After hurricane damage exposed infrastructure and beautification needs, island advocates want Sarasota County commissioners — not staff alone — to guide the process with stakeholder input
By ChrisAnn Allen
Siesta Key recently was ranked the No. 1 beach in the country in U.S. News & World Report’s 2026 vacation rankings.
But the devastation caused by Hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024 made clear the island is due for an aesthetic and infrastructure overhaul.
During an April 9 meeting of the Siesta Key Association, board member Natalie Gutwein — a business owner, resident and advocate — gave an update on plans for the Siesta Key Comprehensive Master Plan, a Sarasota County effort to upgrade the island that was initiated by members of the Siesta Key Beautification Alliance.
The alliance is a coalition of residents, business owners, landowners and members of island organizations working with Sarasota County on safety, infrastructure and beautification improvements for Siesta Key. The group has pushed for upgrades including landscaping, lighting, sidewalks, signage and other long-term improvements following hurricane damage.
“We only have electricity on half those streets, that’s why you didn’t have Christmas lights,” Gutwein said April 9. “You don’t have good landscaping because we have no irrigation system.”
She said those and other issues have remained unresolved as the county commission unanimously voted Feb. 11 to direct staff to begin work on a proposed community plan for the Key, including forming a task force to set short-term priorities and identify funding options. The vote followed a workshop featuring presentations from island stakeholders, including the Siesta Key Chamber of Commerce, Siesta Key Beautification Alliance, Siesta Key Association, Siesta Key Village Maintenance Corp., Protect Siesta Key and the Siesta Key Condominium Council.
“We want to be involved in the process, the entire process,” Gutwein said. “Now that we’ve got the votes from the commissioners to move forward with the task force and with the master plan, we want to make sure that we are also involved in those decisions, who gets chosen to be on the task force and who’s going to work on the master plan.”
During the March 25 county budget workshop, she spoke during public comment on behalf of the alliance and thanked the board for moving forward with the Siesta Key Comprehensive Master Plan.
“We recognize the significance of this effort and the lasting impact it will have on our community for decades to come,” she said.
Gutwein also voiced concerns about the process.
“At present, there’s a perception within the community that elements of the process may be advancing prior to the establishment of a clear, commission-directed governance structure,” she said. “We respectfully submit that this must be a commission-led process. The sequencing here is critical. Before consultants are engaged, before scopes are defined and before substantive direction is established, there must be a formally recognized stakeholder oversight entity in place.”
Gutwein urged the board to create a commission-appointed task force or advisory committee to preserve independence, avoid conflicts and maintain public trust. She also asked that any independent facilitator be limited to managing the process — including timelines, input and coordination — while policy and planning decisions remain with the commission and stakeholder group. She requested clarity on the timeline, stakeholder selection, commission input on representation, board appointments, ongoing communication and continued involvement of the Siesta Key Beautification Alliance.
At the April 9 SKA meeting, Gutwein said county staff has begun work on a master plan covering desired improvements and that an engineer will be hired to develop it. She said she wants the county to include stakeholders in that process, with decisions made through a public task force and board vote rather than unilateral staff action.
“We want the commissioners to be involved in that,” she said. “And the discussions we’ve had with commissioners, they want that as well. They want it to be a board vote and not a staff vote.”
A meeting attendee complained about a lack of pressure washing and fresh paint in the village.
Gutwein, speaking as a member of the Siesta Key Village Maintenance Corp., said the district covers about 100 parcels and was created 18 years ago to fund maintenance tied to a previous village makeover. She said members have conducted regular walk-throughs with county staff and commissioners to assess storm damage and needed upgrades, including trees, signage, sidewalks, irrigation, pavers, crosswalks, landscape beds and sidewalk edges.
She said the district’s annual assessment base is about $275,000 and covers maintenance, garbage service, landscape repairs and irrigation repairs within the Siesta Key Village Public Improvement District. She said the funding was not designed to cover capital improvements and is not enough to absorb major capital costs, adding that no other public improvement district in the county operates that way.
“It just really wasn’t getting done,” Gutwein said of the issues in the village. “Now, with all those different boards together, that’s where the difference lies.”
