Growth feeds Growth

 After the housing developers come the commercial developers: 

Commercial developers are looking at lands along Clark Road east of I-75 for commercial strip malls - gas stations, convenience stores, etc.

As part of their preparation, they are tracking planned housing - already approved - in the area. 

Near the intersection of Proctor (Trillium) and Clark (Skye Ranch, Hi Hat) they are excited to find the approved, planned build-out of some 25,000 homes:

Here's a closer view of the estimated new housing from Turner Family's Hi Hat and Skye Ranch, as well as Pat Neal's properties south of Clark:

Townhomes under construction at Skye Ranch

Adding up the total housing units in the area, the commercial developer provides a set of projected totals for housing:

One site targeted for a WaWa or other gas station and stores is at the Northeast corner of Proctor and Clark:

The strip mall proposal at Proctor/Clark appears to be part of preliminary commercial plans. They must be submitted to the County, then be presented to nearby neighborhoods before proceeding to the Planning Commission before being approved by the Board of Sarasota County Commissioners.

Some background on Hi Hat and Old Miakka

Some history behind the Miakka Community Club and its opposition to Hi Hat Ranch's proposal to change Hamlet to Village overlay on its 10,000-acre property in Northeast Sarasota - from a resident, Jane Best Grandbouche:

The Miakka Community Club incorporated in 1945.  This is the same year the Turner family purchased Hi Hat Ranch.

The motto of the Club is “Conservation and Preservation of the Rural Area.” During the intervening years, the Club has worked to ensure that ranchers like Hi Hat had the opportunity to ranch. Hi Hat Ranch’s ability to be stewards of the land was supported by the Miakka Community’s continued vigilance in conserving and preserving the rural areas.

The Miakka Community Club (MCC) participated in ALL of the various meetings with the Urban Land Institute (ULI) including as a member of ULI’s Focus Group.

The Miakka Community Club also participated with written and oral testimony during both the transmittal stage and the final adoption stage.

As explained in all of these meetings and hearings, the Resource Management Areas (RMAs) define how the County would develop until the year 2050.  It is now 2021.  We are not half way there.  

You will not find in either the Comprehensive Plan or the Unified Development Code any reference to having Hamlets changing to Villages.  This idea wasn’t even contemplated or discussed.  Just as there was no reason to contemplate changing Hamlets to Villages then, there is no reason now.

If the Board wants there to be that opportunity, then that idea should be given public debate and due process.

The 1,200 acres Hi Hat is seeking to urbanize by changing the Hamlet overlay to Village overlay is productive agricultural land.  Since the Hamlet is a voluntary overlay, it is not necessitated that a Hamlet be developed there. Hi Hat Ranch could sell that productive agricultural land to someone else who wants to be in agriculture.  As farm land in the west and east dwindle, our produce needs to be grown somewhere.

The County recognizes the importance of agriculture as noted in FLU2.2.1 and FLU Policy 2.2.2 (a).

The County has a program to purchase agricultural development rights (DR Policy 1), so the Turners would get money for the development rights and then they could sell the land for agriculture production.

There is no valid reason to change the Hamlet overlay to Village overlay.

Please call and/or write the County Commissioners on this most important proposal. And please show up for the meeting September 8th. Once they paved over our rural area, it is gone forever. 

DENY CPA-2019-D

To the Planning Commission regarding development in Sarasota County

UPDATE: This Hi Hat proposal received a unanimous recommendation from the Sarasota County Planning Commission (PC) on January 21, 2021. The 8-0 vote means the project will go on to the Board of County Commissioners for official consideration.

The Planning Commission meeting is now available here.

A number of Sarasotans wrote the PC to advocate for much more detailed analysis and consideration before giving any recommendation to approve this giant plan. Below is one of many.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Planning Commission:

As you address the giant Turner family project that comes before you this evening, I ask that you consider the concerns raised by a spokesperson for the Miakka Community Club. There are thoughtful, informed observations about Water, the Ecosystem and Environment, and traffic that warrant close attention. Surely you have read Ms. Ayech's letter, but for ease of reference it is posted here for public awareness:

http://sarasotavision2050.blogspot.com/2021/01/hi-hat-project-could-change-whole.html

But I urge you to consider the larger context as well.

