Florida League of Cities Names Sarasota - 2024 Local Action Award Winner - Coalition of City Neighborhood Associations

TALLAHASSEE, FL – The Florida League of Cities, the united voice for Florida’s municipal governments, announces the winners of the 2024 Florida Municipal Achievement Awards. The awards recognize municipalities for superior and innovative efforts in four award categories: Economic Development, Advancement, Environmental Stewardship, Local Action and Public Engagement.

This year’s winners and their projects are:

• Economic Advancement Award – City of St. Cloud, Economic Gardening Program

• Environmental Stewardship Award – Town of Oakland, Oakland Nature Preserve

• Local Action Award – City of Sarasota, Attainable Housing Density Bonus Program

• Public Engagement Award – City of DeLand, DeLand Digital Historic Tour.

The Local Action Award is given to a city for a specific, single citywide effort that successfully addresses a local need. Sarasota has been focused on a voluntary density bonus program to incentivize
the private development of attainable housing units. In 2023, their City Commission adopted a downtown attainable housing density program, that has already resulting in several submitted projects creating an estimated 87 attainable housing units downtown. In March 2024, the Commission approved a second attainable housing density program that will incentivize the creation of mixed-use development and require housing for a mix of incomes along the major commercial corridors and commercial centers.

Full Press Release – May 28, 2024