Final Hearing for the Quads Parcels June 9

 

Public Hearings Regarding Amendment to the I-75/Fruitville Road Major Employment Center Critical Area Plan, and Rezone Petition (Quads Parcels)

Date:       June 9, 2021 Time:      9:00 a.m. or as soon thereafter as possible Location: Sarasota County Administration Center, County                   Commission Chamber, 1660 Ringling Blvd., Sarasota FL

The Sarasota County Commission will hold public hearings on amendments to the I-75/Fruitville Road Major Employment Center (MEC) Critical Area Plan (CAP), and the rezoning of three of the County-owned "Quads" parcels.    In October of 2019 County staff completed a CAP study that identified the proposed CAP amendments intended to preserve the open character of Quads parcels. In October of 2020, the County Commission granted a conservation easement over three of the Quads parcels. The proposed zoning change of the three Quads parcels to Government Use (GU) will allow uses consistent with the conservation easement.

All interested parties are invited to appear, be heard, and submit relevant evidence. A complete draft of the proposed Ordinances are available during normal business hours in the Planning and Development Services Department at 1660 Ringling Blvd., Sarasota, Florida. Supporting documents will be available the Thursday prior to the public hearing at www.scgov.net, Meetings and Agendas (Meetings on Demand) to view or download. Written comments will be considered and may be sent to the Planning and Development Services Department prior to the public hearing at the above address or by e-mail to planner@scgov.net. The public hearing may be continued from time to time as announced by the Board. For more information, telephone 941-861-5000.

For more information about providing public input, go to: www.scgov.net/publicinput.

Sarasota County prohibits discrimination in all services, programs or activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, sex, marital status, familial status, religion, or genetic information. Persons with disabilities who require assistance or alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.), or who wish to file a complaint, should contact Sarasota County ADA/Civil Rights Coordinator, 1660 Ringling Blvd., Sarasota, Florida 34236, Phone: 941-861-5000; TTY 7-1-1 or 1-800-955-8771, E-mail: adacoordinator@scgov.net

Thank you for your time and interest in this effort! We appreciate your feedback!

Planning and Development Services Planning and Development Services provides unincorporated Sarasota County with land use services in collaboration with businesses, residents and neighboring jurisdictions to build a sustainable, prosperous community that distinguishes Sarasota County.

Planning and Development Services | planner@scgov.net | 941-861-5000    www.scgov.net/PDS

For the record: Coverage of the Nov. 6 decision to protect the Quads

Drone shot courtesy of Emanuel Guzman

My Suncoast  11.07.19 Public lands near Celery Fields - at least three of the four - to be conserved 

Adrien Lucas: We won - but Gabbert's WTF needs to be watched

Sarasota News Leader: Conservation easement to be placed on three of county’s Quads parcels adjacent to the Celery Fields

Herald Tribune: Board agrees to save Quads

Observer Protesters want undeveloped Celery Fields as County Commission approves Easement  (not just "protesters," Matt Walsh)

Link: Roundtable: John McCarthy, Adrien Lucas, David Johnson and Tom Matrullo with Bill Logan 

More here

Many Proposals, One Proposition

To all who care about our public lands and Celery Fields:

Recently people from the community met with the lead planner for the Quad Parcel study now being conducted by the County. This "Critical Area Plan" will open the area to new possibilities. Below are two ways you can influence the outcome.

1. Proposals -- Many who were involved with Fresh Start either developed proposals or grew attached to one or more of those that were presented to the Board. As you know, the Board chose not to direct staff to work on any of our ideas.

What's next? The planning department is now conducting its study of the area. It will look at land uses, at the roads, and at surrounding areas. It will speak with "stakeholders," including the public - that workshop is being planned for mid-May, but the exact date is not yet set.

The results of Planning's research will be presented to the Board a few months from now - possibly in August or September - and at that time, the Board might direct staff to prepare a rezoning of one or more of the Quad parcels.

It would be great if the Board directs staff to prepare a land use rezoning that would allow one or more of the great ideas the community has birthed - and more ideas are on the way. Some truly remarkable and imaginative new proposals are in the works which you'll be hearing more about soon.