When a project of this scale and complexity comes to you, the impacts to be considered are manifold, and in this case, will alter the character of East Sarasota County permanently. This warrants a further observation:

Have you driven through the Hi Hat ranchland recently? It is not simply a rural area of great natural beauty; it's also a vast segment of the county that connects major roads - Fruitville to the North, and Clark to the South. Bee Ridge Road will likely be extended eastward to enable future residents to come and go. There is also a major FPL Power line extending north through the property from Clark to Fruitville..

While the Turner project might seem at first glance to have considered many aspects of this complex plan, there are surely elements of public value that can additionally be addressed. For example, there's the possibility of extending walking, horseback, and bicycling trails north from Clark to Fruitville, which then could link northward to Lakewood Ranch, and southward possibly to the Legacy Trail. This would add great value as a human and natural corridor - but often is not the sort of thing normally found in plans for housing developments and commercial centers.

One further point as to context: The public of Sarasota County really has no clear information regarding the number of homes already approved for construction, or the percentage of undeveloped land that is committed to future residential or commercial development. Given the rampant developer activity already approved by the Board of Sarasota County Commissioners - whether at Skye Ranch, or any of Pat Neal's many projects, or those of Mr. Beruff, or Mr. Kompothecras, or Wellen Park, or many more - we who live here are therefore unable to gauge in any clear, rigorous and informed way what impacts are coming. Unfortunately recent practice has abandoned comprehensive planning. Random, piecemeal plans of developers now take the place of a comprehensive vision shared with and benefitting all.The public would benefit from an overall mapping of exactly what's planned and what's approved -- without such information, the future nature and reality of Sarasota is in fact largely unknown. 

Given the absence of regional as well as of state oversight for local planning, I urge each of you to deeply consider what you can contribute to help developers with giant aspirations to make their projects the best - not only for thousands of future buyers who don't live here now, but also -- and especially -- for the people who live here, work here, and experience anxiety about the visionless direction of growth in Sarasota County.

Sincerely,

Tom Matrullo

Citizens for Sarasota County (CSC) is a coalition founded in 2014 to promote ethical, responsive government that preserves and enhances Sarasota's unique natural environment and cultural heritage while building a sound local economy based on effective stewardship and innovation. 

CSC

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Hi Hat Project could change "the whole ecosystem"

UPDATE: This Hi Hat proposal received a unanimous recommendation from the Sarasota County Planning Commission on January 21, 2021. The vote was 8-0, the project will now go on to the Board of County Commissioners for official consideration.

The Planning Commission meeting is now available here.

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Perhaps the largest development project Sarasota County will see in a long time - Hi Hat Ranch - comes before the Planning Commission Thursday Jan. 21. According to Miakka Community advocate Becky Ayech, not only is this plan vague and counter-rational, it' will also change "THE WHOLE ECOSYSTEM."

The project takes in 10,000 acres stretching from Fruitville Road to Clark Road. Proposal calls for 13,000 residences with a 30-year build-out.

Hi Hat Ranch

Below are resources for comments to the PC from Ayech of the Miakka Community Group - feel free to write to the planning commissioners using any of the information below.

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PLEASE USE ANY OF THESE COMMENTS.  REMEMBER, this is quasi-judicial, so only facts, not opinions.

PLEASE ACT IMMEDIATELY

For example: my water quality has greatly diminished since I moved into my home..HI Hat cannot use their irrigation wells for back up lawn watering.  my well is my only source of all my water needs.

RE; HI HAT RANCH DOCC and MASTER DEVELOPMENT PLAN

Good day Planning Commissioners,

The Applicant, Hi Hat Ranch has provided you with a plethora of information.

Unfortunately, one criterial piece of information is missing and many of the guarantees hinge upon that information.

