developer revives project

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A tour of a Siesta Key home designed by Ben Baldwin. INSIDE

OUR TOWN

Martinis and Makeovers raises money for Team Believe. pAGE 1B

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FROM THE GRAVE

by Alex Mahadevan | News Editor

Developer revives project

Taylor Morrison plans to build about 250 homes on 77 acres in Gulf Gate.

Photos by Rachel S. O’Hara

+ A hair ‘do’ Deb Applebee finally went for the big cut Sunday, Oct. 14, during the Team Believe Martinis and Makeovers fundraiser on Siesta Key. Applebee, of Gulf Gate East, had 12 inches of her hair cut in honor of her grandmother, Nanine Hammond, who was an 18-year breast cancer survivor. One year ago, Applebee’s daughter, Ava, 9, had donated eight inches of her hair to Locks of Love, and Applebee was inspired to finally get a new look and donate her hair to the same charity. Applebee was thrilled with her new look, a fashionable bob, which was done by Sassy Hair salon’s Erika Lopatinsky.

The newlyweds and their wedding party visited SKOB Sunday.

+ Wedded bliss David and Ashley Perkins celebrated their one-dayold nuptials Sunday, Oct. 14, at the Siesta Key Oyster Bar in Siesta Key Village. The couple, from Orlando, dated for three years and often visited Sarasota, Longboat Key and Siesta Key for vacations with friends and family. They discovered SKOB and always loved eating their crabs, crawfish and oysters. David and Ashley were married Saturday, Oct. 13, on Lido Key Beach. But, before heading back to Orlando, much of the wedding party made its way to Siesta Key for a meal at SKOB. The newlyweds wore Mickey and Minnie Mouse wedding hats that they were given as wedding presents.

Cows that graze on a pasture tucked behind a Sarasota cemetery may soon have to find a new home to make way for a community planned for Gulf Gate. The details haven’t been fully released, but Taylor Morrison Inc. recently announced plans for a new 77-acre development near the intersection of U.S. 41 and Clark Road, with model homes expected

early next year for the proposed Esplanade by Siesta Key. The long-term vision for the property encompasses 247 home sites, surrounded by more than seven ponds, wetland preserves and pedestrian trails. “There’s not a lot of new homes out there unless you buy a custom home,” said West Florida Division President Steve Kempton. And land

available for infill development, particularly in that location, is scarce, he explained. Taylor Woodrow Homes bought the property between Constitution Boulevard and Stickney Point Road in 2005 to build more than 300 multifamily units. The firm, which has since merged with another firm to form Taylor Mor-

SEE ESPLANADE / 5A

WAX ON, WAX OFF

Courtesy of Taylor Morrison

Taylor Morrison will look to the Esplanade at Lakewood Ranch for the design of a new community in Gulf Gate.

by Alex Mahadevan | News Editor

POINT BREAK

Although much has changed for Siesta surfers who embraced the lifestyle decades ago, they still find time to relive their days of catching waves. It was 1963. Thirteen-year-old Juan Rodriguez and a friend developed a system to rig a coin-flipping game against his classmates, and in a few months, he had raised $45 to buy his first surfboard. “I started surfing because it was cool, underground and sketchy,” he says. “It was not the accepted lifestyle.” Four years later, cars in the Siesta Key Beach public parking lot honked when he hung five, and 10, on the shores of the island — a place where surfing and skateboarding scenes writhed underground until the mainstream finally embraced the extremesports market. The first board Rodriguez bought sparked a life of making custom boards of all types. He has witnessed the ebb and flow of a surf scene in a place that now rarely sees waves taller than four feet. “He was the guru of surfing in Sarasota,” says Jim Judsen, a 53-year-old kitchen designer and carpenter. Judsen was part of the second of three eras of misfits, outsiders and teenage exiles that shredded the asphalt of DavidAlex Mahadevan

SEE SURFERS / PAGE 2A Jim Judsen looks out on a spot on Siesta Key Beach that used to bring surfers together.

INDEX Briefs....................4A Classifieds ........ 10B

Cops Corner....... 14A Crossword............ 9B

Opinion .............. 8A Real Estate.......... 2B

Sports................ 17A Weather............... 9B

Vol. 43, No. 12 | Four sections YourObserver.com