A gaping barn door: The collapse of Sarasota's public planning

8.16.22

To the Board of Sarasota County Commissioners:

amaio@scgov.net, mmoran@scgov.net, rcutsinger@scgov.net, cziegler@scgov.net, ncdetert@scgov.net

RE: CPA 2022 B and CPA 2022-F - Failure to see the Big Picture

It's been a while since Sarasota could legitimately claim to be one of Florida's outstanding counties with regard to thoughtful planning. At one time, it was known for taste, moderate growth, and modest plans. Today it's in a dead heat with Broward County for Growth Gone Wild.

"Wild" not only because of the excessive overreach of developments such as Skye Ranch, Hi Hat, Wellen Park and Waterside, but also because you -- the County -- utterly failed to consider future needs, and to prudently provide for them before approving these and other large housing projects.

One specific proof of this is coming this Wednesday, when a half-baked plan to allocate lands on Lorraine Road for industrial and business uses comes up for a 6 p.m. neighborhood workshop. [Video of this workshop is now posted below.]

As you know, Lorraine will be an important North-South artery. When complete, it will extend south from Manatee County, running alongside key parts of Waterside, and Hi Hat down past Artistry to Skye Ranch before terminating where 681 connects with I-75:

When the proposal to set aside spaces for industry on Lorraine (CPA 2022-F) recently came up at the Planning Commission, it was voted down. The Commission didn't cite potential impacts to homeowners as its reason. Rather, the major sticking point was that Rex Jensen, Pat Neal, and the other developers involved with Waterside and Skye Ranch would not wish -- or allow -- such uses on their land.

Waterside, Hi Hat,
Skye Ranch

But there's a prior issue. You believe you are obligated to find land to meet the needs of future economic development, but have you done the analysis to demonstrate that this need exists? 

I ask because it has come to you only now, after Waterside is built out (and wishes to double its size), Hi Hat is approved, and Skye Ranch is well underway.

According to members of the Planning Commission, the developers whose wishes you approved are advising you in no uncertain terms that they will refuse industrial and business uses near their large, pricey developments.

And there's the rub: You knew the scope of Waterside, how it extended from University Parkway to Fruitville Road, and from I-75 to Lorraine. You knew the proposed scope of Hi Hat and that of Skye Ranch. You knew all this before these mega-housing projects were approved. Wouldn't that have been the moment to say:

Wait a second, Messers Jensen, Turner, Neal, et al, we will have a need for economic development east of I-75. We will need you to work with our planners to allocate space for future businesses before we can consider approving your plan.

Not only did you not apply forethought and public sense when you had bargaining power, but in fact you were giddy with delight in giving Rex and Pat the power to re-write Sarasota County's 2050 Plan-- the plan that is supposed to represent the collective vision of residents, builders, and the County. Rex and Pat took full advantage to write a chapter that allows them to increase density, to skip a host of planning steps, and to get underway while the market is hot.

Throughout this process, no one seems to have considered the big picture -- balancing the whole set of needs that come with shaping a well organized, very attractive county. You handed over the controls built into our Comp Plan to Rex and Pat, who have rewritten it to satisfy their highly profitable business plans.

In short, Commissioners Maio, Moran, Cutsinger, Ziegler and Detert, the barn door is wide open, the horses are long gone. You're wondering how to meet the growing needs of Sarasota's business and industrial sectors, but where is the analysis that proves this need exists?

One  recent industrial "need" you tried to meet was Jim Gabbert's. You nearly approved putting a dump next to the Celery Fields, with no analysis of need.

At that time, our residents suggested looking at other areas where such uses could more sensibly be organized. 

Now, having now carpeted most of Northeast Sarasota with plans for yet more gated communities, you are facing two challenges: (1) Where to find space for putative industrial uses, and (2) How to justify erasing 89% of Old Miakka - our last unique rural community - in order that Pat Neal and Rex Jensen can pave it with yet more boring human warehousing, without their having proved any demonstrated need. 

Appeasement of private interests rarely meets the comprehensive demands of well-thought-out public planning.

                                                                                             Respectfully,

                                                                        Tom Matrullo

Business Parks on Lorraine: Neighborhood Workshop 

Groundhog Day: Why the Rush to Rezone Parcel #3?

