Showing posts with label Sarasota planning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sarasota planning. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 14, 2019
Video: Workshop on the public lands at the Celery Fields May 14, 2109
Critical Area planning workshop about the "Quads" -- 38 acres of public lands at the Celery Fields, Sarasota FL.
Wednesday, October 24, 2018
This could be you
A large hall -- standing room only. A developer's representative is making the case for a big new project with far more density and intensity than the neighborhood can handle. People are aghast. They protest. The developer's proposal goes to the Planning Commission, then to the Board of County Commissioners, where it is approved.
Sound familiar?
If this is happening to your community, you're not alone.
The 2050 Comprehensive Plan was designed to temper the pace, density, existential impacts and economic burdens of big-money development. It stood for a shared sense of responsible, intelligent growth.
Throughout Sarasota County, however, elected and appointed officials are offering concierge services to powerful developers. They bend, break, or eliminate rules intended to protect the public from oversized developer impacts. On Nov. 6, you can turn this around.
Thousands of homeowners are in the same predicament. Here are a few examples:
“Pat Neal’s Grand Lakes project, will impact homeowners’ rights in Serenoa, Serenoa Lakes, and the Ibis Street area with little regard for our safety and land values.
Growth is being allowed before safe and sufficient traffic management capabilities are in place. The safety of thousands of children and their parents who use Twin Lakes Park will also be impacted.
Neal’s changes to Sarasota 2050 create urban sprawl. The commissioners clearly have little or no regard for the rights of taxpayers or their own official plan for long term growth. It is a shame when citizens have to dig into their own pockets just to make sure the planning officials follow their own rules." Serenoa Lakes President Dave Anderson.
“Twenty-fifty doesn’t work for us as it was meant to,” said Jim Turner, one of the property owners. The characteristics of the land referred to as the Clark Road Properties make it tough to meet the density requirements, he said. Herald Tribune
Why do certain commissioners want to sell our public land to private industrial developers?
Gabbert waste transfer operation still planned for Porter and Palmer (SNL)
Fresh Start Opposes Industrialization
County to try new plan - Public input essential
Tourism money reallocated for stadium repairs
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These players have the resources to dilute regulation, lower impact fees, and weaken public oversight that could put a crimp in their business models. They like their government small and weak.
- Reject rampant growth.
- Protect the environment.
- Respect the people.
Sound familiar?
If this is happening to your community, you're not alone.
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Benderson "Siesta Promenade" Neighborhood workshop
Aggressive developer encroachment, county complicity, neighborhoods suffer |
The 2050 Comprehensive Plan was designed to temper the pace, density, existential impacts and economic burdens of big-money development. It stood for a shared sense of responsible, intelligent growth.
Throughout Sarasota County, however, elected and appointed officials are offering concierge services to powerful developers. They bend, break, or eliminate rules intended to protect the public from oversized developer impacts. On Nov. 6, you can turn this around.
Thousands of homeowners are in the same predicament. Here are a few examples:
STOP BOLEYN RD REZONE
A neighbor: "This subject parcel already has a recorded, perpetual conservation easement and a binding site plan of 25 homes, but they want almost three times more! Do the words “perpetual” and “binding” have any meaning at all?
"If conservation protections can be extinguished with the stroke of a pen, where does that leave the public trust?" More here.
A neighbor: "This subject parcel already has a recorded, perpetual conservation easement and a binding site plan of 25 homes, but they want almost three times more! Do the words “perpetual” and “binding” have any meaning at all?
"If conservation protections can be extinguished with the stroke of a pen, where does that leave the public trust?" More here.
Oct. 24th, 9 a.m. -- Cancelled until further notice
County Commission
Benderson is asking for density 65% over what they would be allowed, with heights up to 80', with 414 apartments, 140,000 sq ft of retail and a 130 room hotel.. . . Stickney and 41, the gateway to Siesta Key is impassable in season, and already is a threat to the health, safety and welfare of the residents in the general area. Additionally, Benderson is feeding their traffic through a quiet residential area. -- Sura Kochman
Fight over proposed mixed-use development heats up in Sarasota
Planning Commission - 11.15.18 5 p.m.
County Hearing - 12.12.18 9 a.m.
Sign the Siesta Promenade PetitionBlock Benderson
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Grand Lakes: a 1,097-home cul de sac
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Growth is being allowed before safe and sufficient traffic management capabilities are in place. The safety of thousands of children and their parents who use Twin Lakes Park will also be impacted.
