Celery Fields coalitions are building

The neighborhoods on East Palmer Blvd. are building a coalition to fight Sarasota County's "plan" to industrialize over 30 acres of prime public lands at Apex and Palmer ,adjacent to the Celery Fields.

This could be the broadest, deepest fight the County has found itself in in quite some time.

Stay Tuned

Join the Sarasota Solar Co-op at CONA March 13

Photos of March 11th

Thanks to all who came out to stand up for Our Celery Fields, and for responsible, truly comprehensive planning in Sarasota County!

See more photos of the March 11th event at this link - folks standing up for the Celery Fields

See more photos of the March 11th event at this link - folks standing up for the Celery Fields

Gathering Saturday, March 11, 11 am

Saturday, March 11, 11 am

*** Save the Date and please share ***

SRQ County Commissioner Moran referred to the voters as being NIMBY about the proposed Restaurant Depot and Gabbert Dump'cycle being located next to the Celery Fields.

Surplus land, according to county record, is described as: “Real Property that serves no future use for the county may be declared surplus and sold.”

In this case, sold for INDUSTRY

We own this land. We declare that the lands surrounding Our Celery Fields serve a very much-needed future use for the county.

#SaveOurCeleryFields

Put the Public back in Public Lands. Put the sanity back in Sarasota Planning.
Listen to this podcast with Adrien Lucas.

MARCH 11 - 11 am - APEX & PALMER

Sarasota County's mission statement on zoning states: "Zoning’s fundamental purpose is to protect a community’s health, safety and welfare.”

Come Saturday - Join Non-Partisan NIMBY's working together to Save Our Celery Field and surrounding Sarasota neighborhoods!

*** There will be water, snacks, tables and sign-making materials for kids.***

Save Our Celery Fields - Flyer

Letter to County: Urgent Request to remove surplus property

In an effort to protect the Celery Fields from further industrial encroachment, this letter was sent to the elected officials, planners and advisers of Sarasota County:

March 6, 2017

To: Sarasota County Commissioners Caragiulo, Detert, Maio, Moran and Hines;

    County Administrator Harmer;

    Director of Planning and Development Services Osterhoudt;

    Planning Commission members Bispham, Hawkins, Benson, Cooper, Cutsinger, Morris, Neuden, Pember, Stultz and Ebaugh.

Cc: Sarasota Citizens and Press

From: Adrien Lucas and Tom Matrullo

Re: Sale of Surplus Lands near Celery Fields - Urgent Request to remove surplus property, SE Corner of Palmer Blvd. and Apex Road, immediately from Surplus Land county website and retract plan to sell our land.

On Friday, March 4, the Sarasota News Leader reported that Matt Osterhoudt had hired the consulting firm of Calvin, Giordano & Associates Inc. to assist in consolidating the County’s land development and zoning regulations by updating and combining these documents into a single document that is planned to be user-friendly. (See Appendix A below)

On February 14, 2017, Sarasota County issued an Invitation to Negotiate the sale and development of the property at the SE Corner of Palmer Blvd. and Apex Road.  

In light of recent strong public reaction to proceedings involving adjacent public lands, and in view of a growing perception of a serious dysfunction in how the County is handling “Surplus” lands, we ask that the February 14, 2017 Invitation to Negotiate the sale and development of the property at the SE Corner of Palmer Blvd. and Apex Road immediately be rescinded.

Background:

News that that four parcels of public land at Apex Rd. and Palmer Blvd. have been put out to bid, three of which now are going through the rezoning process (Restaurant Depot, and two parcels, one sold, one under contract to TST Ventures), recently caught the public by surprise, provoking strong consternation and outrage.

All the public knew was that two entities -- one linked to an elected official, the other of uncertain ownership -- had entered upon agreements to rezone three parcels to industrial use -- lands whose surrounding environmental, social, residential, commercial, and transportation contexts had radically changed in the 25 years since these lands were last updated as MEC.

Sarasota County’s Surplus Land Listings web page states: “Real Property that serves no future use for the county may be declared surplus and sold.”

