Talking points to protect the Celery Fields

DR HORTON 171-home high-density project on Raymond Road

From the Nov. 10 Sarasota News Leader:

The Sarasota Audubon Board is urging its members and opponents of the D.R. Horton initiative to contact their county commissioners to express their concerns. Audubon has included a link to “Talking Points” for those communications.

Among those points are the following, with the organization’s emphasis:

• “The Celery Fields is a wildlife, birdwatching, and recreational paradise in the heart of Sarasota attracting thousands of local residents and national and international tourists annually.

• ”The Celery Fields is a highly regarded, award-winning feat of creative planning — a triple purpose public facility: 1. a storm water control and cleansing operation, 2. wetlands protected as a natural haven for local and migrating birds and other wildlife, and 3. a place for people to walk, exercise, kayak, and learn about the wildlife of our area.

• “The Celery Fields represents Sarasota County’s remarkable achievement in highlighting and preserving the importance of ecosystems, wetlands, native and migrating creatures, and human relationships to all of these treasures.

• “This crowning achievement in civil engineering and in public/private cooperation must not be jeopardized. All these ecological and practical values, underscored by the millions of dollars invested in realizing them, require any impinging development to be examined with extreme care and attention. Just as a dumpsite or commercial development would be totally inappropriate, a housing subdivision would likely destroy or devalue what has been achieved. There is no way to guarantee that the Celery Fields would not be negatively impacted. Once done, it could be destroyed forever.

• “There are an estimated 100,000 visitors a year to the Celery Fields — photographers, nature lovers, walkers, joggers, bikers, families, and education groups — providing an enormous boost to the local economy. Since the pandemic, interest in eco-tourism and birding has surged greatly in popularity. Just this season (Oct – May 2023), Audubon has recorded over 31,000 visitors for bird and wildlife viewing, and for its education programs.

• “The Celery Fields has two famous and incredible boardwalks out into the wetlands — one from Palmer Boulevard and one from Raymond Road. On each of these boardwalks, Sarasota Audubon has Bird Naturalists who volunteer with telescopes and binoculars, and are stationed every day, October through May, to enhance visitor birding and wildlife viewing experience. Visitors come from all over the United States and the world to enjoy the wetlands. Increased vehicular and pedestrian traffic from a high-density development will negatively affect access, use, and safe approach to these boardwalks for birders, tourists, and their cars.” 

Estimated trips added by 171 high-density homes on Raymond Rd. (courtesy of SNL)

More information from Sarasota Audubon is here

Write to: 

District 1 Commissioner Mike Moran          Mmoran@scgov.net

Copy all five Commissioners by cc'ing        Commissioners@scgov.net
County Planner Tana Spencer                     Tspencer@scgov.net

In your email you can also cc:  

Head of planning Matt Osterhoudt:              mosterho@scgov.net 

Head of Park Nicole Rissler:                        nrissler@scgov.net 

Sarasota Audubon                                        info@sarasotaaudubon.org

Citizens for Sarasota County:                      sarasotavision@gmail.com

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Commissioner emails by district

Key Talking Points on Restaurant Depot industrialization of the Celery Fields

The Sarasota County Planning Commission failed the citizens of Sarasota:

1. The appointed planning commission members broke County Charter rules published in the notice of the Restaurant Depot public hearing which state: The Sarasota County Charter requires persons or entities applying for rezoning to disclose the TRUE ownership interests in the property subject to the rezoning. Attorney Bailey failed to provide full ownership information.

Restaurant Depot

2. Restaurant Depot is asking for a non-binding sale agreement, this means, should the Board of County Commissioners approve the land use change and the sale proceeds, the owners of the property can change their mind and not build a Restaurant Depot but may build whatever fits within the new code.

3. The planning commission had an opportunity to deny the land use change and critical area plan change (CAP) when discussing traffic. They failed to protect the neighborhood homeowners who live off of the two lane Palmer Boulevard by saying their hands were tied due stating competing local and state laws.

4. Restaurant Depot is a members-only business, if you are not in the restaurant industry, you may not shop there. Sarasota zoning states that Zoning's fundamental purpose is to Protect a community's health, safety and welfare. Super fail on the Planning Board's part in ignoring the very first sentence found in the county's document "Zoning, an explanation of zoning districts in Sarasota, County, FL."

5, Eco-tourism. County Administrator Tom Harmer has failed the county in allowing any of the lands that surround the Celery Fields to be sold as "surplus land" and practically bargain basement real estate prices. The Celery Field is known worldwide for the its incredible birding and nature along with the Celery Field being an excellent place to work out.

Audubon's Caracara 

6. Endangered and threatened species live successfully in the Celery Field, state and federal protections apply to these birds and the county is denying that any wildlife lives or eats on the lands that are for sale. The county is presenting a falsehood that can turn into a legal battle where not only are our elected officials failing us by not following simple government rules, our elected officials may be saddling the people of Sarasota with having to foot bills for this potential legal battle.

7. The County should retain this property, as we all own it, and keep it as a buffer not only for Our Celery Fields but as protection against the massive traffic jam that is getting worse out there, especially now that more than 700 new homes are being built at the end of Palmer Road.

SAVE OUR CELERY FIELDS and please join us tomorrow, March 1, 2017, 9 a.m. at the Sarasota County Administration Center, Commission Chamber, 1660 Ringling Boulevard, Sarasota and ADD YOUR VOICE to the PUBLIC COMMENTS section, sharing your opposition to the Proposed Amendment to the Critical Area Plan No. 83-10-SP and Rezone Petition.

Item #8 could be a long morning going into the afternoon, bring signs, bring your comments, sign the speaker's card that are found to the right side of the door when you enter the chamber.

The Planning Commission of the Public Hearing about the Restaurant Depot petition is here.

Exercise class at the Audubon Nature Center at the Celery Fields