Neal’s changes to Sarasota 2050 create urban sprawl. The commissioners clearly have little or no regard for the rights of taxpayers or their own official plan for long term growth. It is a shame when citizens have to dig into their own pockets just to make sure the planning officials follow their own rules." Serenoa Lakes President Dave Anderson.
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County commissioners decided to amend the county’s 2050 growth plan to allow the owners ... to create 9,344 homes on the land, roughly 5,500 to 6,300 more than the guidelines permit.
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"What you in fact are planning is a slow motion car wreck -- a collision of industry and human lives that will imperil people, property, and community." - Fresh Start
Gabbert waste transfer operation still planned for Porter and Palmer (SNL)
Fresh Start Opposes Industrialization
County to try new plan - Public input essential
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Nokomis: Prime Public Land Giveaway
Nokomis Area Civic Association: "How can we believe, trust, and have faith in these individuals and the institutions they represent when we know the truth about their thinking and lack of candor?"
Nokomis Area Civic Association: "How can we believe, trust, and have faith in these individuals and the institutions they represent when we know the truth about their thinking and lack of candor?"
Prime land handed to Sheriff for garage - yet we have a budget shortfall necessitating the sale of public lands at the Celery Fields?
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Venice Regional Hospital Site
East Venice residents push back on proposed hospital near Jacaranda, I-75 "Neighbors...have opposed the re-designation of Venice Regional’s chosen site as commercial rather than moderate-density residential, arguing that the extra traffic and noise of a medical campus will have adverse effects. But the county Planning Commission and staff have recommended approval." Petition opposing Venice Regional site
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The Sarasota County Commission on Tuesday decided to shift money from the tourism promotions budget to pay for repairs on the deteriorating Ed Smith Stadium, despite pleas from local merchants devastated by toxic red tide who claim the marketing money is vital to keeping their businesses alive. (Herald Tribune)
If the road is NOT REBUILT, SARASOTA TAXPAYERS ARE EXPECTED TO HAVE TO SPEND OVER $5,000,000 (Five Million Dollars) JUST TO PROTECT THE VERY SAME DEVELOPER'S LAND WHO OPPOSES THE PROJECT. ReopenBeachRoad.Org
Medallion Home, a Manatee-based homebuilder owned by Carlos Beruff, filed a request with Sarasota County planners in October to rezone the 49-acre course for more housing density. Previous attempts to rezone the golf course failed, but Gulf Gate homeowners fear Beruff’s political influence and the current county commission’s pro-growth stance could make this attempt different. (Herald Tribune)
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Astoundingly, a company representative told our current crop of mostly developer-hugging commissioners that Whole Foods really needs to pave that wetland because, golly, there is just no other site that would do around here. That’s right, there’s no other possible place Whole Foods could build!
I wish I could report that the Sarasota County commissioners all responded in skeptical unison and shouted, “Oh come off it. You think we are that stupid? - Tom Lyons
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Developer Kompothecras gets OK for big zoning change on Siesta Key
Opponents claimed the zoning change opens the floodgates for more developers to litter the skyline and compromise the island’s tranquility. Traffic would become worse and potentially dangerous; ambulances would experience life-threatening delays. Herald Tribune
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Sarasota County turns ownership of parks to cities, and its an expensive headache
SARASOTA, Fla. (WFLA) - Sarasota County is handing over control of many of its public parks back to the cities and it is causing quite a headache.
In the city of Sarasota, taxpayers are being met with sticker shock because many of the parks are in disrepair.
For the past 30 years, Sarasota County has maintained virtually all parks county-wide. So it came as a surprise a year ago when the county decided to save money by giving the parks back to the cities. News Channel 8.
Instead of facing facts, finding gumption, and developing a reliable and sustainable revenue stream, the county is cutting services, selling off public lands, and fobbing off responsibilities it once ably handled. Why?
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| Nathan Benderson Park under construction 2013 |
The still unsustainable private entity that runs Nathan Benderson Park . . . outlined to the Sarasota County Commission several ways [it] is making headway to formulate a business strategy to become self-sufficient to avoid another subsidy from the county. The commission in June granted SANCA a $400,000 subsidy to keep the organization afloat beyond Oct. 1, when the county was to cease covering costs of personnel and events. Herald Tribune
The Benderson rowing park has come under strong criticism from Sarasota residents who say the financing "partnership" went terribly awry.
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In the city of Sarasota, taxpayers are being met with sticker shock because many of the parks are in disrepair.