Contrary to Sarasota County’s description of “real property” declared surplus, we find the notion that the lands surrounding Our Celery Fields that County Administrator has put up for sale do in fact serve a very much-needed future use for the county.  

Three major problems immediately became clear:

1. No one at the County seemed to have considered the impact of 25 years of development upon the lands in question.
2. No one apparently saw reason to notify anyone beyond 750 feet of these public lands about the pending contractual arrangements, despite the fact that these lands were (a) public, and (b) adjacent to three significant public assets: The Fruitville Initiative, the Celery Fields, and the historic and commercial Packinghouse District neighborhood.
3. The January 2017 Ordinance No. 2016-087 relating to the disposition of real property entitled “Sarasota County Surplus Land Code” does not support the mission Sarasota County publicly proclaims for zoning: “Zoning’s fundamental purpose is to protect a community’s health, safety and welfare.”

With urgency we request and recommend the following:

Given that Mr. Osterhoudt has just now launched a laudable initiative to integrate planning and zoning regulations into a single, “user-friendly” document, we believe it would be simply common sense to stop the clock on these surplus land proceedings, and rescind the 2.14.17 Invitation to Negotiate. This action would give the public and the County the opportunity to devise new ways of integrating public input and judgment into the oversight and administration of public lands.

It should be clear that there is growing outrage at the astonishing incompatibility of these proposed new uses and the nature of assets highly valued by the community. To proceed with some new entity upon the bidding and rezoning of yet another parcel -- the SE quadrant of Apex and Palmer -- would only compound the existing public relations quagmire in a most user-UNfriendly manner.

This particular parcel is not under contract yet. By taking our recommendation to stop the clock and rescind the 2.14.17 ITN, the County would demonstrate its willingness to acknowledge and begin to implement Mr. Osterhoudt’s stated intent (Appendix A) to shepherd this process “to the full engagement effort” with community members.

One final point: It has recently come to our attention that, due to the proximity of the ITN, dated 2/14/17, on SE Corner of Palmer Blvd. and Apex Road, the County may be breaking a Federal law in relation to protections afforded endangered birds that might nest in grasses surrounding the pond next to this property. Also, that particular property has a storm ditch we believe feeds into Phillippi Creek. We have received reports of findings of unexpected species such as Snook and Blue Crab in that waterway. This estuary most likely deserves protection status and as the new information suggests, close study of the waterway is surely warranted.

The above is a capsule summary of concerns, findings, and research assembled by a growing working group of citizens deeply concerned by the County’s approach to managing public lands. We are heartened by the announced initiative to bring the community into the planning and zoning process. We believe it would be a clear sign of good faith to start now, by stopping the clock on the ITN of 2.14.17.

If you feel the need for more information, we would be willing and very interested to discuss the process used by the County to identify, manage and sell surplus lands.

Respectfully,

Adrien Lucas

Tom Matrullo

Appendix A

Per the Sarasota News Leader:

Osterhoudt likened the first step of the project to “a discovery phase,” during which the consulting firm will research all the necessary codes and other material and meet with a variety of groups to develop “an annotated outline of identified issues, a refined outreach plan and a draft of the proposed [Unified Development Code] structural outline,” according to a slide he showed the commissioners.

The second phase will call for a consulting firm to move “to the full engagement effort” with community members; that will include surveys, meetings and public workshops.

The third and final phase will encompass the formal public hearing process before the Planning Commission and the County Commission, Osterhoudt said.

The timeline he showed the board calls for three preliminary public meetings:

• April 6, when the Planning Commission will meet at 6:30 p.m. in the Commission Chambers at the County Administration Center located at 1660 Ringling Blvd. in downtown Sarasota.
• April 10, when the Board of Zoning Appeals will hold a session at 6 p.m. at the County Administration Center in Sarasota.
• April 19, when the county’s Development Service Advisory Committee will meet at 2:30 p.m. at 1001 Sarasota Center Blvd.

