Paving Pat Neal wants more paving

From Northeast Sarasota County citizens:  

Northeast Sarasota target area of Paving Pat Neal

Hi Everyone,

We need you to write to the County Commissioners about what Pat Neal is planning to do. He has now asked to increase the density to 2 houses per acre and bring another 5000 homes east on Fruitville. This can not go through or we will say goodbye to the future of rural Sarasota.

Please write a simple note to the Commissioners that says:

Keep the country...country for now and future generations to live on, learn from and love the land.

PLEASE HELP! TELL COMMISSIONERS TO VOTE “NO” ON CPA 2022-B

Email County Commissioners

Mike Moran mmoran@scgov.net

Al Maio amaio@scgov.net

Ron Cutsinger rcutsinger@scgov.net

Christian Ziegler cziegler@scgov.net

Nancy Detert ncdetert@scgov.net

 Below is from Becky Ayech, President of the Miakka Community Club.

“Proposed Comprehensive Plan Amendment 20222-B is an attempt by Paving Pat Neal to change the allowable densities on 4,000 acres along and north of Fruitville Road.

Currently the existing zoning of 300 acres zoned at OUE-1 (60 homes), 2,570 acres zoned OUR (257 homes) and 1,030 acres zoned as Hamlet (400) houses totals 717 houses.

The total traffic generated under the existing zoning is** 5,722 daily trips**.

If the 4,000 acres were developed as Hamlets, the number of houses could be as little as 200 houses and as many as 1,600. If the land were developed at the highest density of 1,600 houses then that would mean 12,768 daily trips.

What Paving Pat Neal is proposing is 5,000 houses. This would be 39,900 daily trips.

Paving Pat Neal is also proposing a reduction of the 500' buffer to only 50'.

Paving Pat Neal is also proposing to limit the Open Space requirement to as little as 43%.

The 4,000 is within the boundaries as defined in the Old Miakka Neighborhood Plan. These are historic rural and agricultural lands.

And don't be fooled, while the density request for 2 units an acre as a transitional zone to 1 unit per 5 acres is the narrative. the units do not have to be developed on 1/2 acre lots. the lots can be any size. How is that compatible with 5 acre homesteads?

CPA 2022-B is urban sprawl. Calling it a Village Transitional Zone (VTZ) doesn't change the fact it is urban sprawl. It is like putting lipstick on a pig, it still is a pig.

Detailed analysis here

Comprehensive Plan Amendment proposed by Paving Pat Neal

[Editor's note: The County Commission was delighted when Rex Jensen and Pat Neal offered to rewrite the Sarasota County 2050 Comp Plan.]

PLEASE HELP! TELL COMMISSIONERS TO VOTE “NO” ON CPA 2022-B”

PLEASE SHARE THIS INFORMATION ON ALL YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA.

THE PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING IS JULY 21.

Mike Moran mmoran@scgov.net

Al Maio amaio@scgov.net

Ron Cutsinger rcutsinger@scgov.net

Christian Ziegler cziegler@scgov.net

Nancy Detert ncdetert@scgov.net

Siesta Key Coalition seeks citizen action vs. Mega Hotels

From the Siesta Key Coalition, regarding the upcoming Planning Commission hearing on the Siesta Promenade at Stickney Point, proposed by Benderson Inc.:

To SK Coalition Community Supporters:

 

As we promised in our 27 July e-mail, this note is to give you information on how to communicate with the Planning Commission, and how to attend the  hearing on the proposed 170-room, 8-story Calle Miramar/Beach hotel, on 19^th August 2021.

 

Emailing County Leadership, Timing and Content

 We are asking every one of our supporters to send an email to the Planning Commission, prior to the upcoming hearing.  We are all unified in our opposition to high-density hotels, even though some of our supporters have more concerns about one or more of the four proposed hotel locations.  However, we need everyone to address the first hearing for the proposed Calle Miramar/Beach hotel on 19 August.  The decisions made there will set precedents for future hearings for all four of the proposed hotels.

 

To ensure your comments are publicly recorded by Planning Staff in their reporting package to the Planning Commissioners, you should send your e-mail to the Planning Commissioners and Planning Staff no earlier than Fri August 6th and no later than Tues Aug 10^th, as it pertains to the proposed Calle Miramar/Beach hotel. The e-mail addresses are here.

As to content, we want you to review the list of Coalition Issue Statements, and to select one or two items that particularly resonate with you. We recommend that you use your own words, but you can cut and paste from the list, if you prefer.

 

Participation in the Planning Commission Hearing

 We encourage everyone to attend the hearing which will be held in the County Administration Building at 1660 Ringling Boulevard, at 5:00  pm on Thursday 19^th August  2021.

