A zoning district enabling the expansion of Ringling College of Art and Design passed with unanimous support from Sarasota City Commissioners this week. In the near-term, that likely means the ability to construct a new dining facility and more efficient use of property for parking at the internationally-renowned art school.

The approval means an overlay district governing development at the college expanded by about a third, from 26 acres to roughly 34. That allows more construction on northern properties, some as high as 65 feet. While some neighbors who live near the college expressed concerns this will mean more construction — including work down in the middle of the night based on recent history — Commissioners ultimately said the plans fit in with the city’s future land-use plan and approved the change.

Commissioner Jennifer Ahearn-Koch did express some concern about a few homes still privately owned that could end up surrounded by land zoned for six-story buildings. “Can we have some assurance you are not building a 65-foot building directly across from a single-story, single-family home?” she asked.

Tracy Wagner, Ringling College’s vice president of finance and administration, said such an expansion would likely not happen for some time until more land acquisition takes place, perhaps until those residents leave the area and the property goes up for sale. “Practically, it would be difficult to built to that height without first owning the parcels,” Wagner said.

But the college ultimately agreed to drop an entire block of its plan out of the overlay district expansion to address the concerns of neighbors.

Larry Thompson, Ringling College president, said a number of requests approved by the commission would allow a street vacation and a positioning of a planned dining hall so that construction could occur without disrupting some grand trees on campus. Wagner said other technical changes with the district would correlate allowed parking to student enrollment, rather than building square footage.

A staff report for the city says the purpose of the overlay district is to allow for the college to grow in a planned manner sensitive to the integrity and long-term viability of surrounding neighborhoods. It was first put in place in 2007.