While many maps were provided, the map showing where the Villages are going to be located is not clear at all.  I understand there may be 3 or 4 Villages, but I could not find a map that so indicates the locations.

Much of the information provided is relative to the timing of the Villages, specifically infrastructure, discussing the incremental development of utilities

The Applicant has indicated that the first Village would be located at the Hi Hat Ranch offices.  This location is akin to a hole in the doughnut.  The road to the offices is located on Fruitville Road, 2.1 miles from the Ranch’s western boundary.   It would be safe to say this would most likely be the same distance from Bee Ridge Road.  This would necessitate running utilities’ lines either from the Bee Ridge Road facilities or from the extension of utilities out to the Hamlet known as Lakepark Estates.  This would be ‘leaping’ over lands where it would make more planning sense to begin the Villages and then move easterly.

Therefore, the responses provided discussing these phasing approaches is meritless.

The MDP MUST show the location of at least the first Village

WATER QUALITY

The Applicant has provided information on monitoring and testing the SURFACE water quality, but is offering nothing for ground water protection.

The Applicant has several wells for the agricultural operation (see attached Water Use Permit).  The Applicant is purporting to use these ag wells as back up wells for lawn irrigation, if the back up lakes and stormwater ponds fail and that is only after the reclaimed water is not available.

The agricultural wells MUST NOT be used as the third way to water lawns.  Existing legal users that are in the Hi Hat Ranch area only have their domestic wells to meet ALL their needs.

Many of the wells on Hi Hat are drilled deep and cased shallow, allowing upward migration of poor-quality water, when then moves laterally into domestic wells.  (See attached minutes from the Southwest Florida Water management District Governing Board {SWFWMD] meeting. And well construction records from Sarasota Health Department)

The Ranch is located in the SWFWMD’s Southern Use Water Caution Area (SWUCA) where ground water withdrawals are not only causing upward migration of poor-quality water but also saltwater intrusion.  The proper plugging and abandonment of these wells would help the existing legal domestic well users and the Florida Aquifer and the Arcadian Aquifer.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

The Applicant stated that the aggregate mining will continue, not only for financial reasons, but because the development will need the fill.

There are NO NATURAL LAKES on the property.  While ultimately, they will provide nice lake front property, this changes the whole ecosystem.  Species that are currently not on the property will be drawn to the large water source.  These may include predator species that would kill exiting species.  The flora and fauna would change as well and again the existing flora and fauna support a myriad of species which may not be able to utilize the deep water.

Recognition MUST be given to the potential species changes and plans MUST be provided to show how this change would be mitigated.

The Applicant states they will create new wetlands by scraping off the top soil and importing the appropriate wetland soils. Healthy, thriving wetlands need a hydrological regime. 

The Applicant did not provide data and information on sites where this type of creation was successful not data showing how many have failed.  There wasn’t any information provided to show how the hydrological needs of the wetlands would be met.  In phosphate mining, as an example, wetlands the mitigate are held to a hydrological regime that is artificially maintained by the phosphate company until they are released as ‘successful’ by DEP. 

The Applicant must show how they are going to accomplish this wetland scrape land and create a new wetland scheme.

TRAFFIC

During the Workshop and then in a smaller meeting, the Applicant lamented the ugliness of the approach to the Mai Entrance to the Villages from extending Bee Ridge Road, forcing residents to pass the County’s Water Treatment Plant, the Hazardous Waste Collection Facility, the Animal Shelter and Rothenbach Park.  He stated the roadway in this area would have to be realigned and that the Applicant would have to build a bridge across Cow Pen Slough.

An alternative road, with a beautiful country (at least for now) view would be to use the existing road leading into the Ranch from Fruitville Road.  This would add additional congestion to an already over taxed, constrained scenic road.

Again, this is why at least the first Village should be located on the western boundary of the Ranch and should so be indicated on the map.

DO NOT ADOPT THE MASTER PLAN AND DEVELOPMENT ORDER FOR HI HAT RANCH UNTIL THESE ISSUES HAVE BEEN ADDRESSED.

