Sarasota 7th in new home construction - without accountability

Developers Pat Neal, Rex Jensen and others claim they're just getting started here, when home builders have already clear-cut tens of thousands of acres of habitat, agricultural lands and open space in the last few years alone. 

Skye Ranch townhomes under construction, Clark Road

This Board of County Commissioners serves as a rubber stamp for their efforts, which has released without accountability, many thousands of tons of CO2 and methane into the atmosphere, replaced the function and value of the land, the carbon sink and storm water attenuation properties of the land with impervious surface. 

Research shows the short and long term effects of such irresponsible actions to be: 

• Dramatic increases in the heat island effect. 
• Dramatic increases in toxic pollution in storm water runoff into impacted water bodies and the Gulf of Mexico. 
• Increased destruction of wildlife habitats and wetlands, exacerbating the extinction crisis. 
• Extreme increases in releases of methane and CO2, contributing to the climate change crisis. 

More than 25,000 homes approved in one area of NE Sarasota Cty

 

North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton

• New per 1,000 existing 2021: 36.2
• New per 1,000 existing 2019: 23.6
• Total new units authorized 2021: 15,924
• Total new units authorized 2019: 10,009
• Percentage change in housing units authorized 2019–2021: 59.1%
• Median home price: $471,267

2022 cost to build a house

United States

• New per 1,000 existing 2021: 12.
• Recent FDH: No swim advisory issued for Palma Sola South. 

Sarasota metro ranks seventh in the nation for new home construction

Gayle Reynolds,

Conservation Chair,

M/S Sierra Club

Ed's note: The text of Reynold's message is verbatim. Images were added by the editor.

Proposed New Rules for Charter Schools: Sufficient or No?

This was posted to the Sarasota Voices list. It might help structure some discussion of Charter School education in Sarasota as the School Board elections proceed.

Given the mixed bag of charter school 'partnerships' clamoring for our tax money and fighting regulation at every level, these Federal Guidelines might serve to guide our local representatives in raising the bar for every such 'partnership' where the funding comes from taxpayers and the profits accrue to the investor classes. 

This week the US Department of Education released much-anticipated updates to rules for the Expanding Opportunity Through Quality Charter School Programs (CSP) – the Grants to State Entities and the Grants to Charter School Developers for the Opening of New Charter Schools and for the Replication and Expansion of High-Quality Charter Schools programs.

This is the first update to the rules since 1994 and will apply to grant applicants for this year and subsequent years. Proposed rules were released in April followed by a comment period. A total of 26,580 comments were received of which 5,770 were unique. Most were duplicates from letter-writing campaigns. According to the department, “the majority [of comments] expressed general support for the regulations and the priorities.”

The first section of the new rules lists the main points raised in the public comments and what (if any) change was made in the rules in response.

According to the department, the rules affirm its commitment to assuring access to high-quality education for all students by:

• “Ensuring that all students – with a focus on underserved students – have access to a high-quality public education, whether in a charter school, a magnet school, a community school, or other type of public school.
• Supporting high-quality charter schools and fulfilling our responsibility to be good stewards of federal funds. This means ensuring that recipients of taxpayer dollars across all Department discretionary and formula grant programs – including these programs – are subject to strong fiscal transparency, oversight, and accountability.
• Recognizing the important role the federal government can play in supporting state and local efforts to increase student diversity across and within our nation’s public school system. We are at our strongest as a nation when we embrace the rich diversity across our country. Federal resources should not be used to increase racial or socioeconomic segregation and isolation.”

These goals are accomplished through several key provisions of the rules.

Limitations on applications from for-profit entities and more transparency requirements. 

• Applicants must ensure that the for-profit management company “does not exercise full or substantial control over the charter school.” This requirement bars charter schools operated by for-profit companies from obtaining CSP funds. There are numerous such charter schools in NC.
• Applicants who plan to contract with a for-profit management company must provide extensive information about the contract, leadership personnel, real estate, etc. and the charter school must not share legal, accounting, or auditing services with the for-profit.

