Sarasota wants to bury power lines on barrier islands flooded during last year’s storms.
By Dania Hefley
Original Air Date: October 22, 2025
Host: After substantial flooding during last year’s storms, the City of Sarasota wants to join Longboat Key in burying all power lines on its barrier islands. At their meeting Monday, city commissioners discussed creating special taxing districts on Lido and St. Armands Key to fund the project. Dania Hefley reports.
Dania Hefley: Under the special taxing districts, property owners would help pay through assessments. Many residents supported the plan after years of hurricane outages. Dennis Bischoff, a Lido Shores resident speaking for his neighborhood, said they are ready to invest in safety and reliability.
Dennis Bischoff: The key word here is resiliency. Lido Shores, Lido Key, St. Armands are on a fragile barrier island and far more subject to Mother Nature, and to have power lines underground is obvious and should be a priority for the homeowners, businesses, for the City of Sarasota and Florida Power and Light. In fact, Florida Power and Light should be thrilled. 14 times better performance, reducing repair time and costs long term. In our recent survey, the majority of Lido Shores households responded, and 97% respondents voted yes. They are in support of this project proceeding. Our constituents have indicated that they would like the city to finish the job and are willing to fund this investment themselves.
DH: The commission voted unanimously to start the feasibility study and legal work needed for the special assessment districts. Staff said the project could take four to seven years because it requires coordination with several utilities.
The project will be funded by property owners themselves through assessments. The commission’s vote authorized staff to hire a consultant to develop a preliminary cost estimate. Staff is required to return later with draft initial assessment and reimbursement resolutions before the final costs are adopted.
Flooding in St. Armands during Hurricane Helene
The Town of Longboat Key just finished burying all power lines after nearly a decade, at a cost of around $43 million. On average, property owners on the island are paying $4,200 over 30 years in assessments.
These kinds of voluntary efforts are distinct from FPL’s statewide Storm Secure Underground Program, which is funded by a surcharge of about $8 to a typical customer’s monthly bill across all FPL customers. The utility has also asked the state for a record base rate increase that could cost customers up to an additional $18 per month. FPL is currently undergrounding 10 miles of overhead lines in several neighborhoods in the City of Sarasota.
The benefit of undergrounding is substantial, as these lines have performed up to 14 times better than overhead lines during major storms. However, the distinction in funding led Vice Mayor Trice to voice a concern.
Debbie Trice: I’m wondering if doing these special districts will absorb all the available local labor who can do the undergrounding so that the block here, block there in Sarasota that have problems but are not in one of the special districts will—“Sorry. We don’t have manpower to fix your problem.”
DH : The commissioners also voted to change tree and landscaping rules for narrow residential lots, like townhomes. The new rule lets developers plant smaller understory trees instead of full canopy trees on lots 30 feet wide or less, if larger trees aren’t feasible.The new rule, supported by City Arborist Jackie Hartley, allows understory trees on small townhouse lots where larger trees can’t grow safely.
Commissioners heard some concerns about reduced canopy cover but ultimately agreed with the city arborist’s “right tree, right place” approach.
The commission then moved to The Bay—the city’s new signature waterfront park. They approved a request from the Bay Park Conservancy to use $20 million in Tax Increment Financing funds for design and construction of Phase 3. The next phase focuses on Centennial Park upgrades, expanding the boat launch and improving storm resilience.
The $20 million funding depends on a matching contribution from Sarasota County. At their meeting the next day, the Sarasota County commissioners voted unanimously to postpone to April a decision on disbursing their share of the TIF funding. Commissioners expressed their general support for the park, but they wanted to await the Florida legislature’s decision on property tax cuts.
For WSLR News, Dania Hefley.
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