Sarasota City Hall needs an attitude adjustment

 From an editorial that appeared in the Herald Tribune, Dec. 26:

Mollie Cardamone

A recent email exchange between Sarasota City Manager Marlon Brown and City Attorney Robert Fournier exposed some of the dynamics that have resulted in the public,and the public interest,being locked out of the policymaking process. At a Dec. 7 workshop on the topic of bars and nightclubs,it was revealed that Fournier had not been brought into the process of drafting the language proposed by the planning staff. It also became clear that Fournier had material concerns about the legal implications of how the planning staff was approaching the issue. But on Dec. 8, Fournier wrote that he decided not to offer substantive comments on the staff's presentation because he knew from past experience that it might "engender a strong negative reaction (from the planning staff) and might result in an argument I had no interest in having." 

Sadly, this closely resembles the daily experiences of many Sarasota citizens; too often, the city's planning staff holds one-way conversations with residents and neighborhood organizations in our community. In short: Residents are viewed as obstacles to be avoided or dismissed. Educated analysis is ignored or denigrated. Facts are not provided to support proposals or legislation. And the planning staff apparently doesn't listen to City Manager Brown either. On Dec. 11, Brown revealed the true depth of the staff's general truculence when he wrote the following to Fournier: "What you and I discussed at lunch was staff being wedded to their 2/2 positions on (zoning text amendments) and not willing to move. I talk to them about that all the time." 

Clearly, the time has come to put the public back into "public service." And it must start with reminding the city commissioners, the city management and the city staff that the residents of Sarasota – their constituents – are at the top of the city’s organizational chart. 

What does this mean? It means realizing that planning starts with planning for people. It means understanding that laws exist for a reason. It means accepting that regulations should not be changed without careful analysis – or without active involvement from citizens regarding the possible consequences for the public at large. 

And it means that when it comes to weighing private profits versus public safety, the long term sustainability and livability of the city must always take precedence. Until the next election, our power lies in making sure our voices are heard by our elected officials. 

It's now time for us to ask our elected officials to direct City Manager Brown to take immediate steps to remind staff members that they serve the citizens of Sarasota.

Mollie Cardamone

Mollie Cardamone is a former city commissioner and current member of the endorsement committee of CityPAC, which is using Bill Sadowski’s “Creed for Public Service” as one of its four measures of qualifications for the position of Sarasota city commissioner in 2024. She encourages citizens to contact city officials at citycommissioners@sarasotafl.gov  

Three Sarasota Icons at a Breaking Point

A version of this story originally appeared in WSLR's Critical Times, Jan. 2024, page 11.

Sarasota is in the grip of a growth machine that threatens to render three of its most iconic places unrecognizable.

US News & World Report recently tagged Sarasota County as the second fastest growing region in the United States. That “success” has had consequences: Between 2013-23, housing prices shot up by 148% here -- way above the national average.

While local boosters point with optimistic glee to the prosperity new residents and tourists bring, residents have pinpointed growth as their #1 concern four years in a row, citing failing roads, development incompatibilities, and the exodus of working people unable to buy or rent. As gated communities and strip malls crop up, developers ask for -- and often receive -- maximum densities.

As we move into 2024, exorbitant developer proposals threaten three unique places beloved by the public. Could these assets be at a breaking point? 

1. Siesta Key: With its walkable village and famed beach, Siesta has long been the number one tourist feature in the county. Developers want high-rise hotels that would far exceed the current density limit of 26 units per acre; residents have lined up to oppose them. 

"Siesta Key has the most intensive residential development in Sarasota County,” says Lourdes Ramirez (left), a resident who took the county to court for violating its Comp Plan, and succeeded in blocking the County Commission’s efforts to bypass those limits.

Benderson Development Inc. now wishes to change county policy to allow hotels with virtually no unit limit. After more than a dozen community leaders offered cogent reasons why that would disrupt the character of their neighborhood, they watched the Commission direct staff to process Benderson’s proposal. 

“Increasing density for mega-size hotels on a hurricane prone barrier island will put residents and visitors at increased risk,” says Ramirez. Will the Board listen? An online workshop about the project is scheduled for Jan. 8, at 6 p.m. A public Zoom link to the workshop has not yet been shared.

2. At the opposite edge of the county, residents of northeast Sarasota oppose the eastward march of Lakewood Ranch. At risk are 4,123 acres of Old Miakka with 5,000 dwelling units removed from the county’s oldest rural community. Folks there believed they were protected by an “Old Miakka Neighborhood Plan” developed by the County 20 years ago. To their dismay they learned that the plan was never formally adopted by the County -- it was merely “accepted.” 

