Planning Commission to consider plans for Quads parcels at Celery Fields

 

The Quads 2021

The Sarasota County Planning Commission is set to consider the county's proposed Critical Area Plan (CAP) for the area that includes the Quad Parcels and Celery Fields on May 6, 2021. 

The plan proposes rezoning the Quads to Government Use (GU) and delineates constraints and recommendations to preserve the aim of encouraging birding habitat and an open gateway on Palmer Avenue to East County.

County Planner Steve Kirk put a lot of thought into this presentation, which seeks to honor the intent behind the county's grant of a permanent easement over three of the four parcels (outlined above) to the Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast and to Sarasota Audubon, which has had s strong commitment to the Celery Fields, and which will manage the future redevelopment of these parcels. 

Here's my email to the Planning Commission:

As one of the founding members of the Fresh Start Initiative, a community group that spent 10 months gathering community input and recommendations for the Quads parcels, I invite the Planning Commission to now weigh in on the CAP as it now stands. 

1. The Critical Area Plan seeks to realize the vision of a Gateway to East County, with an open viewshed, new Audubon-guided bird habitat, and stresses compatibility of architectural style, setbacks, building height, and more. However, while these constraints will certainly enhance the three parcels under easement, the Northwest Parcel has 4+ acres of developable land that will simply be labeled GU. This acreage could be developed by the County or sold to a developer, with options for light industry, commercial, or residential uses.

Wide range of options for the NW Parcel

It would make perfect sense for the Planning Commission to strongly recommend that the NW parcel's 4+ developable acres have binding language stating that any proposed use must be found compatible with the larger vision for the Quads and Celery Fields Area.

For example, a four-acre warehouse serviced by giant 18-wheelers on the Northwest parcel would hardly be consistent with the purpose of the perpetual easement, or for that matter with the roads and residential neighborhoods on and near Palmer Blvd.

The Fresh Start group did present a few community suggestions for the Northwest parcel. One that would both be consistent with the easement vision and offer practical help to motorists would be a bus loop enabling schoolchildren to get on and off buses without stopping traffic both ways on Palmer. 

  

The loop could have a pavilion with tables where children could sit out of the rain or strong sun, and perhaps eat a snack. Snacks could be provided by a rotating series of food trucks on an area set aside for this purpose.

Not only would this use be an asset for our children and help the flow of traffic, but it would also fit with the fact that the Northwest parcel, as public land, already holds a brand new fire station in suitable Old Florida style.

2. Another noteworthy element of the permanent easement reserves an option that would allow the County to construct a building on six acres of the Southwest parcel. While the Board has spoken of using the land for a history museum, nothing in the CAP specifies this use. This would seem to leave open the parcel open to some other Government Use. 

GU allows a great many things, including firing ranges, bus terminals and asphalt manufacturing. It would be a valuable enhancement to the Planning Commission review to recommend binding the use of the Southeast parcel to consistency and compatibility with the "Prime Directive" of the permanent easement -- protection of bird habitat in the Celery Fields.

Finally, it would be helpful to remind our community that Sarasota Audubon has taken on the task of shaping the parcels under easement. It will be raising funds for the purpose and we all should be both grateful and mindful that the commitment of Audubon deserves the support of all those who love the Celery Fields.

Very truly yours, 

Tom Matrullo

Two Quads Agreements set for County Approval October 6

 

This Tuesday, Oct. 6, a plan for the Quads parcels at the Celery Fields comes before the Board for approval. It's a plan that contains two Agreements: one places perpetual easements on three of the four parcels; the second provides for the design of what the three parcels will becomes, with Audubon agreeing to play a major role.

In a nutshell, the County grants a perpetual easement for three of the four parcels:

The two agreements -- worked out in private with the Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast and Sarasota Audubon -- set a future course for these parcels, marked as #1 (SE), #2 (SW) and the NW parcel with retention pond. Parcel #3 (NW) has a new fire station and about 6 acres reserved by the County for future development (at Commissioner Maio's recommendation).