Thank you.

Respectfully submitted,

Becky Ayech
President
Miakka Community Club

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 More from the Herald Tribune

More from this blog on Hi Hat

Four Housing Projects that will overrun Northeast Sarasota

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The emails of the Planning Commissioners: 

Andrew.Stultz@sarasotaadvisory.net, Colin.Pember@sarasotaadvisory.net, 

Kevin.Cooper@sarasotaadvisory.net, Laura.Benson@sarasotaadvisory.net,  Justin.Taylor@sarasotaadvisory.net, 

Neil.Rainford@sarasotaadvisory.net,  Frank.Strelec@sarasotaadvisory.net, Teresa.Mast@sarasotaadvisory.net, 

Drew.Peters@sarasotaadvisory.net

Largest Development East of I-75 set Neighborhood Workshop for June 4

Stretching from Fruitville Road to Clark Road, "Hi Hat Ranch" will be the largest planned village east of I-75 with 12,000 dwelling units:

Hi Hat Ranch

A neighborhood workshop will discuss a Master Development Order for approximately 9,943 acres to be developed as a 2050 Village project within the Central Village Area for approximately 12,000 dwelling units and 450,000 sq. feet of commercial development. 

The workshop will be held Tuesday, June 4, 2019, at 6:00 p.m. at St. Margaret Episcopal Church, 8700 S.R. 72 (Clark Road), Sarasota, Florida.

For more information please see the information here.

Two other large East County developments already approved and underway are:

Rex Jensen's Waterside, between Fruitville and University, from I-75 to Lorraine, will have 5,144 homes:

And the Turner family's LT Ranch south of Clark Road plans 3,450 units, built by Taylor Morrison:

UPDATE: Four housing tracts will overrun east Sarasota County without a public long range plan

Updated as of July 24, 2018:

If you live in Sarasota east of the Interstate, or if you like to experience the country roads of rural Florida, prepare for the shock of large-scale development. Several super-sized housing tracts are coming to East Sarasota. Four projects alone will add nearly 28,000 housing units on 20,705 acres.

Major developable swaths of east Sarasota County are either already underway or set to be approved before the inevitable next crash in the Sunshine State's housing cycle.

Sarasota County Map of developments to the East of I-75, north of Palmer Boulevard 

One of the four largest, Lakewood Ranch (LWR), ranks #5 among the "fastest growing suburbs in the US":

Sprawl: Fastest burbs in the US: LWR = #5

The four largest are Waterside at Lakewood Ranch (Rex Jensen), Hi Hat (Turner), LT Ranch (Turner) and Grand Lakes (Pat Neal). Stretching from University down to 681 near Venice in East Sarasota, these ambitious projects will replace East Sarasota's rural ranchlands and open space with huge tracts of housing.

And more gated housing projects are coming, including Lindvest, Lakepark Estates, Worthington, Palmer Place, Sylvan Lea, Hidden Creek, Rivo Lakes and more.

While quickly granting concessions to private developers, Sarasota County's elected Board displays no evident awareness of its civic responsibility to gauge cumulative impacts, nor, as the public steward of the land, to integrate these impacts within a larger vision of intrinsic tradition and commitment to public uses. One looks in vain for a discussion of bringing greenways or waterways into alignment to create walking paths, wildlife corridors, kayakable sloughs and riding trails that could offer the people of Sarasota public recreation North to South, and East to West.

During a public discussion of a County proposal to reduce open space requirements for developers, one resident put it this way: "If we make changes like this, it changes the character of Sarasota County that was the reason many of us came here."

Here's a brief overview of the four largest developments that are either underway or whose plans have received approval:

Rex Jensen's Waterside at Lakewood Ranch

It’s the first project coming to fruition in Schroeder-Manatee Ranch’s Waterside at Lakewood Ranch, a 5,144-home, 5,500-acre development in Sarasota County set around a series of seven large lakes left over from SMR’s aggregate mining operations. 

