160 Homes Proposed next to Celery Fields Wetlands

A developer's proposal to build 160 single family homes on Raymond Road opposite the Celery Fields will be presented on Tuesday, May 23, beginning at 6 pm. The workshop will be online only. Concerned residents must use this Zoom link to attend:

Zoom link:  https://kimley-horn.zoom.us/s/98962380195

The land immediately south of Palmer Boulevard and across from the nesting area of the Celery Fields wetland has been mostly empty except for a few cows for many years. The property appraiser lists it here. 

The paperwork submitted by the planning firm calls for 160 homes to be built by D.R. Horton on the 49-acre site, but also suggests the number could be higher. 

Kimley Horn will present the Workshop, which will have no in-person gathering.

Although the Celery Fields is a publicly owned asset, the Planning Department only advertised the Workshop to homes within about 750 feet of the property.

About Neighborhood Workshops:

Neighborhood Workshops are a preliminary step in the planning process -- it gives the developer an opportunity to present a proposed project to the public, and receive public comment. 

With the arrival of Covid-19 in 2020, many public meetings moved online, including these workshops. This has led to a degradation of the value of this step in the process, for a few reasons:

1. Online, the presenters have made very brief presentations, leaving out important context. A complex plan for a Benderson project was presented in less than 10 minutes.

2. The public has no chance to view the maps and other data first hand. 

3. Some residents are not familiar with Zoom, or Microsoft Teams. In a recent meeting that utilized Teams, all that could be seen were small, blurry images, while the sound cut in and out. About half the meeting was inaudible. 

4. The online meeting is under the control of the planning firm hired by the developer. Some agents allow time for questions and follow-ups, but others end the meeting before attendees have all their questions answered. More on this here.

5. Advocates for fair land use planning have been asking the County Commission to return to live Workshops, but this one is still online only. The Zoom link should be live at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, May 23.

             Zoom link:  https://kimley-horn.zoom.us/s/98962380195 

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

Magic and Mystery, Fishy Farms and thinking about the Quads

Magic, Mystery, Vitality, Complexity . . . These adjectives describe the idiosyncratic heritage of Sarasota, where wealth, intellect, and love of the arts and science went hand in hand with circus flair and echoes of the Italian Riviera, and they're found in the Jan. 2, 2020 New York Times story about the brand new Sarasota Art Museum. Michael Adno reminds us that there's more to Sarasota's storied past than just gated communities, golf, and beer on the beach. We also have seen a stark absence of long range vision from our current Board. How will the massive developments shaping our future alter the lively creative traditions of our past? 

Friday Jan. 10th at CONA: We'll hear updates about the controversial Fish Farming operation seeking a permit off of Sarasota, and on the Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast's ideas for the Quad parcels - public lands adjacent to the Celery Fields. Sean Sellers of the Suncoast Climate Justice Coalition will also talk about Ready for 100% - the Sierra Club's move to catalyze our transition to renewable energy. Doors open at Waldemere at 6:30 pm.

Sarasota Audubon is in season high gear and their newsletter is rich with info and activities. As they are working on the Quad parcels with the Conservation Foundation, they offer their own update here.

Coming right up

The WTF wall

Monday, Nov 18: Jim Gabbert's Waste Transfer Facility (WTF), approved by Charles Hines, Al Maio, Christine Robinson, Caroline Mason and Paul Caragiulo in 2015, has a nice wall around it. However, there's a glitch. Mr. Gabbert is seeking to move his stormwater partly offsite and underground. But since he has a binding site plan, this change amounts to asking for a substantial modification -- a Special Exception to his 2015 Special Exception. County Zoning says any substantial modification has to go back to the Board. Mr. Gabbert's attorney this modification is not substantial. See Rachel Hackney's free SNL story about Monday's Board of Zoning Appeals public hearing. This should be interesting: 6 pm at 1660 Ringling Blvd.

