In November 2018 Sarasota County passed a referendum by over a 70% margin to extend The Legacy Trail. Learn more from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune article below.
An overwhelming 70.6 percent of countywide voters approved borrowing $65 million to extend the Legacy Trail about nine miles north to Payne Park in downtown Sarasota using bonds that will be repaid with property tax revenue. Connections also will be added from North Port through Venice. The 10-mile trail, which opened in 2008, currently runs from the Historic Train Depot in Venice to Culverhouse Nature Park in Sarasota.
But there’s more to the extension than just pavement, county officials say.
“Restrooms and improved amenities are also proposed within this development project,” Nicole Rissler, interim director of parks, recreation and natural resources, told the commission late last month. “A key priority in the development and vision of the Legacy Trail extension are the safety improvements that are proposed along with this project including road crossings and overpasses.”
Proponents of the pricey trail say it could result in higher property values and will provide a safe path for off-road commuters — while some argued that the funds should go to more pressing needs.
To repay the debt for the extension project, county officials estimate a property owner of property with an assessed value of $200,000 will pay $9 in fiscal year 2020, $16 each year from fiscal years 2021 to 2039 and $7 in fiscal year 2040, county documents show.
County officials expect the extension to open in 2024 if the design and build phases go off without a hitch.
It is estimated roughly 250,000 individuals use the trail annually for recreation or to get to school, work or shopping. Even voters who don’t typically use the trail voted in favor of extending it and covering the cost.
“Anything that promotes conservation or user-friendly services, I am in favor of,” county voter Wesley Meltzer said. “I may not use the Legacy Trail but there are enough people that use it — I go by it very often — so I think it’s very important.”