The Waterside project generally runs from Interstate 75 to east of Lorraine Road and between University Parkway and Fruitville Road. It is located south of the Sarasota Polo Club and the Lakewood Ranch Corporate Park.

"Waterside"

"Waterside" will add 5,144 units, 5,500 acres

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Turner Family: Hi Hat Ranch 

Stretching from Fruitville Road to Clark Road, this 10,000-acre mega-development of a former ranch will add an estimated 12,000 homes. 

Hearing July 11, 9 a.m. County Commission Chambers.

UPDATE: Board Action: Hi Hat Petition Approved July 11.

Add: 12,000-13,000 units, 10,000 acres

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Turner Family: LT Ranch

This former ranch is approved and underway. It will start with 3,450 units.

LT Ranch

". . . the 1,725-acre property owned by the Turner family will break ground in the “2050 South Village” mixed-use development plan for the largely rural stretch leading out to the Myakka River State Park. 

"The massive project includes up to 3,450 residential units throughout the neighborhoods, up to 300,000 square feet of commercial space at the corner of Clark Road and Bee Ridge Extension, and a host of environmental and road improvements throughout the area, according to the plans." Herald Tribune 11.9.2016

UPDATE: Apparently this wasn't "massive" enough, because the Sarasota County Board in 2014 deviated from the Comp Plan to allow a more ambitious development:

Property owners planning to add a village on 4,672 acres near Clark Road and Interstate 75 got a lot more leeway Wednesday on how and when they build. 

County commissioners decided to amend the county’s 2050 growth plan to allow the owners, 3H Ranch LLC and LT Partners LLLP, to create 9,344 homes on the land, roughly 5,500 to 6,300 more than the guidelines permit. Herald Tribune 3.5.2014

        Update June 2024: Pat Neal's 3H Ranch proposal plans to construct 6,576 units. 

Skye Ranch + 3H Ranch together will add some 10,026 units on 4,672 acres.

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West of LT Ranch, Pat Neal's "Grand Lakes" proposes to put 1,000 homes on 533 acres south of Clark Road at Ibis. The number of Pat Neal dwellings all told in Sarasota County will soon approach 10,000 units.

Hearing continued to July 11, 1:30 pm at Commission Chambers.

UPDATE: Board Action: Neal's Grand Lakes approved despite one-road access* was approved. The action raised a potential public safety issue for this giant cul de sac -- an issue acknowledged, but not addressed, by the Commissioners. Neighbors are considering options for an appeal, and say the Board ruling could open the way to sprawl across East Sarasota County.

See also the Letter to the Editor titled "Something is suspicious in Neal project approval":

All of the 300 current homeowners on Ibis were confined to their property earlier this year when a fire closed the road for hours. Now the county approves 1,100 additional homes, nearly a 400 percent increase, without fixing the egress issue on a dead-end street.

Grand Lakes

Add: 1,000 units, 533 acres

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If all these tracts are approved as planned, they'll add more than 27,600 units to 20,705 acres of a rural area sparsely connected by two-lane country roads, which has no commercial, park or recreational areas. More are on the drawing boards -- including the 450-acre Lindvest tract at Fruitville and Dog Kennel Road, with 900 units. Changes to the 2050 Comprehensive Plan have helped Lindvest progress. Is Sarasota County going to answer these private developments with a balancing vision of public uses -- open spaces, trails, adequate roads and and recreational areas available to all? 

Here's a December 2017 Sarasota County map of developments between Fruitville Road and University Parkway:

Developments in NE Sarasota County: Source: Sarasota County

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It's time to ask our elected officials: What are you thinking? Are you even thinking? What is this Board, as our representative, doing in response to this appetite for rampant growth? 

Here, for example, is a map of East County, with athletic fields open to the public. For those living east of the highway, one must drive 9-10 miles to the west or south.

Will our elected commissioners address the need for public planning and adjust impact fees to prepare for the coming demand for roads, trails, amenities, commerce, arts and recreation, or will they abdicate responsible governance, do nothing, and have us all go hang?

*Sarasota News Leader story made available through kind permission of the publisher.