Spare some time?

While Florida builds new highways, and Pat Neal, Hi Hat Ranch and Skye Ranch demand that we pay for new roads, and our Board blesses more pavement, more housing, more cars every chance it gets, a few birds might be threatened in Sarasota. 

With climate change, we're all in the mineshaft, and every bird is a canary.

Sarasota County has a number of advisory boards and councils. 

At the moment, 16 boards have 33 openings. Got some free time? Find one that suits your disposition, and try to help our elected officials see the light. 

Board of Zoning Appeals

Statement at Board of Zoning Appeals regarding Mr. Gabbert's change to his Special Exception

Note: After all presentations were given, the Board of Zoning Appeals first spoke 4-3 in support of the County Zoning Administrator's ruling that James Gabbert was seeking a major modification of his WTF. Then, led by Jon Mast, CEO of the Manatee/Sarasota Building Industry Association, it halted an actual vote, tabled the motion to deny Gabbert. Mast, purporting to "amend" Justin Powell's original motion, turned it into a double approval for Gabbert, and undermined the Zoning Administrator's interpretation of our Zoning Code. [Ed. note: this was edited to clarify the rather confusion Board action. Best to watch the video - link below.]

To see a video of the entire meeting, go here.

See also Herald Tribune, 11.26.2019, Carrie Seidman: Time to rebalance interests of developers and public in Sarasota.

Board of Zoning Appeals at Gabbert Appeal 11.18.19

It’s not often that Sarasota’s regulatory boards interact with the general public. If the County were to require one or two seats on each Board to represent residents, and duly reported on Board actions to inform interested residents, that might help close the gap between the self-interest of business-as-usual and the larger shared values of the general public.

Some historical context -- I’ll keep it short. In 1980, Sarasota County was first in the state of Florida to address future development with a planning document curiously named “Apoxsee.” It served as a sort of rudimentary Comp Plan.

In 1996, about 30 far-sighted residents from a variety of professions - architecture, law, engineering, development and construction among them - began to formulate a balanced set of principles to guide future development practices. They were known as the Multi-Stakeholders Group, or MSG, and their collaboration - which was not always collegial - led to the Comprehensive Plan approved by the county several years later.

With the great Depression of 2008 came pressure to grant a kind of emergency welfare to developers. The delicate balance between the community and development interests went sideways, and remains tilted heavily today toward the developers.

Revisions in the UDC as well as in Comp Plan Amendments have contributed to this move away from consideration for the community. Certain codes are less constrained, and residents experience the impacts new developments daily - in their nostrils, in their waterways, and on their roads.

In addition to requiring public representatives on your Board, I would ask that you each support a change to the UDC: Demand that traffic studies for the site development review process be required. How could the unleashing of 100 large trucks a day at this location on Palmer Blvd. not have been addressed? The repercussions of this programmed ignorance will be felt every day by those who live and work in the Palmer, Bell, Cattlemen and Apex area. Please press for this change in the 2020 Amendment cycle.

County zoning’s fundamental purpose is to “protect a community’s health, safety and welfare.” Binding site plan rules exist for a reason. I support the Zoning Administrator’s interpretation in this matter, and ask that you help Sarasota return to its tradition of community vision in long-range planning.

Thank you.