Bob Waechter

Tuesday, Nov. 19: The Board of Sarasota County Commissioners once again takes up redistricting. With time running short, it has to decide either to select a Bob Waechter map or another, or drop the entire process, which now is opposed by three civic groups. The Board has received advice from concerned citizens (video below), and now from Gerald Webster, Ph.D. Mr. Webster draws on a lifetime of experience with voter litigation to advise the Board not to pursue redistricting before the 2020 Census. The Board begins deliberating at 9 a.m.

For now, Hurrah!: The Board's Nov. 6 decision to preserve the Quad parcels near the Celery Fields for passive recreation came as a genuine surprise to citizens who had spent nearly three years addressing the issue with the Board. No better organization than Sarasota Audubon to protect the bird sanctuary. But those citizens, while hopeful, are wondering whether anything about the way the Board thinks, plans, listens and decides has really changed: was it a genuinely civic decision, or more like politics as usual? Media and, for now, euphoria, are here.

Audubon Vision: Jeanne Dubi on optimal uses for the public lands at the Celery Fields

Public Planning Workshop: Tuesday May 14, 6 p.m.
Church of Hope: 1560 Wendell Kent Road, 34240

Jeanne Dubi's SRQBirdAlert:

On Tuesday, May 14 at 6 p.m. at the Church of Hope, Sarasota County staffers will hear plans proposed by various groups for the Quad parcels at the intersection of Apex/Palmer Blvd at the Celery Fields. Sarasota Audubon is submitting its Audubon Woods plan for the Quad parcels.

It would buffer the Celery Fields from further development while expanding and enhancing bird habitat and providing more opportunities for passive recreation; ADA  accessible paths through a woodland are included.

We’ve targeted 2 species that used to call the Celery Fields area home: Eastern Towhee and Northern Bobwhite. We also witnessed the dislocation of Bald Eagles’ nesting areas as development encroached upon them. Creating a buffer around the Celery Fields is crucial.

As part of a wider vision for the Celery Fields and the surrounding areas, the Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast is developing a Rural Conservation Area plan. Once put in place, this would protect the lands east of Center Road and west of Tatum School from intense housing development. Sarasota Audubon wholeheartedly endorses this plan.

Other plans range from intense use to sensible use. Please come out to “see and hear” on Tuesday. The more we know, the more we can plan our strategies to protect the Celery Fields. Not all plans have been uploaded to the SC.gov website, but here are some.

                                                                       Jeanne Dubi, Sarasota Audubon

                                                                     Audubon Woods imagery here

The rezoning of the Quads: Update

The County has initiated a process. Its aim is to decide what to do about four parcels of public land at Apex Rd. and Palmer Blvd. which the County acquired in 1997, commonly called the Quads.

Two parcels (#1 and #2) have lain vacant for 22 years. Parcel #3 has had a temporary fire station, but will soon have a permanent one. Parcel #4 has a retention pond.

The Planning Department's process, called a Critical Area Plan, is intended to take a new look at these parcels in the context of surrounding lands, assets and uses. Part of the decision about how these parcels are rezoned will depend on which surroundings are considered most relevant.

The immediate surroundings include:

Quads and partial surrounding context

• The Celery Fields
• Small office and warehouse facilities north and south of the Quads
• Thousands of new homes and apartments built on East Palmer Blvd., on Debrecen, on Lorraine (formerly Iona), on Cattlemen Rd., and more -- all since the Quads were acquired.
• Tatum Ridge elementary school.
• The commercial area just west of I-75 that includes Detwilers, JRs Packinghouse Cafe, and many more businesses.
• The Fruitville Initiative - now underway at Coburn and Fruitville, which will eventually contain more than 1,000 new residences.
• Ackerman Park

In mid-May (date not yet set), the Planning Department will hold one public meeting to hear input from our communities. The Board got an earful on Aug. 23, 2017, when more than 300 people attended an all-day hearing on a proposal from waste developer James  Gabbert, who wanted to buy parcel #2 and build a 16-acre, open air waste processing facility. The proposal eventually was voted down 3-2, with Commissioners Maio and Moran voting for Gabbert's waste facility.