Greater transparency and accountability for charter schools, state entities, and charter management operators that apply for grants.

• Charter school grantees must hold a public hearing on proposed or expanded charter school plans. The schools are obligated to reach out to the community to encourage and provide a summary as part of the obligation.
• Information about potential costs for prospective parents must be clearly published including fees, uniform requirements, disciplinary practices, transportation plans, and whether the school participates in the national free/reduced-price lunch program.
• Schools must publish for-profit management contracts, names of awardee schools and their peer-reviewed applications as well as descriptions of the review process. (NC already publishes grant proposals)
• There are new restrictions on schools spending implementation funds for planning year activities prior to the charter school being approved and securing a facility.

Submission of a needs analysis that includes

• Evidence of community desire for the school.
• Documentation of the school’s enrollment projections and how they were determined.
• A demographic analysis of the district and the proposed school.
• The projected impact on racial and socioeconomic diversity with assurances that the school will not increase racial segregation and isolation in the local school district from which the charter school would draw its students. 
• Assurance and steps taken to ensure that the school will not negatively affect district desegregation efforts.

These new rules for future CSP grantees are common-sense ways to assure the public that taxpayer dollars are being spent to benefit our students' education and not to enrich operators or increase segregation.

For example, since 2001, 930 CSP-funded charter schools and proposed charter schools (approximately 14.5 percent) either never opened or closed prior to the end of the grant period.

These charter school closures and failures to open cost more than $174 million in federal resources provided through CSP.

The new rules that require more advance planning, evidence of need, and limits on spending without authorization all bolster the likelihood of a charter's ultimate success.

These new rules are an important first step in making sure that taxpayer dollars are not spent on schools that

• never open or
• open and close quickly, 
• foster segregation, or
• simply line the pockets of for-profit operators. 

Increased transparency will shine a light on the positive and negative aspects of the charter school programs and will hopefully lead to more improvements in the future.

From Ranch to Village: Another big development coming to Clark Road

A report on 3HRanch - a large planned development on Clark Road (more about the explosion of housing on Clark Road here):

 

Dear Area Residents,

 

I participated in yesterday's Neighborhood Workshop regarding the rezoning of 3HRANCH rural land to Village Planned Development (VPD). The photo below shows the Village Concept Plan. 

 

 

Here's a recap of the meeting:

• This Neighborhood Workshop was the official one, as there was County staff participation.
• The proposed VPD will consist of 2,733 acres.
• It will have 12 neighborhoods and one Village Center. 
• There will be 6,576 residential dwelling units in the 12 neighborhoods.  
• A minimum of six different housing types will be built consisting of single-family homes, townhouses, and apartments.
• Due to a recent change to the County's Uniform Development Code, no affordable housing is planned to be built.
• A 250,000-square-foot commercial/retail center will be built to provide services for Village residents.  The plan is to build it either on Clark Road near the Village entrance road or near the south end of the Village. 
• A new school (marked in purple) for K-8 will be built on 57 acres.  A 36-acre recreational park will be located adjacent to the new school. 
• A new road for access to the Village will be built off of Clark Road (see small black arrow on the photo above). 
• The team working on the Concept Plan for the VPD is representing the multi-generational owners of 3HRANCH.  They have not selected any builder or builders yet.
• The Concept Plan team hopes to submit the application to the County Staff in late September or early October timeframe.  Since the number of dwelling units exceeds 1,000, a Development of Critical Concerns (DOCC) list must also be included with the application to the County. 
• It will take 12 to 18 months for the County to process the application.  
• If approval is obtained, additional time will be needed to construct the infrastructure (internal roads, water & sewer, electric, and other utilities) before the building of dwelling units could begin.
• The projection is that the home building would begin in 2025 and the Village would be built-out in 2040.

During the meeting, I made two requests on behalf of existing residents:

1. We don't want any access to the new Village via Ibis Street, as there is already too much traffic on it.
2. We want a 500-foot Greenway established on the 3HRANCH property (east side of Ibis Street)  across from the north point of Serenoa running south to the southern end of the Serenoa Lakes property line.  The Greenway must consist of dense, tall trees to mitigate the noise and shield the view of new homes in the Village.

