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

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.