Dan Lobeck:
We warned that this would happen.
No preserved and protected wetland in Sarasota County, near any neighborhood or elsewhere, is safe if the County Commission continues to repeal that protection and allow them to be paved over for development.
Wetlands at Honore Avenue and University Parkway in Sarasota County were set aside years ago as preserves in exchange for approval of adjoining developments. Then in 2016, after developers gained unprecedented control of the Sarasota County Commission, the property owner sought approval from the Commission to pave over the wetlands for parking and buildings, to develop Whole Foods and Wawa stores.
County environmental staff objected, stating that the wetlands remained functional and valuable and that their destruction for development would violate the Sarasota County Comprehensive Plan. Over the objections of environmentalists and community groups including Control Growth Now, the County Commission approved the rezoning for the wetland destruction on a 4 to 1 vote. A lawsuit was filed by environmentalists but dropped, apparently due to a lack of legal “standing” to bring suit under a law that requires a showing of damages different from the public at large.
At the time, we warned that if the Whole Foods wetlands destruction could be approved, then other owners of preserved wetlands will come forward to ask that they be paved over for expanded development.
Well, here we go.
On Wednesday, March 22, as the second public hearing after 1:30 pm at the County building at 1660 Ringling Boulevard in Sarasota, Round Two will ring in the saga of Paving Over Paradise. Concerned citizens have five minutes each to speak.