The schedule calls for county staff to receive the first draft of the proposed Unified Development Code in December. If all goes as planned, the document will be adopted and published in September 2018, Osterhoudt noted.

Staff already has created a web portal on the county’s website, Osterhoudt explained, so members of the public can provide comments and read monthly reports on the progress of the work. The webpage may be accessed easily by clicking on “Unified Development Code Project” under the Initiatives heading in the lower left-hand corner of the county’s website, he added.

Sometimes, the People Win -but maybe not - UPDATE

Bradenton Times follow-up to eariier story (below):

Beruff Seeks ACOE Approval for Long Bar Mitigation Bank Amidst Claims of Undue Influence by Former DEP Employees

Dennis Maley• Tuesday, Mar 07, 2017

BRADENTON — Following DEP's recent green light, Medallion Homes CEO and Long Bar Pointe Developer Carlos Beruff has applied to the Army Corps of Engineers for a mitigation bank permit that would vastly alter the allowable development at his controversial waterfront project on Sarasota Bay. Meanwhile, a DEP employee who was suspended after failing to recommend approval for a similar bank, has finally spoken out about the developer’s influence with the agency.

Manatee County may have won an important victory against the politically-connected developer when an appeals court judge recently upheld a decision that ruled against Beruff's challenge to the constitutionality of elements of the county's comp plan that were used to deny him the ability to build a hotel and marina, while dredging critical waters in Sarasota Bay. However, Beruff is continuing the pursuit of what may amount to an end around on some of those rules through the use of a mitigation bank that would provide him with credits that could be used to facilitate the dredging.

Despite firm opposition from the public and several environmental groups, DEP put out a notice of intent to issue approval for a similar application to their agency in December. An employee who was suspended from DEP in 2012, after recommending against a similar bank in Clay County, told Politico on Thursday that she also authored a memo reviewing Beruff's mitigation bank application, but that it was never put out by her superiors.

"That was the first indication that he (Beruff) was going to control what was done with that project," former DEP environmental administrator Connie Bersok told Politico. "That was the clue. And things sort of went downhill from there."

Continue Reading . . .

. . . from the Bradenton Times:

Hats Off to the County for Victory in Long Bar Pointe Case

Dennis Maley• Sunday, Mar 05, 2017

Too often it seems, a political columnist is forced to dwell on negative outcomes or dubious decisions. Trust me, I'd always prefer to celebrate a happy ending, and this story provides just that.

On February 24, Manatee County prevailed in a lawsuit filed by politically-connected developer Carlos Beruff over the limitations imposed on his controversial Long Bar Pointe project by the county's comprehensive land use plan. The importance of this victory would be hard to overstate.

Carlos Beruff

Long Bar Pointe is a series of housing developments Beruff is building on the last major undeveloped portion of Sarasota Bay in southwest Manatee County. Had Beruff and his partner on the project, Larry Lieberman, gotten their way, protected mangroves would have been replaced by a stone promenade, a marina, a navigational channel, and possibly a hotel, all just south of the historic Cortez fishing village. Among other worrisome concerns, it would have required a major dredging in a very environmentally-sensitive area that is critical to our local fisheries and sea grass formations.

The county approved the project only after the BOCC appeared to have reached a deal of sorts with the developers, who agreed to withdraw the hotel and marina portion of their application during a contentious meeting that drew so many members of the public that it had to be moved to the local convention center. Only once they got the nod on some of what they wanted, Beruff and Lieberman turned around and filed suit in order to get the rest. (emphasis added)

Continue reading . . .

Photos of Site Proposed for Restaurant Depot and Waste Processing

This is the 4.5 acre site James Gabbert (TST Ventures) purchased and rezoned for his waste transfer station. It is being prepared for use, and sits at the corner of Porter Road and Palmer Blvd (Click on any photo to make it bigger):

4.5-acre Waste Transfer site at Palmer Blvd and Porter 3.5.17

Here is the adjacent 12.5-acre site just east of it that Gabbert wants to rezone as industrial for a Construction Waste Processing center. The white structure is the temporary fire station on the site where Restaurant Depot wants to rezone to industrial in order to operate a 60,000 s.f. wholesale store:

12.5 acres looking north at Fire Station on Palmer Blvd.

