By the time the Sept. 2 meeting of the Sarasota City Commission had ended, removal of all non-compliant markings — which is to say art — on order of the state of Florida along the state and local rights of way had been completed.
Those included the crosswalks at Second Street and Cocoanut Avenue, a crosswalk in the 1400 block of Main Street and, perhaps most notably, sidewalk paintings along Pineapple and Orange avenues in Burns Court.
Asked by City Commissioner Kathy Kelley Ohlrich to explain why for the public record, Interim City Manager Dave Bullock said the decision was simple: the Florida Department of Transportation gave all cities and counties across the state a deadline of Sept. 4 to come in compliance or risk losing state funding, and Sarasota is in no position to risk such a significant hit to its annual budget.
“They didn’t say transportation funds. They didn’t say any specific, just state funds,” Bullock said. “We receive about $67 million in state funds that literally touch everything that we do in one form or another, so I instructed Public Works director Nik (Patel) to begin to remove the markings and comply with the state deadline.”…