For the past 30 years, Sarasota County has maintained virtually all parks county-wide. So it came as a surprise a year ago when the county decided to save money by giving the parks back to the cities. News Channel 8.
Instead of facing facts, finding gumption, and developing a reliable and sustainable revenue stream, the county is cutting services, selling off public lands, and fobbing off responsibilities it once ably handled. Why?
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Here's the thing:
Many who deeply care come to the public hearings, wear green, red or blue, bring signs, speak their minds, and experience Full-Frontal Board Indifference for their pains. Some leave thinking their failure was their fault.
This is a county-wide pattern -- ongoing for years. Our collective awareness of this is fragmented because each community experiences it within its own boundaries. They don't see the many other citizen-voters experiencing brazen disregard for the public good.
And it's all for the same reason: The people placed in power -- not all, but most -- are there at the pleasure of the wealthiest land gamblers in the county.
And it's all for the same reason: The people placed in power -- not all, but most -- are there at the pleasure of the wealthiest land gamblers in the county.
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| Big 5 developers |
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| Moran Caragiulo Detert Maio Hines |
The failures of planning, the decisions incrementally eroding our Comprehensive vision, all the sorry excuses made while politely declining to stand up to supersized projects that enrich the developers at the expense of the quality of life around them -- all rest on this refusal to work for the public.
In the coming election, use your vote, informed by the collective experience of your neighbors around the county, to bring new voices and new vision onto the Board -- candidates that will work for the public interest.
Actualize your power.
It's your call - if you Vote.
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November 6th is almost here.
Inform your neighbors.
Support intelligent growth policies.
Vote for candidates who will:
- Reject rampant growth.
- Protect the environment.
- Respect the people.
Monday, April 2, 2018
Thaxton at CONA: Our Comp Plan
 Sarasota County Council of Neighborhood Associations - CONA |
- monthly meeting -
April 9, 2018
at 7 p .m.
importance of our
comprehensive planand a report on the Bath and Racquet Club application
On Monday, April 9, 2018 please join CONA for a thorough discussion by Jon Thaxton regarding our county comprehensive plan.Learn how this document expresses our vision of what we want our community to be and how it drives the decisions made by our local government regarding development and redevelopment. That our plan for smart growth was carefully-crafted by citizens participating in a long process that resulted in a vision that garnered national recognition and awards will be covered. The examination will reveal the devolution of our comprehensive plan through gradual changes that failed to adhere to the inherent vision expressed by the community.
Following our traditional half-hour social beforehand, the meeting will open with Ben Cannon bringing us up to date on the redevelopment application for the Bath and Racquet Club.
social 6:30 p.m. - meeting 7:00 p.m.
at the Sarasota Garden Club
neighbors helping neighborhoods since 1961
save the date - our anniversary party - November 5, 2018
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Wednesday, February 14, 2018
Private Comp Plan Amendment to add IBIS Rd. to Thoroughfare Plan
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Privately-Initiated
Comprehensive Plan Amendment No. 2017-F
Adding Ibis Street to Future Thoroughfare Plan
Date: February 27, 2018
Location: Sarasota County Administration Center, County Commission Chamber, 1660 Ringling Blvd., Sarasota, Florida
Time: 1:30 p.m., or soon thereafter
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The Sarasota County Commission will hold a public hearing to consider a resolution transmitting Comprehensive Plan Amendment No. 2017-F, relating to the incorporation of Ibis Street into Sarasota County's Future Thoroughfare Plan Maps and Tables, to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity for review and comment.
The privately-initiated amendment proposes to add Ibis Street from Clark Road (State Road 72) to Future North-South Roadway "A" to Sarasota County's Future Thoroughfare Plan, as shown on the map below:
The amendment proposes to revise the Sarasota County Comprehensive Plan including Maps 10-8 and 10-9 of the Year 2040 Future Thoroughfare Plan of the Future Land Use Chapter and Map 10-3a, Map 10-3b and Table 10-5 of the Transportation Chapter.
Following the public hearing and subsequent review by the Florida Department of Economic Development, the County Commission will hold another public hearing to consider the adoption of CPA No. 2017-F. The "tentative" adoption public hearing is scheduled for April 25, 2018.
Copies of the proposed Amendment and supporting documents are available during normal business hours in the Planning and Development Services Department at 1660 Ringling Blvd., Sarasota, Florida. Supporting documents will be available the Thursday prior to the public hearing at www.scgov.net, Meetings and Agendas (Meetings on Demand) to view or download.