I hope you find the above information helpful.  I plan to closely follow this land development project as it evolves.

 

David

 

David Anderson

External Affairs, Serenoa Lakes Community Association

Phone: 941-921-9302

Cell: 941-228-0309

Email: mdanderson4@verizon.net

Website: www.serenoalakes.org

One way to get growth under control

 Elect leaders who favor controlled growth

Letter to the Editor, Herald Tribune, 6.28.22

Are you concerned that the rapid population growth and unrestricted development in Sarasota County will cause this region to become just another congested, sprawling urban area? If so, there are two things you can do.

One, elect local leaders who prioritize preserving the unique character of our local environment and who aim to safeguard our precious natural resources.

And two, do not vote for candidates who receive much of their funding from developers and those who stand to gain from runaway growth.

Now is a good time for voters to research the priorities and funding of the candidates running for city or county commissioner in August.

For example, early research shows that city commission candidate Dan Lobeck, president of Control Growth Now, has for decades fought developers’ big-money influence. That's why he has my support.

Meanwhile, county commission candidate Lourdes Ramirez also fights for growth law protection and strategic infrastructure planning – so she also has my support.

In contrast, county commission candidate Joseph Neunder – according to the Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections website – received tens of thousands of dollars in contributions from developers* and real estate-related firms. I will not be voting for Neunder.

Nick T., Sarasota

*Citizens for Sarasota Editor's note: More about the huge inflow of developer money to Neunder here.

Also:

Ramirez is running against Fredd Atkins, Hagen Brody, Mike Cosentino, and Mark Smith. District 2 Incumbent Christian Ziegler is not running again for the seat. 

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.

Paving Pat Neal wants more paving

From Northeast Sarasota County citizens:  

Northeast Sarasota target area of Paving Pat Neal

Hi Everyone,

We need you to write to the County Commissioners about what Pat Neal is planning to do. He has now asked to increase the density to 2 houses per acre and bring another 5000 homes east on Fruitville. This can not go through or we will say goodbye to the future of rural Sarasota.

Please write a simple note to the Commissioners that says:

Keep the country...country for now and future generations to live on, learn from and love the land.

PLEASE HELP! TELL COMMISSIONERS TO VOTE “NO” ON CPA 2022-B

Email County Commissioners

Mike Moran mmoran@scgov.net

Al Maio amaio@scgov.net

Ron Cutsinger rcutsinger@scgov.net

Christian Ziegler cziegler@scgov.net

Nancy Detert ncdetert@scgov.net

 Below is from Becky Ayech, President of the Miakka Community Club.

“Proposed Comprehensive Plan Amendment 20222-B is an attempt by Paving Pat Neal to change the allowable densities on 4,000 acres along and north of Fruitville Road.

Currently the existing zoning of 300 acres zoned at OUE-1 (60 homes), 2,570 acres zoned OUR (257 homes) and 1,030 acres zoned as Hamlet (400) houses totals 717 houses.

The total traffic generated under the existing zoning is** 5,722 daily trips**.

If the 4,000 acres were developed as Hamlets, the number of houses could be as little as 200 houses and as many as 1,600. If the land were developed at the highest density of 1,600 houses then that would mean 12,768 daily trips.

What Paving Pat Neal is proposing is 5,000 houses. This would be 39,900 daily trips.

Paving Pat Neal is also proposing a reduction of the 500' buffer to only 50'.

Paving Pat Neal is also proposing to limit the Open Space requirement to as little as 43%.

The 4,000 is within the boundaries as defined in the Old Miakka Neighborhood Plan. These are historic rural and agricultural lands.

And don't be fooled, while the density request for 2 units an acre as a transitional zone to 1 unit per 5 acres is the narrative. the units do not have to be developed on 1/2 acre lots. the lots can be any size. How is that compatible with 5 acre homesteads?