When James Gabbert proposed building heavy industrial waste operation last year on a parcel of public land near the Celery Fields, the Board got a bellyful from the people. No industry, they said. It’s wrong on so many levels -- bad for the roads, for the birds, for the entire eco-system, for property values, for the future development of the area.

Since then, instead of taking a fresh look at the area and seeking alternatives to industry, the Board hired a Miami consultant to rezone one of the “Quad Parcels” at Apex and Palmer Blvd. -- parcel #3. And lo and behold, the consultant has returned a recommendation that the county allow an 80,0000-square-foot industrial facility on this parcel. 

On October 10, the Board will listen to the consultant, and if it likes what it hears, it can initiate the public process to rezone parcel #3 for industrial use. The parcel is currently zoned OUR - Open Use Rural. To rezone for industry, having no actual client or developer, the Board would send the Lambert recommendation with staff notes to a Neighborhood Workshop, then a Planning Commission hearing, then a final Board hearing. 

On our public lands, it's Groundhog Day all over again.

Parcel #3 is the smallest of the Quad parcels - nine acres in all, but two acres are reserved for a permanent fire station. The remaining seven acres are what the consultant, Lambert Advisory LLC of Miami, was asked to rezone for sale.

Lambert began work in June and completed its “assessment” of parcel 3 in mid-August.

Below are some of the questions and concerns raised by this rush to rezone.

• We have yet to hear of a publicly beneficial reason why the County wants to sell this public parcel to a private developer. When the idea was originally presented by Commissioner Al Maio last November, the motive was to sell public lands to reduce a budget shortfall. Mr. Maio has since stated that the county is in excellent fiscal condition (3 1/2 min. audio), and that "there is no shortfall" (17 sec. audio) facing the County in the near future. Mr. Maio has also never explained why he wants to sell all three Quad parcels. He simply has said he wants to.

• Note: “Highest and best use” (HBU) is land-use code for “ignore every consideration except sale price.” Rather than consider uses beneficial to the community for parcel 3 -- uses which certainly exist -- the Board is seeking to sell to the highest bidder. An HBU assessment looks only at sales price. The tactic allows the consultant to ignore virtually everything residents consider important to their quality of life:

1. Environment - bird sanctuary, water, air
2. Roads - traffic, large trucks (already to be augmented by James Gabbert's six-acre Waste Transfer Station at Porter and Palmer).
3. Community - homes, schools, amenities on Palmer Blvd. and Cattlemen
4. Economic potential - eco-tourism at the Celery Fields, retail along West Palmer.
5. Macro-trends - moving toward residential, recreational gateway features (visibility from highway).
6. Future possibility - a citizens group has offered a wide variety of uses and synergies for the the four quad parcels, supported by the community: everything from athletic resources to a history archive to shops, affordable housing, a cafe, a market, the educational potential of a YMCA with programs tied in with Audubon’s nature center. 

Lambert submitted its recommendation for industry in a 49-page report. It recommends industry, arguing that this would bring a markedly higher sale price than office, commercial, or residential uses. An 80,000-square-foot industrial facility could be an example of highest and best use, the report states.

Restaurant Depot, Tampa

The recommendation raises additional questions:

• If “industry” would assure the highest value, why is no one coming to the nearby Fruitville Initiative to buy land there to use for Industry? The Initiative’s parcels lie just to the north, along Apex Rd., which turns into Coburn Rd., near I-75. All 200 acres are designated MEC, just like parcel #3. At the Fruitville Initiative, it's another story:

• The landowners are not getting inquiries from developers about industrial uses.
• They’re mainly receiving proposals for multi-family residential with some interest in office and commercial uses. 

Can Lambert or our Planning Dept. or the Board explain this contradiction between Lambert’s finding and actual market activity?

• A citizens group working to find alternative uses for the public quad parcels ("Fresh Start") sought to communicate with Lambert Advisory, but was told by County staff not to attempt to contact the Lambert group. Staff responded to Fresh Start on July 3, 2018:

Out of an abundance of caution to the process, I would not be comfortable with a private group directly communicating with a consultant on an item that will culminate in a quasi-hearing on a Board directive that was decidedly different from your own.  The consultant has been made aware of the efforts of Fresh Start and the dynamics and sensitivities of the area, but because we have reached out to an independent expert on this matter, it is best to limit the influences on the data. 