These are public lands, but the Board, especially Commissioners Maio and Moran, have indicated preference for selling these 30+ acres to private developers. Industrial developers such as Robert Waechter and James Gabbert have long supported the political careers of Maio and Moran. Waechter owns several dilapidated warehouses just south of parcel #2 and has been strongly in favor of putting more industry on the Quads.

Here an update on the May meeting from the lead planner for the county's Critical Area Plan process, Steve Kirk:

The public workshop will be an informal event and staff will be flexible in how it concludes.  Timing speakers would be unnecessary, however, domination of discussions will be discouraged.  Any input regarding CAP should be directed  to me at my address, phone number or email address below. 

The intent  of the workshop is to present to the public all the information the staff has at the time, and then hear ideas and feedback from those in attendance.  The staff presentation will include any ideas related to the CAP or the County properties previously provided by the public, including those previously put forth by Fresh Start.* We will also include anything else we receive  prior to the workshop.  It will be made clear in our presentation that we will continue to take public input, and will welcome conversations on the CAP issues after the workshop, and until the CAP study is completed. 

Let me know if you have questions. 

Planner III
Sarasota County Planning Services
1660 Ringling Blvd, Sarasota, FL 34236
Office: 941-861-5202
Email: skirk@scgov.net

Steve Kirk, AICP, ASLA

*Editor's note: Fresh Start was a community-based initiative to propose uses for the Quad parcels that were alternatives to industry. The community provided many ideas which were vetted then voted on by community representatives. Four "finalist" ideas were presented which included a public open space and buffer for the Celery Fields birding area; an ecolodge and restaurant; an athletic complex, and an area of shops and affordable housing. The Board chose to pursue none of these community ideas, or to respond to the community's vision. Instead, it paid $29,000 to a Miami consultant, Lambert Advisory, which advised industrial use on parcel #3, leading to this new Critical Area Plan.

When the date / time of the public meeting is set, we'll let you know.

Celery Fields looking west

Sarasota's "park-like setting"

This is the site of James Gabbert’s pending Waste Transfer Facility as seen from I-75, with the Celery Fields in the distance. The row of trees separates Gabbert’s planned facility from the Public’s 10-acre quad parcel #2. Gabbert received his permit Jan. 31.

James Gabbert received county approval to build his Waste Transfer Facility (WTF) (six acres at Porter and Palmer next to the highway) on Thursday, Jan. 31, 2019. Mr. Gabbert's parcel is immediately adjacent to I-75. He owns his site, the small rectangle at the left side of parcel #2. The numbered parcels are public land.

Maio

The land that Mr. Gabbert purchased in 2014 did not allow this use. He asked for and received a "Special Exception" from the Board in 2015, at a "public hearing" that few if any residents of East Palmer knew about. A copy of the WTF site plan is here; related documents are here. "This is a special exception that needs to be approved," said Commissioner Al Maio, in moving it to a vote. Here's the permit letter.

Why is this a problem?

• This is an open facility: Tall piles of construction debris will present a highway eyesore, blighting the view and character of the Celery Fields public lands (photo above).
• This WTF will be the first thing drivers see coming through the I-75 underpass at Palmer Blvd.
• Trucks entering and leaving the facility on Palmer by Bell Rd. could clog traffic from the industrial parks residents Palmer Blvd at the underpass. 
• Six acres is small for such uses, and the location is just plain wrong. There's no evidence the county ever did a diligent site study as advised by the Federal EPA Guide for Waste Transfer Stations.
• This heavy industrial use required a special exception (the land was originally zoned for light industry). This harsher use could influence future planning for the public lands at Apex and Palmer. For example, the county could consider affordable housing on the 13-acre public parcel #2 next to it - but given the WTF, they might incline to see heavy industry as "more compatible."

In short: The Board of County Commissioners used its role of public steward to create blight where none exists.