Bear in mind, Fresh Start was a limited Board/community process that is no longer active. People like you who remain committed to a bright future for the Celery Fields area must now remember that the Board can do one of three things with the Planning Dept.'s study:

It can direct staff to

a. rezone for compatible uses beneficial to the community.
b. rezone for industrial, commercial or other uses preparatory to a sale to a private developer.
c. do nothing at all (unlikely after this staff initiative).

How can we influence the decision makers to go with A rather than B or C? This is where #2 comes in:

2. Community Proposition: Residents and folks with businesses near the Quad parcels have begun working on a "Community Proposition" for the Quads. The basic idea is, prefer public uses to private development. Encourage beneficial community uses within an enabling positive framework. Note that this initiative doesn't propose specific uses for the parcels. Rather it's about preferring public A to private B - and is offering a way to benefit the entire area.

More about the Community Proposition soon. Meanwhile, if you have a proposal for one or more of the quad parcels, this is the time to send it to lead planner Steve Kirk at SKirk@scgov.net.

Mr. Kirk has indicated that part of the May workshop will involve the planning department's review of proposals that have been submitted up to that time. NOTE: this is likely to include only the 4 final proposals submitted by Fresh Start. If you developed an idea that was not one of the final 4 and still like it, please share it with Mr. Kirk.

All the information we've gathered about the proposals, the workshop, and the critical area plan process are now at this link.

Quads Workshop Info so far

When the date of the workshop is announced, it will be added, and we'll let you know.


Thank you for caring about our public spaces.

Tom Matrullo
Glenna Blomquist

Quads Workshop Info so far

Last fall, the Board of Sarasota County Commissioners directed Planning to undertake a new Critical Area Plan study of our public lands at the Celery Fields known as the "Quad Parcels," or just "Quads." 

Critical Area Plan Scope 

On Jan. 29, the Planning Dept. issued a memorandum outlining the Scope of Work for this study. That memo is here.

Lead County Planner Steve Kirk has been helpful in answering our questions about the process. The County is looking at a date in mid-May for the workshop, probably to be held in the evening. The date and venue have not yet been finalized. 

Note: Mr. Kirk says staff will review and discuss proposals submitted by the Fresh Start Initiative. We are aware that some new proposals are being developed within our communities. Anyone who has a new proposal is invited to submit it to Mr. Kirk at any time -- his contact information is at the end of this post.

Below are the responses to our queries thus far:

The public workshop will be an informal event and staff will be flexible in how it concludes. Timing speakers would be unnecessary, however, domination of discussions will be discouraged. 

Any input regarding CAP should be directed  to me at my address, phone number or email address below. The intent  of the workshop is to present to the public all the information the staff has at the time, and then hear ideas and feedback from those in attendance. The staff presentation will include any ideas related to the CAP or the County properties previously provided by the public, including those previously put forth by Fresh Start.  We will also include anything else we receive  prior to the workshop.  It will be made clear in our presentation that we will continue to take public input, and will welcome conversations on the CAP issues after the workshop, and until the CAP study is completed. 

The staff is beginning the study and preparing for the public workshop. 

We will record audio of the workshop.   

The work of the study will continue after the public workshop and should be completed within the 9 month period.  

As stated in the scope of work, once completed, a presentation and discussion of the study will be scheduled with the County Commission. What happens after completion of the study is at the discretion of the Commission and I would not speculate on what action they may take. However, should the Commission direct staff to amend the Critical Area Plan or rezone any of the County owned properties, the public hearing processes as required and outlined in the UDC and CAP regulations will be followed. The County owned “Quads” parcels are all zoned Open Use Rural (OUR), and industrial uses are not permitted. The establishment of an industrial use  would require a change of zoning to a district permitting such use. 

If the Board directs staff to rezone any of the parcels, staff would prepare and process a rezone application as required by the UDC including all necessary documentation. The preparation and processing of such an application, including public hearings, would likely take a minimum of 6 months. The CAP study authorized by the Board, on which we are now working, is not an application to amend the CAP or rezone any property.  It is intended to provide the Board with information to inform decisions in the area of the CAP. Notice of the public workshop will be posed on the Planning and Development Services Calendar on-line at  https://www.scgov.net/government/planning-and-development-services/pds-calendar.This calendar will link to documents related to the workshop. I cannot at this point tell you exactly when this will be posted, but approximately 2 weeks before the workshop.