• The task given to Lambert came with scoping instructions -- a to-do list -- from the County:

Scope of Consultant Task #4

How did preventing communication with the community facilitate the task of developing “a general understanding of the community and its residents”?

• Fresh Start asked why Lambert Advisory’s assessment of parcel #3 contained no reference to the traffic and road constraints, which weighed heavily in hearings of the Planning Commission and the Board last year on the Gabbert Waste Processing Proposal. Residents were emphasized the fragility of Palmer Blvd. and Apex Road, and the poor Level of Service. 

Here is the Consultant’s response, forwarded by county staff:

By definition (Appraisal Institute), highest and best use represents the reasonably probable and legal use of vacant land or an improved property that is physically possible, appropriately supported, financially feasible and that results in the highest value.  It takes into consideration any known constraints to development such as environmental or traffic/roadway capacity issues (documented through an applicable public agency). At the time of the study, we were not aware of  any documented issues related to development constraints, including roadway capacity. (emphasis added)

Road conditions were a hugely important determining factor at the Gabbert hearings. Would the County not have been advised to address the roads before hiring a consultant for $61,209 to recommend industry at the Quads?

• In preparing a briefing paper for Commissioners on the Lambert Report, staff originally seemed willing to accept the Lambert recommendation. But now it does not support it:

• Given the astonishing pace of approved housing development in the area, why would the Board go full speed ahead with rezoning this parcel for industry?

The Board has been happy to rapidly approve several developers' proposals for new residential communities in the area:

1,080 new homes within walking distance, and
2,390 more homes within a few minutes' drive from this intersection
____
3,470 new nearby homes

Where's the logic:  Do the Commissioners have some way to reconcile their multiple approvals of residential development on the one hand with zoning that burdens these essential roads with industrial uses and truck traffic on the other? We'd love to hear it

How can the Board rezone to industrial use on the basis of a "study" that in fact did not:

• Consider the impact of a large industrial facility upon the ecology, the community, the economy, and property values?
• Look at the existing and trending uses of the area by residents and tourist visitors who walk, jog, hike, bird, kayak and fish at and around the Celery Fields?
• Have any county transportation data on the road and traffic conditions at Apex and Palmer?

Groundhog Day

In short, the hiring of a Consultant who has brought in a recommendation to industrialize parcel #3 brings us back to February 2017, when Restaurant Depot sought to put a giant warehouse sales operation on the same parcel, and encountered strong opposition. Again, roads and large trucks were the main issue.

For ten months -- from December 2017 to September 2018 -- the Fresh Start group attempted a dialog with the Board, but as of yet, it's still waiting for responses to its proposals and answers to its many questions.

Perhaps it's time for the Board to respond to the public. They might start with answering these questions: 

1. There is no budget crunch, no shortfall. What's the benefit to the community in selling any of our public lands here? 
2. Why pay a consultant to rezone to Industry before addressing the roads? 
3. Why withhold from the consultant the basic known facts and studies of the roads?

Image from the Fresh Start presentation of 9.12.18, courtesy of the Fresh Start Initiative.

On Oct. 10, sometime about 9:30 a.m. or a little after, the Board will discuss the Lambert Advisory recommendation. Let's be there, to remind them we're still here, and we still care.
Commission Chamber Ground Floor
1660 Ringling Blvd.

Two Reports: Fresh Start and Lambert

A land use consultant hired by Sarasota County to rezone a portion of public land near the Celery Fields sanctuary has recommended that the 7-acre parcel be sold to an industrial developer.

“In sum, the highest and best use of the subject property is considered to be for industrial development, with an estimate land evaluation of roughly $1.3 million; or, $3.40 per square foot,” writes Lambert Advisory LLC in its report to the county.

Note: On Wednesday, Sept. 12 at the County Commission, Fresh Start will present an analysis in support of a resolution to dedicate all three public parcels to public benefit. The estimated time is 9:30 a.m. Agenda.

Quad parcels at Apex & Palmer

Lambert filed the report on August 22, 2018. The Miami firm was hired by the Board of Sarasota County Commissioners on the premise that current budgetary shortfalls needed to be made up through the sale of public lands. Since that meeting, the Board has appeared to revise its estimate of the county’s financial plight. Commissioner Maio, who initiated the rezone decision, now says that the county coffers are full, its fiscal condition is solid, and there will be no shortfalls in 2019 or 2020.

