City Leg

City Leg Team Members

  • Jim Ludwig, Chair (CCNA 1st Vice President)  
  • Leslie Spangler (Area C Director)
  • Daniel Frank (Secretary)

Past members included: 

  • Joanne Gonet (as 2nd Vice President)
  • Norm Dumaine (as District Rep, Glen Oak Estates)
  • Lou Costa (as Past President)
  • Ron Collins (Granada)
  • David Morriss (   

Background: The CCNA Board formed the Meaningful Public Input committee in June 2022 to address the CCNA Strategic Plan Proposal. This proposal outlines the background, intent, action required, and rationale for the assignment. On June 15, 2023, the CCNA Board approved segmenting the project into three legs (City, Neighborhood and Developer).

City Leg Goal

To continue efforts on Meaningful Public Input while focusing on working with staff on a review and update of the DRC process and also work towards making compatibility” objective, not subjective and thus be included in that review.

2022-2023 Action Items:

  • Met with community members and staff to understand and document the complexity of the initiative.  Realized project needed divided into short term and longer-term action items.
  • Worked with Development Services documenting the development review process.  Worked with staff to make changes in forms and procedures, including the enhanced role of the Case Planner. 
  • Worked with Planning Staff reviewing process changes they could (and did) make in presentation of Comp Plan and Zoning Code changes, facilitating town hall meetings and workshops. 

2024 Action Items

  • Aimed to objectively define “compatibility”, in our research we discovered “planokc, Oklahoma City’s new comprehensive plan”. In particular, Chapter Two – Development Guide has an intriguing approach to objectively defining compatibility.  
  • We met with Steve Cover and Ryan Chapdelain sharing the Oklahoma City plan and received positive feedback.   We also shared the plan with Lucia Panica, several Commissioners and the CCNA Board. 
  • At the May 2024 CCNA Meeting Lucia presented DRC Process and Site Plan Requirements Review, aiming to kickstart the DRC project. 

2025 Action Items:

  • Work with City Website redesign team to emphasize “neighborhoods” 
  • Work with Development Services on their “Introduction to Strategic Project” determining appropriate changes in the development review process.

  • Request City Commissioners to assign staff to identify objective compatibility standards like the Oklahoma City plan for use in the development review process. Establish these criteria, codify them, and include a DRC sign-off process to ensure consistency and reduce conflicts between existing property owners and developers.

Compatibility An Objective Approach

Key Points:

  • Compatibility: Compatibility is crucial in ensuring smooth interactions between systems, products, or parties. Whether in technology, business partnerships, or team dynamics, compatibility helps reduce conflicts, enhance efficiency, and increase the chances of success.
  • Florida Statute: (link:  Statutes & Constitution :View Statutes : Online Sunshine (state.fl.us))  163.3164 Community Planning Act; definitions.

 (9) “Compatibility” means a condition in which land uses or conditions can coexist in relative proximity to each other in a stable fashion over time such that no use or condition is unduly negatively impacted directly or indirectly by another use or condition.

  • City of Sarasota Comprehensive Plan uses the word “compatibility” 79 times in different chapters without a single definition of what that term means.

White Papers:

Committee members in researching, defining and formulating actions authored several white papers. These are not recommendations rather topic specific thoughts of committee members.

Minutes and Reports:

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