Steve Kirk, AICP, ASLA 

Planner III 

Sarasota County Planning Services 

1660 Ringling Blvd, Sarasota, FL 34236 

Office: 941-861-5202 

Email: skirk@scgov.net
  

An update on County actions on the Quad Parcels

The County has initiated a process. Its aim is to decide what to do about four parcels of public land at Apex Rd. and Palmer Blvd. which the County acquired in 1997, commonly called the Quads.

Two parcels (#1 and #2) have lain vacant for 22 years. Parcel #3 has had a temporary fire station, but will soon have a permanent one. Parcel #4 has a retention pond.

The Planning Department's process, called a Critical Area Plan, is intended to take a new look at these parcels in the context of surrounding lands, assets and uses. Part of the decision about how these parcels are rezoned will depend on which surroundings are considered most relevant.

The immediate surroundings include:

Quads and partial surrounding context

• The Celery Fields
• Small office and warehouse facilities north and south of the Quads
• Thousands of new homes and apartments built on East Palmer Blvd., on Debrecen, on Lorraine (formerly Iona), on Cattlemen Rd., and more -- all since the Quads were acquired.
• Tatum Ridge elementary school.
• The commercial area just west of I-75 that includes Detwilers, JRs Packinghouse Cafe, and many more businesses.
• The Fruitville Initiative - now underway at Coburn and Fruitville, which will eventually contain more than 1,000 new residences.
• Ackerman Park

In mid-May (date not yet set), the Planning Department will hold one public meeting to hear input from our communities. The Board got an earful on Aug. 23, 2017, when more than 300 people attended an all-day hearing on a proposal from waste developer James  Gabbert, who wanted to buy parcel #2 and build a 16-acre, open air waste processing facility. The proposal eventually was voted down 3-2, with Commissioners Maio and Moran voting for Gabbert's waste facility.

These are public lands, but the Board, especially Commissioners Maio and Moran, have indicated preference for selling these 30+ acres to private developers. Industrial developers such as Robert Waechter and James Gabbert have long supported the political careers of Maio and Moran. Waechter owns several dilapidated warehouses just south of parcel #2 and has been strongly in favor of putting more industry on the Quads.

Here an update on the May meeting from the lead planner for the county's Critical Area Plan process, Steve Kirk:

The public workshop will be an informal event and staff will be flexible in how it concludes.  Timing speakers would be unnecessary, however, domination of discussions will be discouraged.  Any input regarding CAP should be directed  to me at my address, phone number or email address below. 

The intent  of the workshop is to present to the public all the information the staff has at the time, and then hear ideas and feedback from those in attendance.  The staff presentation will include any ideas related to the CAP or the County properties previously provided by the public, including those previously put forth by Fresh Start.* We will also include anything else we receive  prior to the workshop.  It will be made clear in our presentation that we will continue to take public input, and will welcome conversations on the CAP issues after the workshop, and until the CAP study is completed. 

Let me know if you have questions. 

Planner III
Sarasota County Planning Services
1660 Ringling Blvd, Sarasota, FL 34236
Office: 941-861-5202
Email: skirk@scgov.net

Steve Kirk, AICP, ASLA

*Editor's note: Fresh Start was a community-based initiative to propose uses for the Quad parcels that were alternatives to industry. The community provided many ideas which were vetted then voted on by community representatives. Four "finalist" ideas were presented which included a public open space and buffer for the Celery Fields birding area; an ecolodge and restaurant; an athletic complex, and an area of shops and affordable housing. The Board chose to pursue none of these ideas, or to respond to the community's vision. Instead, it paid $29,000 to a Miami consultant, Lambert Advisory, which advised industrial use on parcel #3, leading to this new Critical Area Plan.

When the date / time of the public meeting is set, we'll let you know.

Celery Fields looking west

Fresh Start: September 2018 Update

To our Fresh Start HOA's, delegates, advisers and far-flung Celery Fieldsians:

Fresh Start offered a broad view of the context of development and potential in and around the area of the Celery Fields in its Sept. 12th appearance before the Board. We showed visuals of the many thousands of acres of new housing the board has already approved, and asked why elected officials couldn't reserve 30 acres of public land near our birding and recreation area for public uses. (Links to all presentations and correspondence are below).