The county agreed to pay Lambert $61,290 to rezone Parcel #3, at the Northeast quadrant of Apex Road and Palmer Boulevard. The analysis, called a “highest and best use” report, compares the parcel to existing properties in Sarasota for possible residential, retail, office, industrial or hotel uses.

“Highest and best use” (HBU) is a method of assessing real estate that looks solely at monetary value. Other considerations of use value such as environmental, recreational, social or economic opportunities are specifically excluded in HBU studies.

A coalition of 50 neighborhoods which has sought to persuade the County to dedicate three parcels at the same intersection, including parcel 3, for community uses -- is concerned that the Lambert study could sway the five-member commission to approve the sale not only of the seven-acre parcel #3, but also to rezone parcel #2, 10.6 acres, for private industry.

”It’s like a chess game,” said Glenna Blomquist, a member of Fresh Start, the HOA coalition. “If the county accepts this report, it can proceed to rezone parcel three without even having identified a buyer."

Once the land is rezoned, any private developer whose industrial operation fits the zoning can buy the property and build without public input. Last year, a giant warehouse operation sought to purchase parcel #3, and hundreds of Sarasotans came out to oppose it at a public hearing.

“With the property already rezoned, an industrial developer whose proposed use fits within the new zoning would simply by-pass the community,” says Blomquist.

There’s a further danger lurking in this chess match, notes Gary Walsh, president of the Meadow Walk, the nearest community to the Celery Fields. After parcel #3 is rezoned to industry, developers can argue that parcel #2 should also be industrial, because at that point it will be enveloped by industrial zoning on three sides.

Parcel #2 is the 10.6-acre parcel which the Fresh Start group was charged by the Commission to find community-approved conceptual uses for. The group filed a report with those proposed uses in April, and at the Board's request, updated it in July.

“Developers seeking industry here have usually ignored the issue of compatibility, but now it could work in their favor,” adds Fresh Start’s Carlos Correa.

Here's how it could go:

Waechter warehouse

Just to the south of parcel 2 (separated by water and trees) are several warehouses owned by Robert Waechter, who has actively opposed Fresh Start’s efforts to have the County dedicate the land to community uses -- athletic fields, a restaurant or cafe, shops, affordable housing, meeting rooms, a historical museum exhibition space.

West of parcel #2 separated by trees is a six-acre parcel owned by James Gabbert, who plans a waste transfer station there. Gabbert last year proposed to put a giant waste processing facility on his six acres plus the 10.6 acres of parcel #2.

Hundreds of residents and visitors who value the Celery Fields turned out to the Aug. 23, 2017 hearing in vehement protest, and Gabbert’s petition met with defeat.

Fresh Start says it will be taking a closer look at data in the Lambert report -- figures used for land value, population growth estimates, traffic and more.

“Our analysis was completed before we saw the Lambert report, and takes a completely different approach” says Tom Matrullo of Fresh Start. “We begin by looking at the land itself, at the community with whom we've consulted, at market trends, and at potential synergies with neighborhoods, commerce, and eco-tourism -- the Celery Fields has been a place of respite from the Red Tide we've recently experienced along our coastline."

The basic question of land use goes beyond data to a more fundamental question: how does Sarasota County plan? Fresh Start puts it this way:

"On one hand, you have a corporate analysis that looks only at money, and by design ignores everything our residents care about; on the other, you have everything our residents care about: the environment, community resources, things for children to do, social and educative activities, clean air, recreation, healthy birds, manageable traffic, and the benefits of a thriving tourist area."

On Wednesday, Sept. 12 at the County Commission, Fresh Start will present an analysis in support of a resolution to dedicate all three public parcels to public benefit. The estimated time: 9:30 a.m. The public is welcome, but as this is not a hearing, public input will be limited to 3 minutes before or after the morning agenda, in the segment known as "Open to the Public."

Mt. Celery

New Petition to protect Celery Fields

From Fresh Start:

Thanks to Sarasota zoning regulations, after August 23, anyone can propose to rezone our public lands for industrial use. Just like last year.