Old Miakka Schoolhouse

Founded 170 years ago -- before Sarasota was a county -- Old Miakka now fears for its very way of life. Leading the impetus to expand Lakewood Ranch to the east are two powerful developers, Rex Jensen and Pat Neal. Old Miakka has appealed a Comp Plan amendment approved by the Board, and a judge’s ruling could come in mid-December. If the ruling goes against them, their distinctive world will become part of Lakewood Ranch -- without the ranch, wood, or lake.

3. Midway between Siesta Key and Old Miakka sits the Celery Fields, which began in the late 90s as a stormwater management effort. The area now protects hundreds of homes on Phillippi Creek that earlier had been ravaged by a fierce 1992 flood.

From that project rose an unexpected dividend -- actually, two: First, more than 250 species of native and migratory birds discovered a serene wetland haven where they can rest and nest. Soon after, “Mt. Celery,” the elevated plateau created from muck, began to attract Sarasotans to a unique recreational space where, after a gentle climb, they see birds in flight below.

Firefighter training at Mt. Celery

These days residents and tourists who love to hike, walk their dogs, work out with their track and athletic teams, or just watch the birds and the sunset, gravitate to the Celery Fields. At night, a “Dark Skies” policy mutes the streetlights, and amateur astronomers often bring huge scopes to explore the heavens.

The public investment in creating this Trifecta approaches $50 million, a success story that has captured the hearts of the people. When a developer sought to build a dump next to it, the overwhelming public reaction was fiercely articulate and unambiguous. He lost.

After Sarasota Audubon built a Nature Center at the Celery Fields at a cost of $1 million, the County granted them an easement on 27 acres west of the Celery Fields. Along with the Conservation Foundation, Audubon plans to buffer and diversify the habitat through a $5 million “Re-Wilding” of the Quad parcels.

Now, however,Texas builder DR Horton proposes to build 171 homes on farmland immediately east of the nesting wetlands on Raymond Road. This intense cluster will impact wildlife, traffic, runoff, the dark skies and more. 

“The effort and funding going into the Quad parcels to buffer the western edge of the Celery Fields will be adversely affected by this development planned for the southeastern edge," says Jeanne Dubi, president of Sarasota Audubon, adding, “A lose-lose all round.” A petition circulating by a concerned citizen is closing in on 6,000 signatures opposing Horton’s plan. 

Siesta Key, Old Miakka and the Celery Fields contribute immensely to Sarasota's diversity, charm, and quality of life for all. Each is a beloved and iconic public asset. At coming hearings, each could be sacrificed for the sake of private profit.

• Old Miakka will soon learn if its challenge to the Neal/Jensen project holds up in court. 

• The public hearing for DR Horton’s proposal at the Celery Fields is expected in March.

• A workshop about Benderson’s mega-hotel proposal is set for Jan. 8.

Imagine Sarasota County without modest Siesta Village, or once-peaceful evenings at the Celery Fields with a Horton neighborhood next door. Picture the rural legacy of Old Miakka paved into oblivion by an extra subdivision of Lakewood Ranch. 

Sarasota could lose its genius loci -- the unique aura that makes it Sarasota. All three of these irreplaceable communities will need widespread community support if they are to keep the places they love intact.

                                                                                            -- Tom Matrullo

Update: Benderson "Trojan Horse" could allow hotel development countywide

Further Update (posted Dec. 20, 2023)

We've just received notice from the Kimley Horn agent working with Benderson Development that cancels the Dec. 21 "neighborhood" workshop. The new date for the workshop is January 8, 6 pm.  The workshop is supposed to explain Benderson's effort to change the county Comp Plan in order to allow a large hotel on Siesta Key. 

The emailed notice from philip.dimaria@kimley-horn.com shares a personalized link that cannot be shared. We have asked Mr. DiMaria to send a universal link that would allow anyone to use.

The webinar information for "Siesta Key Village Hotel Neighborhood Workshop" which you previously registered for has been updated by the host.

Please submit any questions to: philip.dimaria@kimley-horn.com

Date Time: Jan 8, 2024 06:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join from a PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone or Android device: 

Mr. DiMaria offers a Zoom link, but adds: "This link should not be shared with others; it is unique to you."

If you've not received an email with a personalized Zoom link, please contact Mr. DiMaria to ask for a link: philip.dimaria@kimley-horn.com 

.  .  .  .  .   

With startling speed, Benderson Development Inc. has scheduled an online workshop to tell the public why Sarasota County should not only allow it to build an 85-foot-high mega-hotel on Siesta Key, but also why it should change the code to allow such large hotels countywide. 