Gabbert

Mr. Gabbert's permit is granted for land adjacent to public land. That makes us all stakeholders. We can write to the County to require the developer to mitigate the negative impacts. Various kinds of mitigation are possible:

>>>>>ACTION ITEM<<<<<<

Write to your district commissioner (copying the others) and relevant county staff and demand that this incompatible plan be mitigated every way possible. 

• attractive buffering 
• landscaping
• appropriate hours of operation 
• enclosed facility (the plan calls for an open facility)
• compatible lighting
• sound fencing 
• themed fencing - perhaps something linked to birding or the celery fields?
• safe turning lanes

Email addresses:

Planning

• Mark Loveridge - Planning and development permitting: mloverid@scgov.net

• Matt Osterhoudt - Planning Director: mosterho@scgov.net

• Jane Grogg - Long Range Planning: jgrogg@scgov.net  

• Steve Kirk - Planner, Critical Area Plan for the Public Parcels skirk@scgov.net 

• County Administrator Jonathan Lewis: countyadministrator@scgov.net 

• CC or BCC: Fresh Start: freshstartSarasota@gmail.com

Elected Officials - This land is in District 1, Commissioner Moran's district:

(We recommend put your district commissioner first, cc the others)

District 1: Mike Moran: mmoran@scgov.net

District 2: Christian Ziegler: cziegler@scgov.net

District 3: Nancy C. Detert: ncdetert@scgov.net

District 4: Alan Maio: amaio@scgov.net

District 5: Charles Hines: chines@scgov.net

All five commissioners can also be copied by using commissioners@scgov.net

NOTE: Commissioners Maio and Moran voted FOR Gabbert's larger Waste Processing Facility that the citizens of Sarasota strenuously opposed, ultimately persuading three Commissioiners - Caragiulo, Detert, and Hines - to vote against the dump in August 2017. Gabbert already had his 6-acre site approval. Mr. Gabbert and Robert Waechter have long been paying supporters of four board members (only Detert is not funded by them), and political allies of Maio in particular.

=========

Further points

At least two legal considerations ought to have been addressed during the 2015 approval process for this plan, but neither appears to have been considered either by the Board or its attorney:

1. When the Board approved Gabbert's rezone of the six acres, it ignored a county ordinance that specifically requires lands along the I-75 corridor to present a "park-like setting." The I-75 Corridor Plan Ordinance #89-35, Exhibit B, Item M, states:

In recognition of I-75 as an area of critical concern, all critical area plans within the I-75 Critical Area of Concern shall be consistent with the following where applicable:

(m) a positive image for I-75 through the establishment of quality development within a park-like setting.

2. The Board also approved Gabbert's waste transfer facility in violation of the Highway Beautification Act of 1965, which aims, among other things, to beautify highways by screening or forbidding junkyards.

The act called for control of outdoor advertising, including removal of certain types of signs, along the nation's growing Interstate Highway System and the existing federal-aid primary highway system. It also required certain junkyards along Interstate or primary highways to be removed or screened and encouraged scenic enhancement and roadside development.[2] Highway Beautification Act.

Most reasonable citizens would say that the Board's action violated both laws.

This project will blight the landscape and "brand" this area of Sarasota for tens of millions of drivers on I-75. The character of an area fortunate to have unusual natural beauty as well as recreational and international tourist activity will suffer.

The Board is about to reopen a critical area plan that concerns these public parcels. Some fear that the Board’s thinking about Parcel #2 might be impacted by Mr. Gabbert’s WTF, as well as Robert Waechter’s warehouses along its south side. The Board might find it easier to say, “Although this parcel is public land, it’s already bordered on two sides by industrial uses, so it should be industrial too.”

This is supposed to be the Board's' role as public steward and an opportunity to do something positive and of public value on our public lands.

Instead the process has been a chess game in which the public is treated like an opponent that has to be outwitted through sneaky stratagems. When planning and considering the sale of public lands, the only appropriate civic use of the term "highest and best use" is “a use that serves some significant public good.”

