The community is being exiled from planning

Letter sent to Sarasota's Planning Director and Commissioners. The issue is the decay and distancing of planning as it is no longer live or really interactive: 

 

October 5, 2023

Dear Matt Osterhoudt and Commissioners:

Not so long ago, county Neighborhood Services took charge of arranging Neighborhood Workshops. Staff were very involved with securing a venue, provding supplies, making sure the right people from County government were there and all else.

When did this get delegated to the developers?

Now, developers or their planning agents decide whether a workshop will be held online or in person. Since that decision, I've not heard of a "neighborhood" workshop being held in person. What's more, the entire Zoom or Meet or Teams encounter is controlled by the developer's agent, who decides what images are shown. Glitches due to loss of sound, blurry images, and more have been known to occur. Even more, the county does not require the video recording of the workshop, only audio. Recently I had the experience of trying to follow a Zoom discussion - audio only - maps, locations, stormwater design and much more were discussed, but I and any other auditor were literally in the dark.

Now on MeetUp there is what's known as a "hybrid" event: 

Under the “Hybrid” tab, you can enter the physical location of your event, and also provide a link to attend the event online through a video conferencing service like Zoom. In fact, with Meetup’s special Zoom integration, you can create your virtual event link directly within the “Hybrid” tab.

 

The virtues of this flexibility are manifold and are discussed here:

https://www.meetup.com/blog/introducing-the-hybrid-events-feature-for-meetup-pro/

If the county wishes to still include residents in this process, please consider requiring live workshops, with the hybrid format as a further option.

Respectfully,

Tom Matrullo

Development near Celery Fields raises many questions

Below: An open letter to the Board regarding the adequacy of online Neighborhood Workshops. The workshop discussed below is scheduled to be on Zoom only, on Tuesday, May 23, at 6 pm. 

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

To: The Board of Sarasota County Commissioners, Mr. Moran, Mr. Cutsinger, Mr. Smith, and Mr. Neunder

From: Tom Matrullo

Date: May 19, 2023

Re: Workshop for housing proposed next to Celery Fields Wetlands

A proposal for intense single family housing on some 49 acres along Raymond Road has lately come to the attention of the Sarasota community. As the Celery Fields is a beloved environment prized for its nesting and migrating birds -- a unique asset that brings tourists from all over the world, the cumulative impact of 160+ new homes in close proximity to these nesting wetlands raises a host of questions and concerns.

  

Part of site plan for Raymond Rd

In order to address important community questions that could involve everything from bird and animal life to ecotourism and water quality, neighborhood traffic, flooding, lighting and more, all steps in the planning process deserve to be handled with integrity.

To this end, I and others ask that you require a Neighborhood Workshop that will be held live (an online component could be included for those out of state.) I'm sure you've heard from citizens who have been frustrated when seeking to participate in various workshops via Zoom or Microsoft Teams. Many citizens do not even use tools like Zoom, some do not own computers.

What's more, these online meetings depend on the developer's agent for their timing and informational quality. I can attest that at some online workshops I've attended, the information presented was minimal, the images were small and blurry, sound quality was poor, the question period was brief, and the opportunities for follow-up questions were non-existent. 

Given that the birding, hiking, fishing, kayaking and ecotourism at the Celery Fields are activities that mean a great deal to our citizens, the questions surrounding the impacts of this proposal go far beyond the number of homes, parking spaces, and entrances. An online Workshop will not do justice to the complications of this proposal.

A live workshop with stormwater quality experts, environmental and tourism personnel on hand as well as the developer's agent is warranted to address the full range of issues raised by this development.

For the sake of a fair, open process, please require a live workshop with appropriate staff to get the planning process off to a reasonable start. This project is likely to eventually land on your desks -- here's an opportunity to demonstrate that you understand our concerns and are doing what you can to allow the public to examine the potential impacts from this project's intensity and proximity fully and fairly.

Respectfully,

Tom Matrullo

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citizens for sarasota