A letter sent to County Planning Director Matt Osterhoudt from Benderson's agent first justifies the change to Siesta Key's Code by pleading that tourism requires more hotels, and asks for speedy processing:

Mega-hotel out of scale with modest SK village?

We respectfully request that you forward this request for an out-of-cycle, privately-initiated UDC text  amendment to the Administrator at your earliest possible convenience with your approval and a  recommendation that the proposed amendment be processed and proceed immediately. 

After describing the amendments it wishes the County to approve on Siesta Key, the letter seeks to expand the specific area it is concerned with to include the entire county:

The Applicant also intends to propose a text amendment to the UDC to provide that Transient Accommodations are considered a non-residential use throughout Sarasota County. . . 

"It’s a Trojan Horse amendment!" says Siesta Key resident Neal Schliefer, who objects to Benderson's effort to reclassify transient accommodations. In an email to Citizens for Sarasota County, Schliefer wrote:

“A simpler, more straightforward classification” has no relevance for the definition of transient accommodations, which were defined as a residential use to help control density and intensity of use to protect residents and visitors in environmentally sensitive areas, such as flood zones.

If Benderson's proposed changes to the Comp Plan are adopted, they would basically undo the basis of Lourdes Ramirez's court victory, which found that the County's willingness to allow developers to circumvent density restrictions to build mega-sized hotels on Siesta Key violated the County's own code and rules for barrier island development.

In an emailed response to the new, lightning-fast Benderson proposal to change the rules, Ramirez wrote:

The truth is the rules that Benderson wants changed or removed have protected our island for decades. These laws were put in place for a reason which is to protect the lives of those who reside and visit Siesta Key.

A Dec. 15th Sarasota News Leader story describes what Benderson is proposing:

 . . . a 147-room hotel that would stand up to 85 in height, with six habitable floors over parking levels.

It then adds detail:

The project is to encompass retail space and a restaurant, as well, the box notes. The total square footage, the box shows, would be approximately 136,900 square feet. The box identifies that as “nonresidential,” in keeping with Benderson’s proposal for the Comprehensive Plan amendment to eliminate the counting of hotel and motel rooms for residential density purposes.

Anyone wishing to help with the Siesta Key legal bills can do so here.

Sarasota Baptist's planned development: Careless? Indifferent? Dangerous?

The Lake Sarasota community wants its children to be safe, but a housing development proposed for Hand Road by Sarasota Baptist Church (Proctor Rd.) poses potential design dangers that have been ignored by the developer and by Sarasota Baptist.

Read on to learn why this project has come to be seen as CARELESS, INDIFFERENT, and DANGEROUS by residents familiar with the complexities of Hand Road.

Nowhere in the proposal are these issues of concern to parents and residents addressed:

• Neighborhood children walking to Lakeview Elementary cross Hand Road at a blind curve to and from school each day.
• Parents and teachers are tied up driving to and from Lakeview Elementary on Hand Road every weekday morning and afternoon.
• Buses of children converge on Oak Park School on Hand Road at 9 a.m. 
• Everyone in Lake Sarasota knows to avoid Hand Road during school opening and closing every day.
• Lago Road to Hand Road is a straightaway heading into to a blind curve.
• The plan proposes two entrances/exits onto Hand Road.
• Sarasota Baptist fills with hundreds of cars every Sunday morning.

When informed about the new construction, a crossing guard who has guided children at the curve from Lago to Hand Rd. for the past three years said, "That’s crazy! The road can’t handle any more traffic."

Why CARELESS?

• The plan produced by Bo Medred of Genesis Planning & Development Inc. seems fundamentally flawed -- nowhere does it address these unique conditions. 

• Sarasota County has a rule that a traffic study is only triggered when a certain number of new homes are to be built. The plan from Sarasota Baptist and David Weekley Homes seeks permission to build 141 homes, but they proffered a commitment (binding?) to build no more than 87 luxury homes, which is below the technical trigger for a study.

• Despite "NO" votes from two members of the Sarasota County Planning Commission, that board recommended approval without ever taking up the question of WHY, given the complex conditions and the presence of children walking to school, NO TRAFFIC STUDY HAS BEEN REQUIRED.

Pember



•  Moving the discussion away from fellow board members' safety concerns, Planning Commissioner Colin Pember said, "'I don’t think traffic’s an issue,' . . . eliciting laughter from the audience members." (Sarasota News Leader) He then drove the vote to recommend approval of the project. Pember is the Division Director of Land Acquisition at Pulte Group.