 

The Coalition will have only a limited time to present to the commissions, and we plan to have our Coalition leadership, and our lawyers and consultants kick off at the beginning of the presentations. We will welcome those who would also like to speak at the meeting, but we ask that you confer with a Coalition representative at the Speaker Card Desk, 30 minutes before the meeting starts.  

 

Thank you for engaging in the process with us...encourage all your neighbors to do so as well.  Please bcc (blind copy us at skcoalition@gmail.com) so we can follow the responses.  

 

Mark T. Spiegel

President 

Siesta Key Coalition.

www.skcoalition.org  

Email List of County Commissioners, Planning Commissioners, and Planners

List of Siesta Key Coalition Statements

Mega-Hotel developers on Siesta Key seek to lift density requirements for all Sarasota County

Three developers planning Mega-Hotels on Siesta Key have recently filed pre-applications with Sarasota County. 

All three are asking the County to pass an Amendment to the UDC (Unified Development Code) FL Land Use Policy 2.9.1 that will remove density requirements for Transient Accommodations. Current zoning permits 13 units per acre for multifamily use, and double the density for hotels. The proposals would increase density from from 26 units per acre to 170 units per acre -- that's four to seven times what's currently allowed. 

****NOTE: This change in density will affect ALL of Sarasota County.****

All three developers -- Gary Kompothecras, Mike Holderness and SKH 1 LLC. -- request Special Exceptions to raise the permitted 35-foot height to eight stories: 83-85 feet.

The Comprehensive Plan requires that new development not increase density on Barrier Islands. The developers propose two changes to density:

• One would exempt hotels on Siesta Key from the maximum density limits.  
• The other would exempt hotels in the entire Sarasota County from maximum density limits.

These exemptions, if approved, would both be permanent. 

These are radical proposals that will increase density and affect traffic, safety, and the environment. They  will change the nature of Siesta Key and the entire County.

Please sign the Petition against Hotel changes

Please be prepared to attend future Planning and County Commission meetings and to express your opinions.

See the pre-applications to Planning here

This? 

Siesta Beach

Or This?

Hotel developer Gary Kompothecras is a major backer of the entrenched political machine. Both Kompothecras and Holderness have contributed to Michael A. Moran's campaign this year. SKH 1 is represented by Robert T. Anderson Jr. of Sarasota.

 

More on the hotels and opposition:

Siesta Key Coalition Zoom Meeting about hotels

Sarasota News Leader 10.1.20: Redevelopment of Siesta Key Beach Resort Hotel and Suites would increase rooms from 55 to 170, preliminary application says

Siesta Key Association

Huge Hi Hat seeks up to sixfold increase in density

Courtesy of the Sarasota News Leader

Subscribe to the SNL

Privately initiated county Comprehensive Plan amendment seeks up to six-fold increase in density for development of part of Hi Hat Ranch

May 30, 2019 by Rachel Brown Hackney, Editor & Publisher

Neighborhood Workshop set for evening of June 4

A map submitted to the county shows the area where the density change is being sought. Image courtesy Sarasota County

The Sarasota County Commission has authorized staff to proceed outside the normal cycle with a proposed, privately initiated revision of the Sarasota 2050 Plan that could lead to a significant increase in the number of new homes planned near the intersection of Fruitville Road and Utopia Road.

The property is close to the Mote Aquaculture Park, based on documents filed with the county.

Owned by Hi Hat Ranch LLLP of Sarasota, the approximately 1,000-acre parcel is designated for a 2050 Plan Hamlet, which, the County Code says, is “entitled to a base residential density of 0.29 dwelling units per acre of Developed Area.” The maximum density allowed within the Developed Area is one dwelling unit per acre.

The owners of Hi Hat Ranch are seeking to change the designation of the property to Village Land Use, which has a maximum density of five dwelling units per gross developable area, or six, if the additional units are planned for affordable housing.

The property is in what has been classified as the Central Village Area of the county’s 2050 Resource Management Area, according to a May 21 county staff memo. The owners wanted staff to process the proposed Comprehensive Plan amendment at the same time staff works on a Development of Critical Concern (DOCC) for Hi-Hat Ranch, the memo said.

“The balance of the Hi-Hat Ranch lands are designated Village Land Use and Greenway,” the memo pointed out.

County staff has scheduled a Neighborhood Workshop on the proposed amendment on Tuesday, June 4. The session will be held from 6 to 7 p.m. at St. Margaret Episcopal Church, which is located at 8700 State Road 72 (Clark Road).

A graphic included with the May 21 county staff memo shows more details of the affected portion of the Sarasota 2050 Resource Management Area. Image courtesy Sarasota County

As part of their May 21 Consent Agenda of routine business items, the county commissioners — without any comment — agreed unanimously that staff could work on the proposed Comprehensive Plan amendment outside the annual cycle approved for such staff undertakings.