Below are links to the Memorandum and two Agreements which the Board is set to vote on:

         1. County Memo explaining the background and purpose of the agreements.

         2. Conservation Easement Agreement with Conservation Foundation

         3. Management Agreement with Sarasota Audubon

Comment: The Conservation Agreement includes two "development envelopes": one allows for the construction of a building of up to 40,000 s.f. on the western six acres of the SW parcel #2. Uses for the facility are limited to government, civic, recreational, education and conservation. Earlier discussions with the community included possibilities such as a history museum, visitor and nature center, or cafe.

The second envelope allows for the construction of "limited public amenities" -- restrooms, a pavilion, parking -- on a quarter acre of the eastern portion of the same parcel #2.  

         

The Agreements are listed as Item 18 on the Board's Consent Agenda for Tuesday, Oct. 6

For the Record: Media on Nov. 6 Celery Fields Decision

Drone shot courtesy of Emanuel Guzman

My Suncoast 11.07.19 Public lands near Celery Fields - at least three of the four - to be conserved 

Lucas: We won - but Gabbert's WTF needs to be watched

Sarasota News Leader: Conservation easement to be placed on three of county’s Quads parcels adjacent to the Celery Fields

Herald Tribune: Board agrees to save Quads

Observer: Protesters want undeveloped Celery Fields as County Commission approves Easement

Link: Roundtable: John McCarthy, Adrien Lucas, David Johnson and Tom Matrullo with Bill Logan 

More here

Vision of a Rural Heritage Conservation links Quads and Celery Fields and lands to the East

Courtesy of the Sarasota News Leader

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Community residents working with Conservation Foundation of Gulf Coast to purchase and preserve 23-acre parcel near Celery Fields

June 13, 2019 by Rachel Brown Hackney, Editor & Publisher

Nonprofit needs $650,000 by June 30

An aerial map shows the location of Graceland Ranch, outlined in red, just west of Tatum Ridge Elementary School. Image from the Sarasota County Property Appraiser’s Office

As debate continues at the Sarasota County Commission dais about the future of county property adjacent to the Celery Fields, the Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast is at work on an initiative to create a Rural Heritage Conservation Area in the same vicinity.

A big key to the nonprofit’s plan is the proposed acquisition of a 23.4-acre parcel located off Palmer Boulevard, east of the Celery Fields.

In a June 12 telephone interview with The Sarasota News Leader, Christine Johnson, president of the Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast, explained that it had only been a week since the nonprofit had launched its campaign to raise a total of $2,550,000 to buy the privately owned property known as Graceland Ranch.

Residents of the community approached the Foundation, she said, asking, “‘Is there anything you can do?’” They had learned that developers were interested in the Graceland site, Johnson continued, and they wanted to see it remain in a natural state, in keeping with the Celery Fields.

“Graceland is the linchpin to establish a 140-acre wildlife conservation park within a 1,300 acre rural heritage area,” the Foundation says on its website. The property “already is contributing to our community’s quality of life. Graceland provides habitat for wildlife in forested wetlands as well asrecreational opportunities like therapeutic horseback riding and outdoor activities for our youth. This rural heritage area serves as an attractor for visitors and as an amenity for those who live, work and play in Sarasota and Manatee Counties.”

This graphic shows the Rural Heritage Conservation Area the Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast envisions with the Graceland Ranch property, Big Cat Habitat, the Celery Fields and the county’s ‘Quads’. Image courtesy Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast

The Facebook page for Graceland Ranch notes that the property is located at 7360 Rim Road in Sarasota, just west of Tatum Ridge Elementary School.

Johnson told the News Leader that the Foundation began negotiating with the owner of Graceland Ranch about two months ago. Information the Foundation had received, she said, indicated that two different developers were interested in the land, “nibbling around the edges.” One of those, she continued, seemed pretty serious about constructing approximately 40 homes on the site, even though the land is not zoned for such development.

(The Sarasota County Property Appraiser’s Office says the land is zoned Open Use Rural (OUR). The county’s zoning regulations explain, “The OUR District is intended to retain the open character of the land. This district is further intended for agricultural purposes and uses, and to preserve lands with agricultural development potential. Agriculturally-oriented residential development is encouraged, and all commercial and industrial development is prohibited. … Permitted uses are limited to conservation, agriculture, very low density residential development, recreation, and with certain limitations, other uses that are not contrary to the open character of the district.”)