CPA 2022-B is urban sprawl. Calling it a Village Transitional Zone (VTZ) doesn't change the fact it is urban sprawl. It is like putting lipstick on a pig, it still is a pig.

Detailed analysis here

Comprehensive Plan Amendment proposed by Paving Pat Neal

[Editor's note: The County Commission was delighted when Rex Jensen and Pat Neal offered to rewrite the Sarasota County 2050 Comp Plan.]

PLEASE HELP! TELL COMMISSIONERS TO VOTE “NO” ON CPA 2022-B”

PLEASE SHARE THIS INFORMATION ON ALL YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA.

THE PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING IS JULY 21.

Mike Moran mmoran@scgov.net

Al Maio amaio@scgov.net

Ron Cutsinger rcutsinger@scgov.net

Christian Ziegler cziegler@scgov.net

Nancy Detert ncdetert@scgov.net

NOAA should go back to the drawing board

From a column in the Bradenton Times:

Industrial-scale finfish farming is not sustainable, it:

• Is not inclusive, as it favors wealthy investors and actively harms other existing industries, such as fishing
• Does not expand access to nutritious domestic seafood, as the fish would be sold for the highest price and have been fed and doused with a variety of chemicals
• Harms coastal and ocean ecosystems that existing fishing livelihoods depend on, due to the transfer of disease, fecal pollution, toxic chemical applications, and fish escapes.

GOAL 1: MANAGE SUSTAINABLY AND EFFICIENTLY Improve the regulatory system for sustainable coastal and marine aquaculture through collaboration with partners.” 

In relation to offshore finfish farming, Goal 1 Objectives actually contradict the Vision and in reality, would accomplish the following:

• Objective 1A: supporting "the establishment of a clear, efficient, and appropriate regulatory framework for sustainable offshore aquaculture” means the agency is advocating for passage of the AQUAA Act, a bill that would open federal waters to industrial-scale fish farming and actually give NOAA the authority to regulate this space. The bill fails to protect the marine environment or remedy the negative economic impacts such an expansion would have on other existing industries or small-scale fishing livelihoods.
• Objective 1B to "authorize small-scale or limited-time aquaculture activities” including "commercial trials” is the agency’s promise to keep giving taxpayer money to private companies to artificially distort the marketplace away from community-driven aquaculture programs. 
• Objective 1C is the agency’s promise to "advance NOAA aquaculture directives under existing Executive Orders,” meaning that the Biden Administration plans to endorse Trump’s Executive Order 13921, a disastrous order with the goal of eviscerating environmental and social safeguards in order to fast-track and rubber-stamp the permitting process under the guise of streamlining regulations.
• Objective 1D is the agency’s promise to eagerly abide by Trump’s EO 13921, by identifying more "aquaculture opportunity areas” to aid prospective investors in siting their facilities, even though several of the existing AOA proposals are already controversially-sited and lack any public buy-in.

GOAL 3: EDUCATE AND EXCHANGE INFORMATION Build awareness and support for coastal and marine aquaculture through two-way communication with diverse stakeholders and partners”

Unfortunately, the agency plans to use taxpayer money to attempt to convince people that harmful forms of aquaculture are just as beneficial as truly sustainable forms of aquaculture.

• Objective 3A calls the propaganda campaign an effort to "improve public perception”
• Objectives 3C and 3E appear to value "equitable access to concise education” and outreach to "diverse audiences,” but when compared to the agency’s actual practices, that is, ignoring all voices in coastal communities that are in opposition to industrial-scale development.

Conclusion: Instead of steamrolling fishing communities to force an industrial offshore fish farming regime on our federal waters, NOAA should go back to the drawing board to develop truly community-focused proposals for supporting seafood production, including support for independent fishermen and small-scale, sustainable aquaculture.

 If you want to read the full draft plan, you can find it here.