The County Code that covers the Sarasota 2050 Plan explains that the Hamlet Planned Development District “provides for detached residential uses, protected open space, Public/Civic uses and limited neighborhood type commercial. The district is not commercial in character.” The Code adds, “Hamlets are collections of rural homes and lots clustered together around a crossroads that may include small-scale commercial, Public/Civic buildings or shared amenities.”

The maximum number of dwelling units is 400, the County Code notes, but the “Preferred Size” is 50 to 150 dwelling units

At least 60% of the area must remain open space, the County Code points out.

An aerial map shows most of the property where the modification is being sought. Utopia Road is the north-south road west of the Mote Aquaculture Park. Image from Google Maps

On the other hand, the Code says, “A Village is a collection of Neighborhoods that have been designed so that a majority of the housing units are within a walking distance or one-quarter mile radius of a Neighborhood Center. A Village shall be supported by a mixed-use Village Center (designed specifically to serve the daily and weekly retail, office, and Public/Civic use and services needs of Village residents), and the Village shall generally be surrounded by large expanses of Open Space that are designed to protect the character of the rural landscape and provide separation between the Village and existing low density rural development.”

A minimum of 50% of the space must remain open, except for Villages in the Clark Road Properties area of the county, which is south of Clark Road and east of Interstate 75.

A Sarasota News Leader review of Hi Hat Ranch parcels on the Sarasota County Property Appraiser’s website found several out of which the designated Hamlet area appears to have been carved. One of them, which comprises 378 acres, had a value of $3,006,700 in 2018, county records show. A portion of that parcel has been deeded to the City of Sarasota, which has a water reclamation distribution system in that area.

This is one of the Hi Hat Ranch LLLP parcels affected by the Comprehensive Plan amendment that is being sought. Its 2018 value is more than $3 million, the Sarasota County Property Appraiser’s Office records show. Image from the Sarasota County Property Appraiser’s Office

A second parcel, which contains about 388 acres, had a 2018 value of $3,319,700, according to Property Appraiser William Furst’s office’s records.

Hi Hat Ranch LLLP lists its address as 11708 Fruitville Road in the documents it has filed with the Florida Division of Corporations. Its registered agent is Richard E. Turner Jr. of the same address.

A News Leader check of the Property Appraiser’s Office records found 22 parcels in the county belonging to Hi Hat Ranch LLLP. All but five of them came under ownership of the company in August 1988, the records show.

Courtesy of the Sarasota News Leader

Subscribe to the SNL

UPDATE: Developers seek utility, intensification in rural East Sarasota

East Sarasota residents at neighborhood workshop

It was standing room only at Yeshua's Love Biblical Fellowship in East Sarasota Thursday evening as residents came to listen and to speak back to planning and land use engineer Donald A. Neu.

Neu pointing to area of planned
Super Hamlet at Fruitville/Verna

At the Jan. 24, 2019 neighborhood workshop, Neu presented a plan for a master water and sewer utility and housing development at Fruitville and Verna roads. The plan would double the density allowed for a hamlet by the County's Comprehensive Plan. The concept, still in the early planning stage, calls for 3,200 homes on 1,600 acres, and proposes using transferred development rights generated by the land within the same property. Some commercial development might eventually be added, Neu said during his brief presentation.

The response from the community lasted 45 minutes, with virtually every speaker raising concerns about density, traffic, and potential impacts on their rural way of life. 

"2050 [the county's comprehensive plan] was built for a reason," said one man, adding it was designed to draw lines between areas of higher and lower density that aren't supposed to be crossed. "With this," he added, "2050 is out the door."

Another person said the 2050 plan's intent was to "protect the rural character" and "respect diversity."

"You're creating sprawl at the very eastern end of the county," a woman added.

After 35 minutes of discussion, Rod Krebs, one of several landowners who agreed to explore this development plan, addressed the room. He said he appreciated the courtesy of those who came out, drawing applause when he added, "I may not go forward - I just have to evaluate this."

An audio recording of the discussion part of the workshop can be listened to here

More about the plan below.

A Jan. 24 neighborhood workshop will propose yet another intensifying amendment to the 2050 Comp Plan. Developers Don Neu and Rod Krebs want to create a new master utility in East Sarasota County at North Fruitville and Verna roads. They will seek to amend the Comprehensive Plan to allow sufficient density to enable the sewer system to be economically viable.

Area of Northeast Sarasota County where intensified
hamlets served by a new master utility are envisioned

Neu and Krebs will ask the county to bless an expanded notion of the hamlet form (more density) and use transfers of development rights in an unprecedented way to increase hamlet density. The novel idea would use TDRs generated by the site on the same site.

