America Drive map

Project Update – October 2009
The original project dredge footprint presented to property owners included a 50 feet wide channel down the middle of the bayou portion of the project area. 

In March 2007, Sarasota County’s Resource Protection staff reported concerns with permitting additional dredging for property owners who may want to join their mooring areas with the proposed dredge footprint. The regulatory staff has concerns about issuing private dredge permits to individual property owners due to the fact that there is no record of any dredging within most of the bayou portion of the waterway and new dredging is currently prohibited. 

In October 2007, county staff met with property owners to discuss permitting and cost estimate issues associated with the project. At the meeting, owners indicated that the cost estimate was higher than they had anticipated and requested that the project be redesigned to address the permitting and cost issues. 

County staff is working with the project consultant (PBS&J) to redesign the proposed project dredge footprint. County regulatory staff had additional concerns with the first redesign and a second redesign was presented in June 2008. The proposed dredge footprint and associated cost estimate tables were mailed to property owners in August 2008. A neighborhood meeting to discuss the revisions to the project dredge channel and estimated project costs was held on March 19, 2009.

Staff has discussed the project with the Sarasota County Legal Department to determine if a re-petition of property owners is needed to verify continued project support. A postage-paid survey card has been drafted by staff and will soon be mailed to property owners.