party, Sunday, December 3^rd in Laurel Park from 5:00 to 8 p.m. The LPNA will use its collection of ornaments to decorate a holiday tree in ...

Meeting Minutes-Draft

Laurel Park Neighborhood Association Board

The latest edition of Tunes in the Park, held on November 11, 2006, in Laurel Park was a big success.  There were rumors that flyers were being handed out about the party at Whole Foods, which may explain why so many people were there.  The park was packed with kids.  People brought an incredibly diverse amount of food for the pot luck dinner, including an assortment of vegan dishes.  And, the reggae band, Road Block, just might be the best band we have had ...

The State of Real Estate by Gaia Goldman

April 1st ~ July 15th

Following a county-wide trend, Laurel Park experienced a slowdown in sales this past spring.  Only one sale and one contract were posted since April 1^st.  The first for

Greetings all,

As you will see in the accompanying story, the neighborhood has lost Andy Whittington, our stalwart party man.  He and his wife Ginnie gave us champagne and chocolate under the night blooming cereus, holiday parties, and potlucks.  We will do our best to still give you parties, but we can’t replace Andy, and we will really miss him.

Your LPNA board has been involved in a number of issues that need reporting.

National Historic District:  We have made good progress on this front.  Thanks to the City of Sarasota, historic spe ...

1.      Review and update the City of

Laurel Park property owners who have chosen to build accessory dwelling units have run into some difficulties with the city’s building department. They have been denied the right to put kitchens in the accessory units unless they pay impact fees of thousands of dollars.

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In recent years, several homes have been moved out of Laurel Park to make way for new construction.  But, this is the first house to be moved into Laurel Park in decades.  The new house, located on Laurel Street, was essentially transported in sections and assembled in a day.  The photos below show the progress over 24 hours from July 18-19, 2006

Minutes of the Laurel Park Neighborhood Association Board Meeting Tuesday May 9, 2006

The meeting, held at Payne Park, was called to order by Kate Lowman at 6:30 PM.
Attending: Debbie Dart, Suzy Hagglund, Kate Lowman, Mike Shade, Dick Sheldon, Barbara Southard, Betsy Sublett.
Absent: Chris Jaensch
Guests: LPNA resident: Kathryn Rodgers, LPNA resident: Kasy Silver Kane (candidate for LPNA Board vacancy)

Agenda:

1. Treasurer-s report given by Betsy Sublett.
- Checking account balance: $1420.06
- Credits $852.00 ($232.00 dues and donations and $620.00 advertising).
- Debits: $1392.14 ($875.00 newsletter and $127.14 Tunes in the Park).
- Motion by Barbara Southard to accept treasurer-s report; seconded by Deb Dart and carried unanimously.

2. Review minutes of April 10, 2006 LPNA Board meeting.
- LPNA board members were emailed minutes following Apri ...

Gary and Carolyn Collins, of Laurel Street Partners, LLC, and Sky Sotheby's International Realty, provided the following update on their project to build four new homes on Laurel St. and Dolphin Ln. and commented, in particular, on the issue of tree removal and replacement:

Due to space constraints, we cannot show all current listings in Laurel Park in this issue.  The sales since the last newsletter are listed below.  There are 21 active listings in Laurel Park at the moment, an unusually high number reflecting an increase in housing supply throughout Sarasota.  To reach buyers and generate sales, we advise our clients to consider the following steps:

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Chris Zenk originally came to Sarasota in 1992 feeling a little confused and dislocated after a stint in the military during the first Gulf War. 

He started out doing odd jobs for many of the pioneers in the renewal of the downtown neighborhoods, including Dan ...

Our neighborhood, like most other areas of Sarasota, has a wide variety of trees. Some are native to the region and others, referred to as “exotic” are not. Most notable of all is the fact we have so many trees here and their presence is, for the most part, a very good thing. This is a list of such trees and general locations in Laurel Park where examples can be found. For purposes of eas ...

A year ago, I traveled across the lower States along Highway 10 from the Pacific shore to a distinctively exclusive neighborhood called Laurel Park.  I moved into my new home built on a relatively unnoticed bricked way called Hawkins Court. I was facing one of the most significant transitions in my life- daunted, unsure, exhausted, and ready to find my tru ...

Greetings all,

As you know, we now have a new LPNA Board. See the accompanying story for the full details on who will be doing which task and please contact us if you want to be involved (362-9303). There is really always more work than can be done by 9 people. We especially need help on the Social Committee which will soon be bringing you the next Tunes in the Park on April 29.

I am fortunate to be president for one more round. I look forward to the opportunity to work with people I like on projects ...

Laurel Park took center stage for the 16th Annual Historic House Tour, an event staged by the Sarasota Alliance for Historic Preservation.  According to David Jennings, president of the Alliance, it was a very successful event with over 400 tickets being sold. People enjoyed the fact that they could park their cars and walk from one house to the next rather than driving around the cit ...

In 2004 my husband, Paul and I fell in love with a charming bungalow on the corner of Laurel Street and Rawls Avenue.  ...

On Monday, February 27, 2006, the Laurel Park Neighborhood Association held its biennial election for its board of directors.  Once elected, the board selects officers.  The directors/officers will serve until February 2008.   The following people were elected or reelected ...

The idea of brick street restoration in Laurel Park suffered some setbacks in the past few months, but there may be some room for hope. 

The first blow came in July, following a discussion on the subject of brick street restoration by a LPNA committee looking at historic designation, Scott Perkins decided to take some action to move the issue ...

Laurel Park is taking the first steps towards becoming a National Historic District, a process which could take one to two years to complete. On December 13, we will appear before the city’s Historic Preservation Board to request assistance. If approved by the City Commission in January, the city will hire a consultant (with neighborhood input) to help prepare the lengthy application which will go first to the state of Florida and then receive final approval from the National Park Service, which maintains the National Register of Historic Places--the official list of the nation’s historic places worthy of preservation.

Greetings All,

Please put December 12 on your calendar--another 6:00 pm City Commission meeting at 1565 1st Street, this time for a final decision on the height of the buffer around the neighborhood (except for the Burns Court area which will have no buffer at all!--See below).  This has been the main “development issue” since the neighborhood’s zoning was resolved last August.

As you know, the city spent years developing its new downtown rezone plan based on designs by architect and new urbanism proponent Andres Duany and input from citizens.  As the plan developed over the years, the Planning Department placed Downtown Edge zoning around every major downtown residential area, including Laurel Park.  Downtown Edge is limited to 5 stories, and this allowed a transition from the neighborhoods to the higher 10 story Downtown Cor ...