We've held off on this update to gain a better understanding of two parallel developments, which we'll mention in a minute. But it's important to note that Fresh Start believed our portion of the task was complete when we submitted our update on July 11. We did what we said we'd do: offered community-approved proposals for Quad parcels 1 and 2. Our four specific proposals in April had drawn praise from the Board, but no concrete direction. We were just asked to "refine" them. We surveyed our neighborhoods about sports resources, and the YMCA which did some further market research (which would pertain to all four proposals), and that's what we gave to the Board in July.

We expected a response -- some questions, suggestions, perhaps a directive to county staff to offer an analysis or pursue discussions via the EDC or tourism officials -- but we heard nothing. On August 14, more than a month after our July 11 update, we wrote to Long Range Planner Jane Grogg, our County liaison, asking when or whether such feedback would be forthcoming. 

We were simply told to show up on Sept. 12 -- to present. Frankly, we were more than a little baffled. As we had received zero response to our latest update, what exactly were we expected to talk about?

Fresh Start had a choice: We could go and simply stand there, waiting for the Board's thoughts and direction. Instead we chose to offer a broader analysis that would support Board action on one item: Removing the public parcels from the surplus lands list, and working together on future uses:

The Board took no vote. Actually, it didn't discuss the proposed resolution, or any of our community proposals. The only commissioner who addressed practicalities, Paul Caragiulo, said the Board needed to first deal with serious road issues. What we didn't have an opportunity to say is that this was exactly the sort of work the county staff could have been doing all along to help the Board come to a determination. Mr Caragiulo was exactly right, but the County had yet to make a beginning. Commissioners Hines, Moran and Maio said nothing to Fresh Start after our presentation. Commissioner Detert thanked us, characterizing our September report as beautiful yet critical. (Fresh Start believes it's the situation at the Celery Fields that is critical.)

Parallel proposals

Here's where the plot thickens. While Fresh Start was working for nine months -- more than a thousand volunteer hours -- to find, vet, vote, and present our community's ideas, the county had hired a Miami consultant, Lambert Advisory LLC, to assess and rezone Quad parcel #3 for sale, at Commissioner Maio's instigation.

Emails obtained through a public records request show that county staff was working assiduously with Lambert. In August, the firm's assessment was that the county could obtain the highest price for parcel #3 if it rezoned it to industry. The parcel could hold an 80,000 s.f. warehouse or other such industrial operation, Lambert stated.

County staff apparently accepted this assessment and has scheduled the Board to discuss rezoning parcel #3 to Industrial (ILW) on Oct. 10. If the Board wishes, the proposed rezoning will then begin the public process - Neighborhood Workshop, Planning Commission, Public Board Hearing.

Three observations:

1. If the fragile roads need addressing before allowing a simple park on them, as Mr. Caragiulo stated, how is it that staff would approve and forward a rezone certain to generate more large truck traffic?

2. Lambert Advisory's report compared industrial uses with residential, office, and commercial for parcel #3, and states unequivocally that an industrial zoning would bring the highest sale price ("highest and best use" actually means "best price"). Others question this conclusion, however. 

            One source familiar with the nearby Fruitville Initiative, which has over 200 acres all with the same "MEC" (major employment center) designation as the Quads, says none of the five major Fruitville Initiative landowners is finding interest from industrial developers. Companies seeking to build in that area are proposing a mix of multi-family, condos, homes, offices, and commercial. These parcels are all closer to the highway than parcel #3. If industrial were the best way to realize monetary advantage, why wouldn't someone be rushing to put it there?

3. Fresh Start of course knew that the County had commissioned Lambert's study. We repeatedly asked to speak with Lambert, and were denied by County staff. Which provokes another question: Lambert was tasked with gaining a knowledge of the Community (see scoping document below); how was the mission helped by blocking communication with the community?

More industry

Finally, we must note that James Gabbert has resubmitted his plan to build a waste transfer station on 6 acres he owns that run along Porter Rd. west of parcel #2, with a strip along the southern edge. We only learned about this earlier this week.

No new traffic study will be required for Mr Gabbert's Special Exception, according to County Transportation staff. 