You are invited to comment on the request by attending the public hearing or submitting your written comments to:
Planning and Development Services Department
Please call 941-861-5000; TTY: 7-1-1 or 1-800-955-8771; or email: planner@scgov.net or adacoordinator@scgov.net with your questions.
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Friday, December 22, 2017
Two planning stories from the News Leader
Goal is to combine Sarasota County’s zoning and land-use regulations in a much more user-friendly documentFile photo
The Fort Lauderdale consulting firm working with Sarasota County staff to update the county’s zoning and land use regulations into a Unified Development Code (UDC) has produced its first draft, the county has announced.
That document is available on the UDC Project webpage, a news release says. Anyone may provide comments directly on the UDC Project webpage or by submitting them to the Planning and Development Services Department at planner@scgov.net, the release points out. Those comments will be addressed by the consultant as the project moves forward, the release notes.
More . . .
Those concerned with the Quad parcels near the Celery Fields wonder why Sarasota County is in such a rush to sell them (after 20 years of doing nothing). Meanwhile, in Englewood, parcels once purchased by the County for use as a park are now for sale at a deep discount:
Sarasota News Leader - snippets:
County to lose more than $2.3 million on two Englewood parcels it bought years ago for a park — if it can sell both at board-approved prices
The first parcel, located at 50 Southwind Drive, was purchased by the Sarasota County Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Department for $1,250,000 in 2007, “with the intention of creating a neighborhood waterfront park in conjunction with an adjacent site purchased separately by the Englewood CRA [Community Redevelopment Area],” a staff memo said.
That adjacent property was the land at 800 W. Perry St., for which the Englewood CRA paid $2,203,656, a separate staff memo explained.
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“I think the lesson to be learned here is we don’t purchase property as a park without consulting with the neighbors on the other side to see if they want a park,” Commissioner Nancy Detert added. “That’s what I’ve found, historically has been the situation with this. It’s really hard to imagine that we’ve had [the land] this long, years, and years and years,” she continued, “and it hasn’t appreciated.”
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Those concerned with the Quad parcels near the Celery Fields wonder why Sarasota County is in such a rush to sell them (after 20 years of doing nothing). Meanwhile, in Englewood, parcels once purchased by the County for use as a park are now for sale at a deep discount:
Sarasota News Leader - snippets:
County to lose more than $2.3 million on two Englewood parcels it bought years ago for a park — if it can sell both at board-approved prices
The first parcel, located at 50 Southwind Drive, was purchased by the Sarasota County Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Department for $1,250,000 in 2007, “with the intention of creating a neighborhood waterfront park in conjunction with an adjacent site purchased separately by the Englewood CRA [Community Redevelopment Area],” a staff memo said.
That adjacent property was the land at 800 W. Perry St., for which the Englewood CRA paid $2,203,656, a separate staff memo explained.
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“I think the lesson to be learned here is we don’t purchase property as a park without consulting with the neighbors on the other side to see if they want a park,” Commissioner Nancy Detert added. “That’s what I’ve found, historically has been the situation with this. It’s really hard to imagine that we’ve had [the land] this long, years, and years and years,” she continued, “and it hasn’t appreciated.”
Friday, July 14, 2017
LTE: Save surplus land around Celery Fields
A Letter to the Herald Tribune from Christopher Mahon - raises a very important point - thank you, Christopher:
To the Editors:
To the Editors:
It is so nice to see that the Sarasota city commissioners have the imagination and foresight to consider buying the Players Theatre property downtown, even without definite plans for its use. Would that such attitudes were contagious.
The Celery Fields were developed as a strictly utilitarian flood-control project. It was only later that the area came to be an ecotourism destination known nationwide. How often do the unintended consequences of government action turn out to be wonderful?
Well, we can still blow it. On Aug. 23, the Sarasota County Commission will vote on the proposed concrete and construction-debris recycling plant adjacent to the Celery Fields, already rejected by the Planning Commission.
Concerned citizens must show up to ensure the right outcome. But we must go further. We must remove the four pieces of our land from the surplus list and save them for our posterity.
The land parcels in question were deemed surplus when the property was being developed because they had no use as flood-control area. However, just as the Celery Fields has evolved into an irreplaceable recreational site, so, too, can the “surplus” parcels.
Whether they become an interpretive botanical park, community gardens, or something no one’s yet considered, it doesn’t take a genius to see that having undeveloped land contiguous to the Celery Fields is nearly priceless, and will be even more so in the future.
If the county government lacks the foresight to protect this land, the people of this county don’t.
Christopher Mahon, Sarasota
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