Sarasota's shopping and dining district, St. Armands Circle, may not be as vulnerable to flooding in the years to come because its stormwater system will be upgraded using federal recovery dollars.
St. Armands Circle is a big economic driver for Sarasota, drawing tourists to the area, but it's prone to flooding.
It was hit three times in 2024 by Hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton.
"You can't keep merchants in business if they're constantly having to get rid of all their inventory and redo their stores after they've had flooding,” said Sarasota city commissioner and former mayor Liz Alpert.
And the city’s sea levels are expected to rise a foot by 2050.
Sarasota County awarded the city $13.5 million in December to upgrade the stormwater pumps there, plus improve the piping and backup generators.
This project is one of nine county-wide projects being funded by a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Development Block Grant–Disaster Recovery.
Alpert has been on the Sarasota City Commission for the past decade, serving as mayor three times, so she knows her constituents pretty well.
“We have a community that is coastal. We have a lot of barrier islands — beaches. So, for our residents, sustainability and resiliency are extremely important,” she said.
Resiliency and sustainability have long been priorities for the city commission, as well.
"One of the things that we did early on is we hired a sustainability manager," Alpert said.
ALSO READ: Sarasota Bay is still recovering from Hurricane Debby, which dropped record-breaking rain
A vulnerability study was done to determine which resiliency projects to fund, and commissioners set a goal of reaching 100% clean energy by 2050.
"For city facilities, we're already at 80% solar power. So, we plan to get the other 20% within the next couple of years or so," Alpert said.
Since at least the industrial revolution, the energy and transportation sectors have been emitting the most climate-warming pollution into the atmosphere, accelerating global warming, fueling storms, and rising seas.
Sarasota has also reduced its greenhouse gas emissions through "micro-mobility" with scooters, e-bikes, and a trolley taking folks from downtown to St. Armands Circle and Lido Beach.
"Right now, we're up to like one million rides, so we've taken a lot of cars off the road,” she said.
Another long-term project is in Bay Park, essentially transforming 75 acres of parking lot into green space.
ALSO READ: A YouTube video reveals a dike breach during Debby that caused mysterious Sarasota flooding
Then there’s the city’s beach renourishment plan coordinated with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
“We renourish the beach every five years, but now we're also going to be adding dunes and plantings to the dunes to also make the beaches more resilient and plan for sea level rise,” she said.
When it comes to planning for resiliency against sea level rise in 2050 or 2100, Alpert said local governments are key.
“Who better knows their community and what's needed in the community to protect it than local government,” she asked.
As a member of the Florida League of Cities, Alpert said local governments throughout the state are concerned with the upward trend in state preemption measures.
“Obviously, there's a place for the state to make decisions that affect the entire state, but the local government is extremely, extremely important to making decisions locally and there's been a lot of state preemptions that have been troubling,” she said.
When asked how she envisions the city of Sarasota in 2050 or 2100, Alpert said it includes living shorelines and building up.
“I think those are going to be really, really critical … the sea, it's going to be higher. So, we have to make sure everything is raised to withstand that,” she said.