To sum up:

While Fresh Start presented, presented, and presented, were we heard? Did any engagement occur? We have yet to hear consideration of what our communities have offered. We are asking when that consideration will take place.

At the same time, an initiative to industrialize parcel#3 is moving ahead, and Mr. Gabbert is moving ahead with plans to put his waste transfer station adjacent to parcel #2, right next to the highway. Will our Communities' concerns, voiced in three presentations, be considered as these industrial efforts go forward? Will parcel #2 go industrial next? And what of parcel #1?

Please stay tuned, and thank you for your ongoing support. 

The Fresh Start Executive Council

Glenna Blomquist, Carlos Correa, Tom Matrullo, Gary Walsh

Presentations and relevant links

February 4, 2018 First Interim Report of 2018, with updates from March 25 and April 11, 2018

April 25, 2018 PowerPoint presentation to the Board - April 25 2018

• April 25 Accompanying Text Report of April 25th to the Board with links to previous documentation
• April 25th, 2018 -  Video of April 25th Presentation

July 11, 2018 - “Refined” Fresh Start Report

August 14, 2018 - “Has the Board responded?” Email from Fresh Start to Jane Grogg

August 16 and 20, 2018 Email from Jane Grogg to Fresh Start and Response from Fresh Start

September 12, 2018 Fresh Start Presentation - Video

Waste Transfer Facility Porter at Palmer Blvd.

• Gabbert Waste Transfer Special Exception Review
• Gabbert Waste Transfer Plan, August 2018

Photo of Celery Fields by Emanuel Guzman

Consultant recommends industry near Celery Fields

Quads

Earlier this year, Sarasota County hired a consultant to study the "highest and best use" for parcel #3 of the public lands near the Celery Fields known as "the Quads." That report is now in (link here) -- it recommends rezoning 7 acres of parcel #3 for industrial use:

Some preliminary observations:

Specialized Approach: The $61,000 report from Miami-based Lambert Advisory LLC follows a specialized "highest and best use" (HBU) approach, which looks at real estate comparables solely to form an estimate of highest potential dollar value. By design HBU ignores quality of life, community benefit, impacts on the environment, potential social or economic gains from other uses, and basically everything other than top-dollar price for this public land.

Siloed Consultancy: Since January, Fresh Start repeatedly asked to communicate with the consultant. We were told that at the County’s direction, the Consultant was to work walled off from residents or anyone else, to “limit the influences on the data.”

Fiscal Motive Evaporates: Last November, the Commission cited a need to sell public lands to cover a temporary budget shortfall as the compelling reason for this rezoning. Since then the Board has revised its view. Commissioner Maio now says the county is in excellent fiscal health and that there is "no shortfall" this year or next (audio clip: longer; shorter). 

Warehouse south of parcel 2

Dominoes: Rezoning parcel #3 to industrial is not only about parcel #3. IF/when that rezoning is complete, the southwest parcel (#2) will be surrounded on three sides by industry (Parcel #3 to the north, James Gabbert's planned waste transfer station to the west, and Robert Waechter's warehouses immediately to the south). Private industrial interests will use this "enveloping zoning" to argue for making parcel #2  industrial. (Parcel #2 is the 10.6 acres Mr. Gabbert wished to situate a giant open waste processing facility on last year.)

Fresh Start will present a very different vision of the prospects for the Quad parcels to the commissioners next Wednesday, Sept. 12 at approximately 9:30 a.m. As it is not a public hearing, input from the public will be limited to 3 minutes before or after the Agenda.

The Fresh Start Executive Council

Have you signed our petition opposing industry at the Celery Fields?

Update: Fresh Start Round Table

On Tuesday, April 10, the overcast skies unleashed a downpour on Sarasota, a group of residents headed to Fruitville Library to think together about two parcels of land near a valued bird preserve and recreational area.

Undaunted by the weather, the group came and worked in small groups for three hours with conscientious attention, calmly and evaluating proposals for our public lands next to the Celery Fields.

At the end of their deliberations, the group came to a consensus on which proposals should go forward. Some other great ideas came out of the meeting as well. The consensus will be presented to the Board of Sarasota County Commissioners on April 25th.

The three-hour round table meeting was run by Margaret Malone, who has had long experience with the format, often in corporate settings. Dr. Malone is on the Executive Council of Fresh Start. 

