September 4, 2022 —

In addition to her lawsuit opposing approval of a 170-room hotel in Siesta Village, Lourdes Ramirez has also requested a hearing from the Florida Division of Administrative Hearings. On August 26, Administrative Law Judge Suzanne Van Wyk approved a continuance of the scheduled hearing from September to November 17, 2022.

The basis for the request for continuance was the confusion regarding which version of documents were in effect as of March 13, 1989, the date cited as the basis of density and intensity of barrier island development. “Given the lengthy history recounted in both [Ramirez’s] Motion and [the county’s response],” Van Wyk wrote, “and the significant confusion over which specific text governs,” she found that Ramirez “has established good cause for a brief continuance to conduct some limited additional discovery.” For the whole confusing background, read Sarasota News Leader, September 2, 2022, Rachel Brown Hackney: County staff members’ varied interpretations of zoning regulations applicable to Siesta hotel project lead to delay in administrative law hearing on challenge of County Commission’s 2021 vote