There will soon be no seating at Sarasota's recently revamped park at the heart of downtown — an effort to keep groups of homeless people from gathering at the park.
In response to complaints from downtown condo residents who say homeless and "vagrants" huddle around new benches at Selby Five Points Park downtown — making conditions unsafe and threatening property values — the City Commission voted to remove the benches this week on a three-month trial basis.
"I really feel we've reached a critical mass here," Mayor Suzanne Atwell said. "We've reached a level where we need to do something."
Vice Mayor Terry Turner said the commission had to respond to residents of "the highest property tax value in the county."
The removal of the benches comes as the city is drafting a smoking ban at city parks and property to dissuade homeless loitering downtown.
Heightened enforcement of a smoking ban at the Selby Library, officials say, has been effective.
"Many of the transients use the benches as their home offices," said Jim Lampl, a downtown Sarasota resident. "What happens is they are there for 6- and 8-hour shifts."
"The benches are used as a sort of headquarters," he said.
But some park visitors say removing the benches is a silly idea.
Mary Ann Lozeau works downtown and spends her lunch breaks sitting on the green park benches reading books, which she checks out from the Selby Library.
"It seems a shame that everyone has to suffer because of that," she said, adding aside from the occasional panhandler, she has not been disturbed by homeless people at the benches.
Now, she said she will likely spend her lunch breaks indoors.
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