The owners of Graceland Ranch chose to accept the Conservation Foundation’s offer of an option to purchase the site, Johnson said. Still, she stressed, “It’s really going to be a matter of whether the community wants to save this piece of property.”

The Foundation website makes it clear that the nonprofit needs $650,000 in donations by June 30, with another $650,000 due by Sept. 30 “in order to meet our contract deposits, demonstrate community support, and keep this opportunity, this one-time chance, alive.”

Any person interested in helping with the acquisition can click on a button on the Conservation Foundation website and go directly to a webpage offering a series of steps for making a contribution.

This is part of the webpage that allows an person to make a contribution to the Graceland Ranch acquisition fund. mage courtesy Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast

Gifts are tax-deductible, the webpage points out.

‘We save the land’ 

During the June 10 meeting of the Sarasota County Council of Neighborhood Associations (CONA), Debi Osborne, director of land protection for the Conservation Foundation, sought support for the Graceland initiative.

“We save land,” she told the audience members. “We save it forever.”

In the case of Graceland Ranch, she continued, Foundation staff members are working “with willing sellers who are interested in conserving their land …”

If the Foundation is successful in acquiring the property, Osborne continued, “That would then hold the line for the type of more high-density development that’s south of Palmer [Boulevard].”

“We see this as a community effort,” she added.

Sarasota Audubon leaders also are encouraging the public to help save Graceland Ranch from development.

Christine Johnson. mage courtesy Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast

An email blast they sent out on June 7 said, “To all Audubon members and those who cherish retaining as much of our environmental lands as we can, the Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast is taking the lead in protecting the lands east of the Celery Fields. This foresighted move is in addition to the conservation efforts by Sarasota Audubon, Fresh Start and all residents around the Celery Fields with regard to the [Quads] … If successful, imagine the scope of the protected lands around the Celery Fields! This would ensure a safe environment for the 246 species of birds, as well as all other forms of wildlife in the area. It’s a must for us all to help right now.”

The email encouraged people to donate to the Foundation.

The Fresh Start group mentioned in the Sarasota Audubon email is the same organization that worked with county staff last year — with the support of the County Commission — to propose potential passive uses of the county’s four Quads parcels next to the Celery Fields. Comprising representatives of 50 homeowner associations in the area around the Celery Fields, the Fresh Start Initiative sought to convince the commissioners to focus on long-range planning for the Quads that would be compatible with the Celery Fields, which has become an internationally known bird-watching destination.

Early this year, the County Commission authorized staff to conduct community outreach for a potential amendment to the Critical Area Plan approved years ago for the eastern part of the county that encompasses the Fruitville Initiative. The board members agreed that the Quads could be considered for inclusion in that CAP, for more comprehensive planning purposes.

Nonetheless, on June 4, commission Chair Charles Hines brought up the prospect of the board’s selling the Southwest Quad to any developer who would be willing to create an affordable housing project on the site.

A Fresh Start blog this week noted both the Conservation Foundation efforts and the County Commission discussion last week. The Foundation’s plans, the blog pointed out, would ensure that Graceland Ranch “would receive a conservation easement barring development in perpetuity. The land could be dedicated to equestrian uses benefiting the public: riding, hippotherapy, school visits, education, and more, says [Foundation President] Johnson, who noted that several schools are nearby,” including not only Tatum Ridge, but also Fruitville Elementary, McIntosh Middle and the Farm School.

The blog added, “The Foundation is advocating uses in keeping with the trends and surrounding human communities, integrating a long-range vision of a lasting rural heritage and wildlife conservation for future generations.”

This is a portion of Graceland Ranch. Image from Google Maps

Conversely, the blog says, “[W]hile affordable housing is indeed a goal … Mr. Hines is promoting a quick fix to motivate the private construction of less costly housing, apparently without regard to how such an initiative would impact a host of significant social, environmental, economic and infrastructural concerns in a complex, radically changing area.”

Fresh Start also is encouraging people to contribute to the acquisition of Graceland Ranch.

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Video: Workshop on the public lands at the Celery Fields May 14, 2109

Critical Area planning workshop about the "Quads" -- 38 acres of public lands at the Celery Fields, Sarasota FL.