Andrianna Natsoulas

Campaign Director

Don't Cage Our Oceans

Palingenetic Fascism takes the Alamo

The soul of the Republican Party is dead. The Platform from the Texas GOP conference shows they are coming after the rights and the lives of someone—maybe everyone—you know. And then they’re coming for you. This is Palingenetic Ultranationalism - aka Fascism. TrumpPutin was just a trial run. SOURCE is their platform itself. Linked at the bottom.

THEY’RE COMING FOR GAY MARRIAGE AND SPOUSAL BENEFITS:

Definition of Marriage: We support the definition of marriage as a God-ordained, legal, and moral covenant only between one biological man and one biological woman.

State Authority over Marriage: We support withholding jurisdiction from the federal courts in cases involving family law, especially any changes in the definition of marriage.

Spousal Benefits: We shall not recognize or grant to any unmarried person the legal rights or status a spouse, as defined in Principle #6 of the Platform, including granting benefits by political subdivisions. 

No-Fault Divorce: We urge the Legislature to rescind unilateral no-fault divorce laws and support covenant marriage and to pass legislation extending the period of time in which a divorce may occur to six months after the date of filing for divorce. 

Nullify Unconstitutional We believe the Obergefell v. Hodges decision, overturning the Texas law prohibiting same-sex marriage in Texas, has no basis in the Constitution and should be nullified.

THEY’RE COMING FOR TRANS PEOPLE:

We recognize that gender identity disorder is a genuine and extremely rare mental health condition and that denial of an immutable gender binary not only denies those with the condition proper mental healthcare but also leads to physically and psychologically abusive “social transitioning” as well as irreversible physical mutilation. We urge the State Legislature to pass legislation that requires adherence to sex identifications on all official documents that will be based upon biological gender, as well as legislation enacting civil penalties and fiscal compensation awarded to de-transitioners who have received “gender affirming surgery” as compensation for malpractice.

THEY’RE COMING FOR WOMEN’S LIVES

Abolish Abortion: Since life begins at fertilization, we urge the Texas Legislature to abolish abortion 1242 through enacting legislation that would immediately secure the rights to life and would nullify any and all federal statutes, regulations, orders, and court rulings that would deny these rights.

Inviolability of Life and Fundamental Right to Life: All innocent human life must be respected and safeguarded from fertilization to natural death; therefore, the unborn, the aged, and the physically or mentally challenged have a fundamental individual right to life, which cannot be infringed. We respect the uniqueness of human life and oppose practices which corrupt human DNA, mix human and animal DNA, or other trans-humanist initiatives that do not respect the sanctity and uniqueness of human life. All humans are endowed by their creator with sovereign rights of ownership of their person and DNA, regardless of any DNA modification, and claims to the contrary are invalid.

THEY ARE COMING FOR REFUGEES—TO KILL THEM

State Self-Defense: We urge the Texas Legislature to invoke Art I, § 10, cl. 3 of the US Constitution, also known as the state self-defense clause, which asserts that under an active invasion (as defined or declared by the Governor of the State or Texas Legislature), the sovereign state of Texas has the authority and duty to defend Texas citizens against “imminent Danger,” not admitting delay, by any and all appropriate measures the sovereign state defines as necessary to defend from such assaults.

Immediately equip the Texas Military with the necessary tools and authority to serve and protect Texas State territories and citizens.

THE’RE COMING FOR YOUR VOTE

Fair Elections Procedures: We support the right of eligible voters to cast a ballot in each election once, but we oppose illegal voting, illegal assistance, or ineligible persons. We support:

