Sarasota Audubon: Nurturing uses for our public lands at the Celery Fields

Public Planning Workshop: Tuesday May 14, 6 p.m.
Church of Hope: 1560 Wendell Kent Road, 34240

Jeanne Dubi's SRQBirdAlert:

On Tuesday, May 14 at 6 p.m. at the Church of Hope, Sarasota County staffers will hear plans proposed by various groups for the Quad parcels at the intersection of Apex/Palmer Blvd at the Celery Fields. Sarasota Audubon is submitting its Audubon Woods plan for the Quad parcels.

It would buffer the Celery Fields from further development while expanding and enhancing bird habitat and providing more opportunities for passive recreation; ADA  accessible paths through a woodland are included.

We’ve targeted 2 species that used to call the Celery Fields area home: Eastern Towhee and Northern Bobwhite. We also witnessed the dislocation of Bald Eagles’ nesting areas as development encroached upon them. Creating a buffer around the Celery Fields is crucial.

As part of a wider vision for the Celery Fields and the surrounding areas, the Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast is developing a Rural Conservation Area plan. Once put in place, this would protect the lands east of Center Road and west of Tatum School from intense housing development. Sarasota Audubon wholeheartedly endorses this plan.

Other plans range from intense use to sensible use. Please come out to “see and hear” on Tuesday. The more we know, the more we can plan our strategies to protect the Celery Fields. Not all plans have been uploaded to the SC.gov website, but here are some.

                                                                       Jeanne Dubi, Sarasota Audubon

                                                                     Audubon Woods imagery here

Information page for Quads Critical Area Plan Workshop

The planning workshop that seeks public input on rezoning the public lands at the Celery Fields will be held at 6 pm, May 14, at the Church of Hope, 1560 Wendell Kent Rd, Sarasota, FL 34240. 

The Planning Department has posted community input and proposals here:

>>Index to county planning links <<
   
      Documents prepared by the Planning Department include:

1. Memorandum from Planning

2. Community proposals via the 2018 Fresh Start process:

• Proposals Submitted to Fresh Start_Part1
• Proposals Submitted to Fresh Start_Part2
• Proposals Submitted to Fresh Start_Part3
• Proposals Submitted to Fresh Start_Part4

3. Reports to the Board from Fresh Start: 7.11.17 and 9.12.17

4. Update: New proposals submitted from the community 

     Proposals are still coming in, so more will probably be added to this page.

5. Information on how the public may comment

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This is the one opportunity for all who love the Celery Fields to come, listen, and voice their thoughts and concerns. The workshop begins at 6 pm - 

at the Church of Hope, 1560 Wendell Kent Rd, Sarasota, FL 34240, where James Gabbert introduced his proposal for a waste processing facility in January 2017. 

The public record of this workshop goes to the Board, which will decide the future of these public lands. Here are some of our concerns:

Not everyone on the Board sees the point of using public lands for the public good. With thoughtful stewardship, public lands can provide needed public facilities and activities. Why sell them to enrich a couple of private developers?

Industrial uses will generate traffic, noise, dead space incompatible with the developing natural beauty of the Celery Fields area, and its recreational potential.

The scope of this process is narrow. When Gabbert proposed his waste processing facility, the county failed to acknowledge the existence of the Celery Fields. This plan should not exclude important considerations that PLANNING should be thinking about now:

1 - future protective measures for wildlife, residents and visitors;
2 - the impacts of coming growth in East County;
3 - quality of life benefits from safe roads and a tranquil environment.

With care and intelligent stewardship, this very special area will return investments a hundredfold -- more about this here.