What are some potential public uses for these parcels?

Workforce housing

Civic center 

Outdoor arena 

History and tourist center

Athletic facilities 

Garden 

Food trucks or eatery 

New forested bird habitat to buffer the Celery Fields

Send us more ideas

Background:

County Ordinance #89-35, Exhibit B, Item M requires that development along the I-75 corridor offer “a park-like setting.”

Timeline of Board handling of WTF and Waste Processing Facility

08.20.2015: Planning Commission 8.20.2015 hearing on WTF Item 4 (video)

10.14.2015: Board of County Commissioners hearing on WTF Item 8 (video) Gabbert's waste transfer facility was approved. Moved for approval by Maio, approved by Commissioners Maio, Hines, Robinson, Caragiulo, Mason.

“Park-like setting”?

Spoonie courtesy of Chuck Behrmann

Accidents of Influence: How didn't Sarasota County see this coming?

Planning a Trainwreck

Quite the Neighborhood Renaissance JR's Old Packinghouse Cafe, Big Top Brewery, Fly Fitness, Detwiler’s, The Glass Slipper, Buttermilk Handcrafted Food, Celery Fields Audubon Nature Center, Tatum Ridge Elementary, CSI Printers, A Slice of Life Custom Cakes, Stomping Grounds Fitness, Numerous Neighborhood Associations	GJames Gabbert built this construction waste facility at 8001 Fruitville Road, then sold it in 2005 along with others for $35 million.  WCA continues to operate the faciity Gabbert created. More photos taken by folks who have visited the WCA facility can be seen here.

It ain't over till it's over.

Restaurant Depot was a close call -- the developer backed off thanks to a technicality in our County Charter. Up next could be Bo Medred and James Gabbert, who seek approval to build a “construction waste processing facility” next to a Park, a major planned community, and a key stormwater management facility.

With the possible exception of Messers Medred and Gabbert, no one sees how this makes sense.

If their proposal to grind waste at the intersection of Apex Rd. and Palmer Blvd. -- the area known as The Quad -- goes forward, the County Commission will be contemplating a “plan” that will degrade many good things around it. Audubon, nearby business owners and residents are deeply concerned, as are those who love our Celery Fields.

The Quad at Apex and Palmer links the Celery Fields,

Packinghouse District, and Fruitville Initiative

Gabbert’s idea may be wrong-headed, but as one Commissioner recently pointed out, you can’t prohibit someone from asking.

How did we get here?

One must ask why these public lands have been posted for rezoning and sale in the first place. What's to be gained by turning a promising neighborhood intersection into industrial lots that will only burden roads, provide environmental damage, and uglify the area?

The County proposes to rezone three public parcels, including the one sought by Mr. Gabbert, for industrial use. The enabling basis for this is a breathtakingly expansive Surplus Lands Ordinance coupled with an antediluvian “MEC” (Major Employment Center) land use designation dating back to ‘83, when Reagan was in office, and one of the Top 10 Cars was the Renault Alliance.

1983 Renault car of the year

Mr. Gabbert’s project requires a special exception for heavy industry. He’s asking for that too. The potential impact on neighborhoods, businesses, an elementary school, a valued - and delicate - Park and Nature Preserve, and the Fruitville Initiative -- an upscale mixed-use vision that could do more for economic development than a thousand “construction waste facilities” --  is immeasurable.

-- The Celery Fields Conundrum --

How did we get here? More to the point: How do we get out of here? On April 10, CONA examined how a County that pays millions for plans, planners, and consultants is blinded by its own “cadence” of codes.

A panel intimately involved with the area and neighborhood looked at the synergy latent in connecting the Celery Fields, the Fruitville Initiative, and the Packinghouse District -- a connection happens to exist at The Quad. All three sectors harbor big potential -- for our quality of life, and for economic development.