Each table arrived at a preferred selection of proposals, all of which had come from the community and been vetted by a panel of advisers. Those selections were then discussed by the entire room. Finally, each person was given a ballot to assign a total of 10 points in a weighted vote to those proposals they believed would best serve the community. The evaluation criteria included feasibility, utility to the community, economic viability and protective enhancement of the environment and wildlife of the Celery Fields.

For more on Fresh Start and why the community came out in heavy rain to work on plans for these public lands, read this.

The Fresh Start Initiative is sincerely grateful for all residents who participated in this proactive planning effort.

Fresh Start: What and Why

Fresh Start is a grassroots experiment in Sarasota County that seeks good ideas for two pieces of public land -- ideas endorsed by the neighbors, businesses and greater community of Sarasota citizens who care about local impacts, the environment, and the need for vision in planning.

The initiative gained traction after the entire community witnessed a concerted effort to change land use and zoning designations to allow heavy industrial activity (a 16-acre open air demolition waste processing facility) on "the Quads" -- parcels of public lands next to the Celery Fields, a priceless bird sanctuary, recreation area and ecotourism destination. Timeline of Gabbert waste plan here.

Fresh Start is about finding sensible proposals for these parcels that protect the environment, build the economy, and enhance the Celery Fields area. What's at stake goes well beyond these properties, however. In view of the nearly disastrous missteps of recent times, it's clear that Sarasota County needs to rigorously rethink its planning process. Just a few examples:

Notification: How often do we learn too late that a developer has received approval for a plan that neighbors didn't hear about?

Consultation: The county requires public workshops, but awareness of these meetings can be minimal, thanks to the ineffectual notification policies. Also, a developer can say anything at these meetings. The community can express its approval or disapproval, but the actual record of the workshop is usually up to the developer.

Integration: The County's 2050 Plan calls for coordinated comprehensive planning. If these principles were faithfully practiced, the Gabbert plan for a giant open-air waste processing facility at the Celery Fields would never have made it to first base.

How can we do this better? For each of these elements in the planning process, it's time to ask the question: What changes to or innovations in practice and procedure would benefit both the people of Sarasota and the County?

Trends: When County planners evaluated the Waste Processsing proposal, they didn't take into account radical changes in the area -- changes readily apparent to anyone who bothered to look. For example:

West -> East: The open spaces to the East of I-75 are just now opening to large scale development at Hi Hat Ranch, LT Ranch, Lakewood Ranch, and more. The radical increase in population, the new needs to be met, the demand on roads and power all deserve consideration when planning a gateway area to East County.

Past -> Future: The rationalization for a waste facility at Apex and Palmer was based on a 40-year old land use designation. Doing so ignored the fact that the entire character of the area has changed due to the development of 2000 homes, the creation of the Celery Fields, and the coming Fruitville Initiative. So much new potential requires a re-vision of an area whose entire character is undergoing transformation.

Vision: Land use in Sarasota has long been played out on a battleground where the interests of ambitious developers, county residents, and a slow-moving County bureaucracy have struggled against each other as if planning were a zero-sum game. What if we began instead with the proposition that our lands are worthy of a larger vision? A vision of answerable growth -- that is, a process that responsibly articulates key community needs and desirable growth priorities via a commonsense vision of a meaningful organic whole. 

        External factors such as boom/bust market dynamics and the bi-polar winds of political change (see this excellent study by Professor E.R. Linkous of USF) have not made a joint effort to move toward a comprehensive vision any easier. The Fresh Start Initiative doesn't pretend to have an easy solution. 

A teachable moment? Fresh Start's effort to bring the county and the community into a fruitful dialog addressing some 24 acres of public land offers a small practical sampling of the difficulties facing us on a much larger scale. Better connection and communication can go far to getting beyond the "battleground." Much depends on the good faith participation of all. What we learn from this civic experiment might constructively be applied to processes and procedures for future land use issues. 

 

By the way . . .

If you have a proposal for either of the parcels at the Celery Fields, here's a good place to begin. And here's a bit about what to consider including. Proposals are due March 1, with some flexibility for those just learning of this civic experiment. Proposals should be sent to FreshStartSarasota@gmail.com.