Why INDIFFERENT?

• Efforts to raise these issues with Pastor Michael Lewis of Sarasota Baptist went without a response. When a co-worker of Pastor Lewis was contacted, she assured us that Lewis had received emails of concern from Lake Sarasota (sent via the church site), but indicated that he would not be available to take calls or to speak with residents. Emails sent to him via his site have gone unanswered.
• When local residents brought intimate knowledge of traffic conditions that raise concerns, the Planning Commission voted for the plan without any stipulations or recommendations to scrutinize our safety considerations.

DANGEROUS:

• Hand Road is a major access driveway for our kids and parents every day (8am and 3pm). It's an extremely important access for safe and protected access for young ones, and the currently proposed site plan reflects two additional roadway connections, and 160+ additional vehicles which will create increased safety risks. 
• How is the developer and the County and/or school board mitigating these concerns?
• The proposed development would create two entrances/exits - both on Hand Road - one near to the curve from Lago Road to Hand:

• Sarasota County Transportation states that only an "operational analysis" commissioned by Medred has been done. It does not address the volume of cars, the walkways children use, or the straightaway on Lago leading to the sharp curve to Hand Road. And, it doesn't use actual traffic counts, only misleading estimates. For example, it states that the traffic levels on Proctor Road have not increased in the past three years - anyone hearing this who lives or drives along Proctor would laugh out loud.

On Tuesday Nov. 28 the County Commission will consider and possibly approve this project. To watch the meeting, go to this site, look for Nov. 28. On Tuesday a link to the meeting will be next to the agenda link. This is Item #38 on the agenda. If you can make it to the public hearing, please come and speak.

The safety issues outlined above are only part of the issue raised by this project. For more, see this series of observations raised by residents, including a professional planner.

Parents and children walking to school on Hand Rd.

Please see the related Sarasota News Leader story on the Planning Commission hearing.

FEMA The huge public investment in the Celery Fields has paid off

 FEMA's statement on the success of the Celery Fields:

Sarasota County Drainage Project Protects Celery Fields

SARASOTA, FL – Sightseers in northeastern Sarasota County enjoy a natural bird habitat, walking trails, and scenic overviews in an area once flourishing with stalks of celery. An old machine that used to harvest celery and a series of canals remain as reminders of what local residents still call the celery fields. Even evidence of the annual flooding is gone.

Farmers designed the fields to retain water and nourish the celery crops, but development to the south continually flooded as new building subdivisions increased runoff and decreased the ability of the ground to absorb water. The slight southern slope of the land and the loss of natural turf, due to development, caused flooding when heavy rains fell.

The situation became critical in 1992 when 22 inches of rain fell over three days, and the resulting runoff inundated more than 200 homes in the former celery fields.

According to Kirk Bagley, Sarasota County drainage operations manager, the county not only wanted to find a way to safely reroute the water from the inhabited areas, but also ensuring that when flood waters were moved, they did not flood other homes.

Engineers analyzed the area’s flooding patterns and north-south water flows, and then developed a plan to control the water through a series of canals, ponds and mechanical flow devices. They created computer simulations with various flooding conditions and, upon review of the data, the design appeared to stop the damage without flooding other areas.

The county purchased the remaining former celery fields – more than 300 acres of property cut with ditches and framed by a series of canals. The design incorporated the canal infrastructure and added diversion gates, outflow pipes and controls.

After three years of construction on the first two phases of the project, the test came in November and December 1997 when two 100-year events (a level of flooding that has a 1% chance of occurring in any given year) deluged the flood-prone area. The design worked. Nearby homes were spared from flooding.

The county installed automated monitoring stations that allowed staff to watch the water levels remotely. Because of this remote operation, Bagley and his staff can track the amount of water in the canals, measure accrued rainfall, graph results and make appropriate decisions about holding and releasing runoff from the facility and control flow into the system.

To pay for the project, Sarasota County put into place a funding plan often used by cities: the county’s water division localized assessments. This way only those residents who benefited from the project paid for it, instead of taxing all county residents.

“We couldn’t do what we’ve done without the basin assessments,” Bagley said. “With them we don’t have to compete for the county’s general fund dollars.”

The county supplemented assessments for the $27 million project with a grant from the Southwest Florida Water Management District and funds from the state of Florida.

The celery fields project contained a hidden bonus for the county. The grass marsh created on the site lured many birds to nest in its high grasses and weeds. People drove for miles to watch the migrations.

A partnership between the county and the Audubon Society developed to enhance the natural bird habitat. Plans for a third phase will increase walking trails, picnic areas, park amenities and natural landscaping. Visitors will find signs that identify birds and plantings amid the pines, salt myrtles, and wax myrtles.

