Reminder: Fresh Start Proposals due March 1

A quick Reminder that proposals for the Fresh Start Initiative are due March 1. We have heard from a number of people who have shared great ideas, and we look forward to having a selection of thoughtful proposals.

Some background on Fresh Start from the Sarasota News Leader.

Please make sure your proposal includes the following:

Contact Info: Name, Phone, Email

Description: This is key. Please include as much of the following as you can:

Public parcels 1, 2, and 3

Parcel: Which parcel are you considering: #1 or #2?
Facilities: Will your facility provide parking? Restrooms?
Dimensions: Details of size of structures, or of space devoted to uses.
Disposition of land: Sale, lease, or county control?

Use: What is the primary purpose you envision? More than one purpose?

Users: Who are the primary users you anticipate will make use of it? Have you been in touch with any prospective user groups? How are you sure of demand?

Revenue: Will the County receive any revenue - whether through sale, lease, fees, activity charges, tourist tax, property tax, employment, etc.

Traffic: What sort of traffic - cars? bicycles? big trucks? Primary times of day?

Goals: Will the use meet the needs of nearby residents? The general public? Tourists?

Compatibility: How would your proposal work within the existing uses of the Celery Fields Area? What kinds of uses would you like to see on the other public parcels at Apex and Palmer?

Economics: Will the proposed use pay for itself? If not, how will it be supported?

Legacy: In addition to needs and values, are there other aspects of the character and legacy of Sarasota that your proposal would recognize or enhance?

VISUALS: Diagrams, photos, hand-drawn images, video - best if in digital form, as we will use a projector for our workshops.

Key dates: 

• March 1 - Proposals Due
• March 15 - Advisory Board Meeting
• April 10 - Roundtable Workshop at Fruitville Library, 3 pm - 7 pm

Send to FreshStartSarasota@gmail.com

Thank you.

Why we are doing this

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.

A recent morning at the Celery Fields

Yesterday morning at the Celery Fields, it was quiet - no highway noise, no copters or trucks. Why would the County be ok with introducing more industrial uses into this sanctuary?

The grass still had dew on it. Far off, a single kayaker was barely a dot on the lake's still surface. A tall fellow was walking up and down the Mound with a substantial backpack and hiking poles. I asked if he were preparing for a trek of some kind. Not right now, he said. Rather it's exercise he takes because he brings groups to the Celery Fields to train for long trail hikes.

"Where would you go if this mound didn't exist?" I asked him. "North Georgia," he said, adding that North Florida's rolling hills weren't steep enough for such training.

The mound is unique in many ways. It affords a wide angle view of clear open space. Look down, often you see birds in flight beneath you. Do our elected officials really want visitors who come for the birds and the beauty to look at heavy trucks, demolition waste, giant warehouses or other industry?

 == Tom Matrullo

Caracara at the Celery Fields - by Chuck Behrmann

Proposal makers offer a glimpse of ideas for lands at the Celery Fields

Sarasotans took time from their Valentine's Day festivities Wednesday to hear from residents who have proposals-in-progress for the public lands at the Celery Fields. The meeting was held by the Fresh Start Initiative, a community effort to find value-adding uses for three parcels owned by the County near the Celery Fields.

The ideas are among more than 25 proposed uses that the Initiative has received so far. The process is open to anyone interested -- proposals should be sent to FreshStartSarasota@gmail.com by March 1.

Three who are developing proposals came and offered thumbnail sketches of their ideas:

Chris Bales shared her concept of an athletic facility that would feature Pickleball, and possibly Tennis and Soccer on Parcel #2. The facility would offer parking, restrooms, and could have room for a cafe or other eatery, she said.

John Pether described what would be the largest and most advanced historical exploration center in Florida -- a 100,000 s.f. facility where visitors would experience the natural and cultural history of Florida via virtual and augmented reality. Soundbite:

And Susan Chapman described an "Adaptation" facility consisting of greenhouses and a library for Marie Selby Botanical Gardens' rare horticultural books -- a protected storage facility for valued parts of its collection well away from the low-lying downtown floodzone.

Concern for the area has attracted wider attention. On Feb. 6 while visiting Sarasota, Florida's head of the Department of Environmental Protection pointed to the community's concern for the Celery Fields. Noah Valenstein said:

Conservation efforts “really become powerful when you have that connection to the community,” Valenstein said, highlighting the Celery Fields in Sarasota as a prime example of the community rallying to protect a natural resource. Herald Tribune

And on March 12, the president of the National Audubon President David Yarnold will address environmental concerns, among them the Celery Fields.