The Fruitville Initiative: An approved plan for a smart, sustainable community mixing rural and walkable urban elements -- shady neighborhoods, cafes, shops, a Riverwalk and Sarasota history museum -- an attractive Gateway to Sarasota County, planned by County/Community collaboration. It's not been marketed - where was the EDC?

The Celery Fields Park, Preserve, Bird Sanctuary: This increasingly popular international Eco-Tourism destination, with wetlands, a large observation mound, and kayakable lakes is perhaps the most beautiful open space in Sarasota County -- a perfect complement to the Fruitville Gateway and a welcoming "front end" to East County.

The Packinghouse District: A burgeoning commercial area a short distance from The Quad via the Palmer Blvd. underpass, home of the Packinghouse Cafe, the Cock & Bull, Detwiler’s market, A Slice of Life Custom Cakes, and several workout joints, including Stomping Ground Fitness.

Sarasota County says it wants to conserve and even restore the natural environment:

Sec. 90-60. - Findings of fact:

(a)

The history of Sarasota County is marked by efforts to preserve the County's important natural and cultural places, and to provide parklands and recreational opportunities.

(b)

It will remain the goal of Sarasota County to conserve, maintain, and where necessary, restore the natural and cultural environment of Sarasota County.

The county has spent millions on its Comprehensive Plan, and pays millions more to consultants, lawyers, and a staff of planners who are supposed to look out for problems -- environmental hazards, overburdened roads, sprawl, incompatibility, economic impacts.

With all these planning tools, and Sarasota County's laudable Zoning Mission Statement:

"ZONING’S FUNDAMENTAL PURPOSE IS TO PROTECT A

COMMUNITY’S HEALTH, SAFETY AND WELFARE."

How do the stewards of our lands manage to avoid seeing that industrializing The Quad:

Photo of WCA Waste processing, 8001 Fruitville Rd. Sarasota - built by James Gabbert,
who wants to replicate it at the Celery Fields, only bigger.

Is unlikely to enhance the value, quality and potential of what’s already there:

We used to have a broader vision for Sarasota -
A legacy of basic, thoughtful quality.

This legacy is rapidly becoming "Browardized"
Some are working to bring it back.

Presentations at CONA Sarasota

(Tentative, pending confirmation of date:
A hearing on this application is coming before the Sarasota County Planning Commission on June 1. A gathering of concerned citizens will take place around 4:15 pm at the County Administration Building, 1616 Ringling Blvd., Sarasota. The hearing begins at 5 p.m.)

Please share this with 500 of your closest friends.

4:45 video: Some Birds, no words, at The Celery Fields

Video made at the Celery Fields by Mark Vance

Entry for the Celery Fields in the Florida Great Birding Trail guide

Roundtable on Celery Fields

Great Round Table with Alan Cohn on WWSB last evening. Entire show is below - a few highlights:

Rob Wright holding up County document showing that properties at "The Quad" - the parcels at Apex Rd. and Palmer Blvd. - were included as part of the Celery Fields as environmental lands. These are the very lands the County now has put out to bid and rezone for industrial use. This appears at 10 min, 21 seconds in the video below.

County Map shows Apex/Palmer quadrant as part of Celery Fields - total compatibility.

See also Cathy Antunes' comments at 12:50 on the failure of the County to update its Critical Area Plan for 25 years on this land. I.e., NO PART of the county's land use - surplusing, bidding, C.A.P., rezoning -- indicates proper care and stewardship of these lands.

See also: 

15:30 "Who's defining the value of an area?" asks Cathy Antunes. Special interests vs. public interests.

16:20 - Jon Thaxton: - The Comprehensive Plan is designed to adjudicate these issues.

16:35 - Notification - Rob Wright, former county employee: "The first thing you do is notify stakeholders" of what is planned before executing the plan.

18:20 - Compatibility. Wright notes that Gabbert's plan is totally incompatible with existing uses of surrounding lands.

19:50 - Thaxton - It's less campaign contributions than commissioners' philosophies on growth, and especially the Comprehensive Plan: "What do the policies direct them to do with this decision they must make?"