Water brought new life to the celery fields. What started as nourishment for agricultural land became aggravation for flooded homesteads, returned as a natural habitat for birds and became a great place for people to visit and enjoy the view.

Before 11.14: oppose "defunding" Sarasota's Public library's memberships

Sarasota Commissioner Mike Moran 

Kindra Muntz:

THE ISSUE:  Encouraged by the Sarasota County Commission’s recent swift approval of “medical freedom” and “Bill of Rights sanctuary” resolutions, several speakers at last Monday’s board meeting asked commissioners to “defund” the county library system’s membership to the American Library Association and the Florida Library Association over concerns about reading material made available to young people at local libraries.

 

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Call or send an email to our elected officials before 11/14. The County Commissioners may vote on this issue and they are getting lots of support to "defund" libraries by the wacky right wingers.  

Go to the Commissioner's Meeting on Nov. 14 at 9:00 and Anderson Admin. Bldg,. in Venice.  Fill out a card to speak to the issue.

 

WHERE TO SEND AN EMAIL:

Sarasota County Commissioners -         commissioners@scgov.net

State Senator District 22 - Joe Gruters - Gruters.Joe@flsenate.gov 

State Rep. District 73 - Fiona McFarland- fiona.mcfarland@myfloridahouse.gov

District 74 - James Buchanan - james.buchanan@myfloridahouse.gov 

District 75 - Michael Grant - michael.grant@myfloridahouse.gov

 

SUGGESTED EMAIL WORDING:

[Subject Line]: I support strong Sarasota libraries! 

Thank you for your support of Sarasota County’s public libraries. Libraries play a vital role in creating a strong community where education and information is available to everyone. They are community spaces where residents from all walks of life come together. It is critical that libraries receive the funding they need to serve our ever-growing population. As a taxpayer, libraries are very important to me and I encourage you to allocate sufficient resources to ensure our library system continues to be the best in the state. Strong libraries aren’t a luxury - they are a necessity for a thriving community.  An enlightened County like Sarasota deserves the very best libraries

Sincerely,

_______________

TO PLACE A PHONE CALL:

County Commissioners: 941-861-5000

Joe Gruters: 941-378-6309

Fiona McFarland: 941-361-2465

Jameas Buchanan: 941-429-4560

Michael Grant: 941-613-0914

 

Sample Phone Script:

Below is a sample script you can use when calling your elected representatives in support of libraries. Please feel free to personalize these comments. 

Hello, my name is ___________________ and I live in District ________________. I believe strongly in the importance of public libraries and want to thank you for your past support for our Sarasota libraries. I urge you to please consider increasing the funding for our libraries so they can continue to meet the needs of our growing community and can keep pace with inflation and the rising costs of books and materials. Professional, well-resourced libraries are essential for our quality of life in Sarasota. Thank you for considering my request.

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

Unsure of your district? Click here

Commissioner emails by district

The community is being exiled from planning

Letter sent to Sarasota's Planning Director and Commissioners. The issue is the decay and distancing of planning as it is no longer live or really interactive: 

 

October 5, 2023

Dear Matt Osterhoudt and Commissioners:

Not so long ago, county Neighborhood Services took charge of arranging Neighborhood Workshops. Staff were very involved with securing a venue, provding supplies, making sure the right people from County government were there and all else.

When did this get delegated to the developers?

Now, developers or their planning agents decide whether a workshop will be held online or in person. Since that decision, I've not heard of a "neighborhood" workshop being held in person. What's more, the entire Zoom or Meet or Teams encounter is controlled by the developer's agent, who decides what images are shown. Glitches due to loss of sound, blurry images, and more have been known to occur. Even more, the county does not require the video recording of the workshop, only audio. Recently I had the experience of trying to follow a Zoom discussion - audio only - maps, locations, stormwater design and much more were discussed, but I and any other auditor were literally in the dark.

Now on MeetUp there is what's known as a "hybrid" event: 

Under the “Hybrid” tab, you can enter the physical location of your event, and also provide a link to attend the event online through a video conferencing service like Zoom. In fact, with Meetup’s special Zoom integration, you can create your virtual event link directly within the “Hybrid” tab.

 

The virtues of this flexibility are manifold and are discussed here:

https://www.meetup.com/blog/introducing-the-hybrid-events-feature-for-meetup-pro/

If the county wishes to still include residents in this process, please consider requiring live workshops, with the hybrid format as a further option.

Respectfully,

Tom Matrullo