Venice Architectural Advisory Board approves demolition of home built as city was founded – Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Earle Kimel|Sarasota Herald-Tribune

VENICE The owners of a home built by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers in 1927 received the blessing of the Venice Architectural Review Board Thursday to demolish it and replace it with a newer structure.

Homeowner Jack Sullivan, who was present in City Council chambers as the city conducted its first hybrid in-person/online meeting, told the board that when he and his wife, Genice, bought the structure at 233 Pensacola Road from the Federal National Mortgage Association in January 2014, the intention was to restore it.

It would cost in excess of $300,000 to renovate this house, said Sullivan, who has already sunk money into a variety of improvements.

Major flaws now includea leaky roof that needs to be replaced and soft floors, indicating dry rot.

Its a bottomless pit, he later added. We bought it from the resolution trust because nobody wanted it.

Instead of speaking during the presentation by his contractor, Gregg Hassler, and attorney, Jackson Boone, Sullivan spoke during public comment, after several speakers urged the board to deny the request.

Curt and Tommye Whittaker, who own a home at 613 Venice Ave.that was built by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers in 1926, both said the home should be kept.

Curt Whittaker said that, at the least, Hassler should have provided estimates of the cost to rehabilitate the home instead of simply saying the house was beyond reasonable repair and that it was time to go.

Hasslernoted that he had participated in the restoration of other structures built when the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers commissioned John Nolen to design the city of Venice notably Lunas Restaurant on Nokomis AvenueNorthand the dental office of his son, Gregg Hassler Jr., on Milan Avenue.

In contrast, there were too many structural problems in the house at 233 Pensacola Road, he said.

Boone, who attended the hybrid meeting via Zoom, while his father, Jeff Boone, and Hassler were in council chambers, noted that there were other considerations, such as the fact that the structure's position on the property placed it roughly three feet from the alley.

While the home is one of the original ones built by the Brotherhood and it is listed as a contributing resource to the 2010 inclusion of the John Nolen Plan for Venice being listed as part of the National Register of Historic Places, it is not historic on its own merit.

Ultimately, the review board voted4-2 to approve of the structure's demolition.

It continued until Aug. 27 a public hearing on the Sullivans proposal to replace it with a two-story home similar to those built on the opposite side of Pensacola Road, in the Courtyards of Venice.

Hassler was the developer of that project.

Among other things, the applicant must produce revised elevations and a revised site plan, delineating how pool equipment will be screened from public view.

Overall, the hybrid meeting went smoothly, save for occasional dropouts from the microphones in council chambers.

The Venice Planning Commission will convene as part of a hybrid meeting on Aug. 18, and the Architectural Review Board will meet Aug 20 as part of a hybrid workshop, before the Venice City Council hostsa hybrid session Aug. 25.

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Venice Architectural Advisory Board approves demolition of home built as city was founded - Sarasota Herald-Tribune