Please take a moment to sign our petition urging the Board to revamp the zoning of this environmentally sensitive area with a vision for the greater good:

Sarasota County: We urge you to acknowledge this rare opportunity for public good. Do NOT sell our public lands to private developers. Protect and enhance the Celery Fields Area for all the people of Sarasota.

About the August Primary in Sarasota

Recently at Tiger Bay, Sarasota Commissioner Al Maio said he thinks selling our public lands at the Celery Fields for industrial use makes sense, because an 11-acre industrial warehouse parcel sits next to it.

Tiger Bay Commission Candidate Panel l to r:
 Wesley Beggs, Mike Cosentino, Al Maio, Lourdes Ramirez, Moderator Kevin Cooper

The Commissioner didn't mention that the Celery Fields happens to be a short walk away, or that the 11-acre industrial parcel happens to be owned by Robert Waechter. It's separated from the public parcel at Apex and Palmer by a canal and a line of trees -- they are not exactly "contiguous," as Maio claimed. What's more, Waechter, the former chairman of the Sarasota Republican party, betrayed Lourdes Ramirez, one of his party's candidates in 2012, stealing her identity to make it look like she was donating to Democrats. Waechter tried the dodge to promote Al Maio over Ramirez for the County Commission. He was charged and convicted of both a felony and a misdemeanor, and sentenced to house arrest, probation, community service, fines and fees. 

This past April, Waechter sent a letter to the County arguing that public land near the Celery Fields should be sold for industrial use. He was writing to oppose residents who wish the County to dedicate public lands near the Celery Fields to community uses.  The citizens, who have done outreach, community meetings and polls, say residents favor community-friendly uses such as affordable housing upstairs from shops and fooderies, a birding lodge and restaurant, a YMCA sports complex, or even just a community center with a pavilion and landscaping to attract more birds. (Copy of Waechter's letter).

The Celery Fields has an international reputation as habitat, hosting over 225 species of birds. Known for its large plateau-like mound, it also has come to be a prime outdoor area for hiking, walking, exercise, picnicking, bicycling, stargazing, photography and more. The Audubon Society built a $1 million nature center at the base of the mound which sees thousands of visitors from all over the US and elsewhere each year.

Despite the community's wishes and strong opposition to selling our land for industry, Mr. Maio told the Tiger Bay audience that he sees no reason to change his vote in favor of James Gabbert's proposed 16-acre waste processing facility, which failed by one vote on August 23 last year. In his Tiger Bay statement, Maio says it was only to be a "waste transfer station," when in fact it was a full-blown construction demolition pulverizing facility.

Waste processing facility on Fruitville Rd. built by J. Gabbert

Since the Board's decision last August, the County has taken no steps to revise the land use of the public lands to prevent industrialization. That means that Gabbert - or Waechter - can come back after one year -- anytime after August 23 -- and propose large warehouses, or open demolition waste processing or some other industrial use, and apparently receive a sympathetic hearing from Mr. Maio.

Consider this:

Right now, Sarasota's shoreline is a smelly mess thanks to dead fish, manatees, turtles and more due to Red Tide, which this year has been the worst in recent memory. 

Given those conditions, the Celery Fields unquestionably is the best place for Sarasota visitors and residents to be outdoors, view birds, and hike in bright, clear air. Myakka State Park is very nice, but is near flood levels thanks to heavy rains.

Mr. Waechter, Mr. Gabbert and, apparently, Mr. Maio see no reason why we should not have more warehouses or waste facilities on our public lands. For them, nothing has changed since 1983 - when there were no homes, no schools, no Celery Fields. And the County has done nothing to modify the land use, despite all the attention given to this area.

If Waechter prevails, visitors climbing our observation mound -- "Mount Celery" -- will be able to see acres more of Waechter's warehouses:

The new Waechter warehouses will complement his existing ones (featured above), and go well with the Waste Transfer Facility that Gabbert still plans to build along Porter Road at Palmer Blvd. 

Here's what Gabbert's old waste transfer facility on Fruitville Road looks like:

If you want a Commissioner who approves the antediluvian views of Waechter, Gabbert and others, vote for Al Maio. If you do not, Lourdes Ramirez is his Republican opponent in the August Primary. 

*Al Maio's Tiger Bay statement - about 4 minutes