• Vigorous enforcement of all our election laws as written and oppose any laws, lawsuits, and judicial decisions that make voter fraud very difficult to deter, detect, or prosecute.
• Voter Photo ID.
• Prohibition of internet voting for public office and any ballot measure.
• That mail-in ballots must be requested and only granted to those that cannot physically appear in-person.
• Increased scrutiny and security in balloting by mail to including removal of Section 87.014 (d-1) of the Texas Election code to require once again full signature verification with the need to rebut regardless of whether paper identification numbers are on the application and ballot carrier envelope.
• Felony status for willful violations of the election code and increasing penalty for voter fraud from a misdemeanor back to a felony.
• The constitutional authority of state legislatures to regulate voting, including disenfranchisement of convicted felons.
• Changes to the appropriate sections of Texas law that would deny or cancel homestead exemptions, driver licenses, and License to Carry, if the addresses on those documents DO NOT match the address on the voter’s registration
• Consolidating elections to primary, run-off, special called, and General Election days and locations
• Sequentially numbered and signed ballots to deter counterfeiting.
• Expanding the Attorney General’s staff for investigating election crimes and restoring the ability of the Attorney General to prosecute any election crimes.
• The ability for civil lawsuits to be filed for election fraud or failure of officials to follow the election code.
• Allowing trained Poll Watchers from anywhere in Texas with local Party or Candidate approval.
• Creating processes that will allow rapid adjudication of election law violation disputes as they occur and before violations can be successfully perpetrated.
• Withdrawing from Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC).

Voter Registration: We support restoring integrity to the voter registration rolls and reducing voter fraud by:

• repealing all motor voter laws.
• requiring voters to re-register, if they have not voted in a five-year period.
• requiring photo ID of all registrants.
• requiring proof of residency and citizenship along with the voter registration application. retaining the 30-day registration deadline.
• requiring that a list of certified deaths be provided to the Secretary of State in order for the names of deceased voters be removed from the list of registered voters. periodic checks on the voter rolls to ensure all currently registered voters are eligible.
• giving the Secretary of State enforcement authority to ensure county registrar compliance with Secretary of State directives.
• revising Title 19 funding to avoid incentivizing retention of ineligible voters.
• use any undedicated federal election funds received to improve the security of our online voter registration data.

THEY SUPPORT FASCISM

One World: The United States is a sovereign nation founded on the principles of freedom. We reject any assertion of authority over our nation or its citizens from foreign individuals or entities, such as the World Economic Forum, World Health Organization, and the United Nations. We reject the concept of One World Government, or The Great Reset.

United Nations: The United Nations is a detriment to the sovereignty of the United States and other countries; because of this we support:

• Our withdrawal from the current United Nations.
• The removal of the United Nations from United States soil.
• The opposition to placement of US troops under command of the United Nations.
• The rejection of all Agenda 21 and Agenda 2030 policies and programs.
• The rejection of all related NGOs, councils, and environmental programs.
• A zero-budget allotment of American tax dollars to any United Nations programs.
• The opposition to any designation of World Heritage Sites in the United States and especially in Texas.
• Withdrawal from the UN Arms Trade Treaty.
• Withdrawal from the corrupt World Health Organization (WHO).
• Prohibition of any Global Pandemic Treaty, International Health Regulations (IHR), or amendments to IHR that would infringe on our national sovereignty.
• A credible, impartial, and international investigation into the WHO’s and China’s actions regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Withdrawal from the UN International Baccalaureate Organization.
• The rejection of the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
• The rejection of any attempt to allow the United Nations or any other foreign entity to levy taxes on the United States or its citizens.

THEY ARE TREASONOUS PROMOTERS OF THE INSURRECTION—AND “BIG LIE”

Election: We believe that the 2020 election violated Article 1 and 2 of the US Constitution, that various secretaries of state illegally circumvented their state legislatures in conducting their elections in multiple ways, including by allowing ballots to be received after November 3, 2020.

We believe that substantial election fraud in key metropolitan areas significantly affected the results in five key states in favor of Joseph Robinette Biden Jr.

We reject the certified results of the 2020 Presidential election, and we hold that acting President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was not legitimately elected by the people of the United States.

We strongly urge all Republicans to work to ensure election integrity and to show up to vote in November of 2022.

Source: Report of the 2022 Permanent Platform and Resolutions Committee

“The battlefield used to be between Republicans and Democrats,” he told the convention on Saturday. “Then it was between conservatives and liberals. Now the battlefield has once again changed. We must improvise, adapt and overcome to defeat our enemy. This new battlefield, this new battlefield is between patriots and traitors.”  More