It would look like the one pictured below (see The Detail - Cathy Antunes)

Restaurant Depot 

Here is a shot of the Industrial Construction Waste Processing center that Gabbert built at 8001 Fruitville Road, then sold in 2005 for $35 million to WAC, which still operates it:

WAC Waste processing on Fruitville Rd.

Here is a photo of the Audubon Nature Center on North Palmer Blvd taken 3.5.17 from Celery Hill:

Here are more images of the WAC Waste Processing center on Fruitville:

Here is a photo of the West slope of Celery Hill, looking North:

And a shot of the Celery Fields wetlands on Palmer Blvd., which serve as a haven for endangered and threatened species:

Some of the more than 200 people joined a March 1, 2017 rally to oppose the plan to industrialize the lands next to the Celery Fields:

Hearing continued due to ownership opacity issues

The Sarasota County Commission's March 1 public hearing on a proposal to industrialize public lands near the Celery Fields in order to accommodate a low-wage, big-box wholesaler was continued until April 26 after Charlie Bailey, the attorney for the applicant, acknowledged that he could not name all the owners of his client, JDMH Real Estate of Sarasota LLC, which he said is the development arm of Restaurant Depot in Florida.

He had offered a list with some individuals, which also included the government of Abu Dhabi and trusts, including one or more involving families apparently based in South Africa.

The Sarasota County Charter states:

All persons or entities applying for rezoning, special exceptions, or variances shall disclose the true ownership interests in any property sought to be rezoned and shall further disclose the true parties in interest in any corporation, trust, partnership, limited partnership, or any entity of any type in their zoning application. 

Asst. County Attorney Roddy stated that in his finding the applicant has not yet met the Charter's standard. After considerable hemming, the Board voted 5-0 to suspend the hearing until April 26. Bailey said he would meet with Roddy to attempt to satisfy the Charter's requirements.

The room filled with over 200 people who came to oppose the re-zoning to industrial of the public lands. The proposed project would blight the area, bring trucks that would burden traffic on an already failed road, and destroy the potential connectivity of major assets in the area.

Nothing regarding the actual plan and its impacts was said, except for one man who told the commission that some time ago, an elected official had pledged to make the area around the Celery Fields into a great park. Forty-six persons had signed speakers' cards to speak on issues ranging from impacts on the environment to traffic, nuisance, and planning illogic.

Standing Room Only at the BCC

Charlie Bailey with list of owners at the BCC

Planning to plan not to plan?

From Cathy Antunes:

The County land use hearing on March 1st regarding the NW parcel at Apex and Palmer is a hearing to change the Critical Area Plan (CAP). What is a CAP? It is bigger than a rezone. Simply put, CAPs are supposed to ensure good planning. The CAP near the Celery Fields merits a reevaluation, to consider the importance of this major ecotourism site in relation to surrounding land use. THIS HAS NOT BEEN DONE. Instead the County may railroad through a horrible CAP change from rural to industrial use. They could only contemplate this because they are 

1. ignoring the CF as an ecotourism draw, 
2. ignoring traffic, and 
3. failing to do a CAP reevaluation. 

Demand that the County Commission do their job - deny the industrial CAP change, then REEVALUATE the Critical Area Plan to include protections for the Celery Fields and surrounding neighborhoods from industrial and other poor, damaging uses. Read this document to learn about Critical Area Plans. Failing to walk their talk has been a big problem with the County Commission's land use decisions. We need them to do the right thing.

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Comment on above:

Critical Area Plans are supposed to make sure that the "Critical Area" impacted by a development plan is carefully considered for negative impacts. Yet the boundary of the Critical Area Plan for Restaurant Depot only covers the parcel that Restaurant Depot wishes to develop. How does this square with the purpose and definition of a Critical Area Plan?

Boundary of the Restaurant Depot Critical Area Plan