Tom Matrullo

Lucas: We won - but Gabbert's WTF needs to be watched

It took a Celery Village but the Last Stand at Celery Hill has been won! On November 6, 2019, the Sarasota County Commission finally heard the public outcry to “Save Our Celery Fields” and voted 5-0 to place three of the four parcels in a conservation easement. The Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast and Sarasota Audubon will work with the Sarasota County Administrator and Planning to reforest the southeast parcel and do something for the northeast parcel with the retention pond. The southwest parcel will also come under a conservation easement. The northwest parcel with the fire station was left out of the vote. We will continue to monitor that parcel as 4.1 acres there are not part of the conservation easement, and could be rezoned in the future. I want to thank everyone who helped in defeating past and present Commissioners from selling the Quad properties for development. This was a non-partisan effort that was supported by local, state, national and global efforts. People can continue to enjoy the Celery Fields without further introduction of development in the Quad Parcels surrounding the park. What a joy!  However, with this exciting win for the Celery Fields, there is something we need to continue to monitor. The “WTF” Waste Transfer Facility, adjacent to the Quad properties, is in its early stages of being built by TST Ventures. Sadly, Mr. Gabbert decided to build his dump despite heartfelt community efforts to persuade him to find an area better suited for his business.  Mr. Gabbert and his attorney William W. Merrill III have applied for a Zoning Appeal with Sarasota County. Screen shots pertaining to this appeal may be seen below.  In a nutshell, if you are interested, there is a Public Hearing beginning at 6:00 pm on Monday, November 18 to considering Zoning Variances from the Sarasota County Zoning Regulations. It appears that Mr. Gabbert wishes to alter the Special Exception plan: He is now asking to move the location of a proposed stormwater retention pond to a property he owns outside the boundary of the WTF. The new proposed tank would not only change the site plan, but it would be underground, making it likely more difficult to monitor.  Sarasota County Zoning staff have denied Mr. Gabbert’s zoning modifications, hence, the appeal. We will be attending this meeting and following its outcome. I (and many Sarasota scientists who have much more knowledge than I do) believe that with Gabbert’s dump, there will be known construction particulates that contain poisons such as lead paint, asbestos and who knows what else that will be sprayed down in the open air dump. This water will leech into the Celery Fields Stormwater Retention Pond. This drainage ultimately ends up in Sarasota Bay. We will keep you abreast of the situation but if you want to attend a meeting, please join us at 6 pm Nov. 18 at 1660 Ringling Boulevard, Commission Chambers. Bunches of Celery Hugs, Adrien Lucas Sarasota County Board of Zoning Appeals Date: Mon. November 18, 2019 Time: 6:00 p.m. Location: 1660 Ringling Blvd., Sarasota, FL Click Here for Directions Parking may be found behind the County building in the parking lot. Link to Agenda Click Here: Discussion Section: 3. APPEAL Public hearing to consider Appeal 19-155651 ZZ, a request by TST Ventures LLC to appeal a Zoning Administrator’s interpretation letter dated 8/28/19, interpreting that the modification of the stormwater pond is a substantial modification to the binding concept plan and the approved Special Exception will need to be amended. The property is zoned Industrial, Light Manufacturing and Warehousing (ILW) and is located at 6150 Palmer Boulevard and 1099 Porter Road, Sarasota (Parcel ID No. 0237050001 and 0237120001). William W. Merrill, Esquire, Agent Email the Sarasota County Commissioners It is polite to be polite! It isn't easy being a public figure, and they finally heard us! You may or may not want to thank Sarasota County Commissioners Charles Hines, Al Maio, Nancy Detert, Mike Moran and Christian Ziegler. Just click the button to the right and the link will take you straight to the Commissioners email box. Click here to email the Sarasota County Commission Useful Links, Supporting Material & Some Helluva Good Press from the Past Week! Sarasota County Commissioners decide land near the Celery Fields will be conserved ABC Channel 7 by Rick Adams | November 6, 2019 Celery Fields Protest Video presented to the Sarasota County Commissioners at the November 6 hearing. Filmed by Daniel Perales, produced by Adrien Lucas Sarasota County residents rally for Celery Fields and denounce ‘groundhog politics’ Herald Tribune by Anna Bryson | November 2, 2019 Video Celery Fields Protest Live to VOD recordings of WWSB's newscasts ABC Channel 7 by Taylor Torregano | November 1, 2019  Organizers plan 'Last Stand for Celery Hill' protest Saturday ABC Channel 7 by Taylor Torregano | November 1, 2019  SEIDMAN: Déjà vu all over again at Celery Fields Herald Tribune by Carrie Seidman | Octobert 31, 2019 After the Nov. 2 rally for Celery Fields Citizen's for Sarasota County Blog by Tom Matrullo | November 3, 2019 On Nov. 6, County Commission to discuss draft staff report that includes development options for Quads property next to Celery Fields Sarasota News Leaser by Rachel Brown Hackney |October 24, 2019 Fresh Start for the Celery Fields, a real time blog holding any and all things related to the Celery Fields and Sarasota County government. Great place to learn what we are up against. This is a useful site for appropriate cut and paste sentences for writing why you oppose the sale of the Quads. Comment on Critical Area Plan for the Quad Parcels at the Celery Fields, a breakdown on the proposed county staff Celery Field Quad CAP analysis to Sarasota planner Mr. Kirk. A video of Fresh Start's presentation to the Board of Sarasota County Commissioners on Sept. 12, 2018 that apparently fell on deaf ears. Click here to View. Sent by Adrien Lucas, A Sarasota p.t. private citizen moving back to SRQ f.t. to run for County Commissioner and small business owner of Atomic Holiday Bazaar who simply is overjoyed that we all Saved Our Celery Fields! 941-539-9044 adrienoh@yahoo.com