In the Comprehensive Plan, hamlets are conceived as low density, consisting of perhaps 1 or 2 units per acre, with a maximum of 400 units. This plan would seek permission for a higher density on more than 2,000 acres north of Fruitville Road at Verna Road.

As one planner notes in the video, the Comp Plan envisioned larger Villages closer to the highway, and smaller, rural hamlets out farther east.

This proposal is designed to stimulate development farther East where Fruitville Road ends, and will require an amendment basically to reverse what the 2050 plan envisioned.

Video of the discussion at the Development Review Committee in December:

The neighborhood workshop:

Thursday Jan. 24

8893 Fruitville Rd. (Yeshua's Love Biblical Fellowship)

6 pm

Area image provided by developers

Amendment to reduce open space: June 26, 5:30 pm

An amendment to the 2050 Comprehensive Plan is being considered. It would ease the process (and the expense) for a developer to

 A) reduce the open space required for a Village Plan from 50 percent to 33 percent, and
 B) reduce the required buffer from 500 feet to 250 feet.

 At the advertised June 26th public meeting (not a hearing), the proposal will be presented and the public may comment. If you wish to ensure that your comments become part of the permanent record, submit them in writing to the planner at the meeting, or send them to vroe@scgov.net.

Also, while the notice says that this amendment was "publicly initiated," the "public" in this case was a developer. Given that the regulations are created precisely to mediate between the public and the development industry, we would "amend" the notice to clarify whose interests are actually being represented in this amendment.

Urban Sprawl Week in Sarasota

Via Dan Lobeck:

Important Hearings Wed. and Fri.

Sarasota County Comp Plan "Update"

This week the Sarasota County Commission will hold its hearings on proposals to severely weaken controls on developers.

Wednesday June 8, 1:30 pm 

Friday June 10, 9 am 

County Administration Center, 1660 Ringling Blvd.

The proposals are in an “Update” of the Sarasota County Comprehensive Plan.

The changes have been proposed by County staff but made worse by the developer-packed Planning Commission.

The Wednesday hearing is on changes to the Environment Chapter and various others. The Friday hearing is on the Chapters for Land Use, Economic Development, Mobility and Public Utilities.

Among the bad amendments to the Environment Chapter is one which would eliminate a requirement for developers to cluster away from native habitat, and would instead merely “encourage” it.

• The Land Use amendments would entirely repeal the current square footage size limits on commercial centers, allow residential density in some cases of 100 units per acre, while repealing provisions for affordable housing, and further encourage urban sprawl. 

• The Mobility amendments would encourage "road diets" which narrow existing roads and would repeal concurrency --  the requirement that developers do traffic studies and pay any proportionate share of needed road improvements which exceed impact fees.

The hearings are on transmittal of the amendments for state review for any impacts on critical state resources. They will come back for a final adoption hearing in October.

Further details by Monday.

-- Dan Lobeck

Density can save open space but 2050 plan privatizes it

From a 2050 Plan comment thread:

Maynard Hiss The 2050 residential dwelling unit densities are at .2 - .4 units per acre or 64 - 128 units per sq mile. The downtown core areas have densities Downtown Residential Overlay District (DROD) densities can average 50 dwelling units per acre, but can go as high as 200 dwelling units per acre. The average of 50 dwelling units per acre would be the equivalent to 32000 per sq mile, however, a much smaller area is covered by the district than a sq mile. In other words one sq mile of 2050 dwelling units may sit on less than an acre of downtown Sarasota, saving 639 acres of open space.

The ironic thing is, there are lots of open space requirements for the 2050 area low density in the rural area where all land is privatized and monopolized by the development or home owners association, and no one else is allowed to use it. For example, a developer must set aside 600 acres of open space for 400 units, but is not required to give public access to the area. Many of the functions in the 2050 developments including most types of agriculture and water conservation are not protected, and natural areas are fragmented. 

Whereas in the highest density urban areas in the city of Sarasota where people use land most effectively there are no real requirements to assure high quality public open space to support the downtown high and medium density or even low density development. Note the high density developments share not only their open space with the 2050 low density residents they also share it with everyone else in the county and region and millions of tourist and their land guzzling cars.

Furthermore the open space in the downtown is often separated from the developments by a wall of 5 or more lanes of traffic, and the space itself is little more than a huge parking lot, which fragments the open space into tiny pieces of grass. Open space in the downtown is often not open space but instead covered with public cultural buildings such as auditoriums, art centers, garden clubs, orchestra halls, performing arts centers, all of which are not allowed in the 2050 public open spaces.