Nature, Neighborhoods, Mobility and Taxpayers at Risk
Giving It Away to Developers
Final County Commission Public Hearing
Tuesday, October 25 1:30 pm
1660 Ringling Boulevard, Sarasota
The rules of the game may be about to change, in terrible ways for anyone who cares about reasonable controls on development.
They call it an “Update” of the Sarasota County Comprehensive Plan.
What it really does however is gut numerous important protections of neighborhoods, nature, traffic mobility and good planning, to serve the developers who bankroll County Commission campaigns. Their slogan is, “Today, Tomorrow, Together” but the only people moving together on this are our County Commissioners and their patrons in the development industry. The rest of us get left behind, with traffic gridlock, threatened neighborhoods and increased destruction of the natural environment.
Many of the worst changes were written by developer attorney Bill Merrill for a coalition of development interests that include the Argus Foundation, of which County Commissioner Christine Robinson serves as Executive Director.
Many of the worst changes were written by developer attorney Bill Merrill for a coalition of development interests that include the Argus Foundation, of which County Commissioner Christine Robinson serves as Executive Director.
This Comprehensive Plan “Update” is up for its final public hearing on October 25, at 1:30 pm, at 1660 Ringling Boulevard in Sarasota. Citizens will be allowed to speak for up to five minutes each.
Also, you can email the County Commissioners at Email to County Commissioners.
It would be well to identify specific changes you oppose, together with comment generally on the others. You have a broad choice of topics from those identified in this handout. It is possible the County Commission could relent on some of the changes. At least one County Commissioner, for example, recently expressed reluctance to support the proposed change to the neighborhood compatibility policy, although he voted for it at the first hearing.
You can also send a letter to the editor of 250 words or less to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune at Letter to the Editor Link Here. Do it right away, however, as time is growing short.
Among the many measures on the chopping block are the following:
- Neighborhood compatibility protections
- The square foot limit on the size of commercial centers
- Concurrency, the rule that developers must produce traffic studies and pay their proportionate share of needed road improvements -- without the replacement policy allowed by state law which would keep traffic studies and limit rezoning and Plan changes that overcrowd our roads
- The level of service C standard for county roads, lowering it to D and thereby accepting more traffic congestion
- The requirement that the County plan for needed infrastructure over a ten-year period, leaving only planning for five years at a time
- The requirement that affordable housing built with density bonuses in mixed use centers remain affordable, be built to green standards and have a jobs-housing balance
- Current protections of wetlands and other natural habitat from development impacts
- Environmental and other “quality of life” standards for new businesses sought for the County
A fuller analysis of this proposed destruction of important protections of the public interest is set forth on the following pages. It's a lot to digest, I know. However, I hope you read through enough to get as upset as I am about this and to give you enough ammunition to speak out against this injustice at the public hearing.
Thank you for your consideration.
Thank you for your consideration.
-- Dan Lobeck
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