Back to Business: City of Sarasota is partially closing two streets this weekend

City of Sarasota

The City of Sarasota will facilitate two experimental partial street closures downtown this weekend in order to assist local businesses in the economic recovery from COVID-19.

The closures will begin at 4 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday, May 22-23, and all day Sunday and Monday, May 24-25, in the 1300 block of Main Street (Palm Avenue to Miramar Court) and on State Street from the State Street Garage to Lemon Avenue.

The City is also seeking vendors interested in selling or giving away protective masks at Main Street/Palm Avenue and Main Street/Lemon Avenue this weekend during the street closures, as well as at designated areas at Lido Beach and Bayfront Park. Interested parties should contact Purchasing General Manager David Boswell at 941-263-6448 or Interim Development Services Director Gretchen Schneider at 941-263-6590 for more details.

Citizens are advised to follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for safe social distancing in public to help stop the spread of COVID-19. City residents are also strongly urged to wear protective masks when leaving home under the City’s local public health emergency declaration. Signage will be in place at both partial street closures reminding residents and visitors about safe social distancing practices.

The City has already made several efforts to aid local restaurants and businesses with a speedy reopening and recovery, including waiving building permit fees for improvements to adapt to health concerns; temporarily relaxing the zoning code to encourage and facilitate outdoor dining; and creating a new no-fee, temporary outdoor café permit that allows for expanded outdoor seating.