June Update on Public Lands at the Celery Fields

Barely had June 2019 begun when two new proposals involving our public "Quad" parcels at the Celery Fields came forward -- one from a County Commissioner, the other from a private foundation. The differences in their approaches are revealing.

The Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast proposes to acquire 24 acres on Palmer Boulevard across from Tatum Ridge Elementary School to set aside for conservation. Currently it holds a horse farm called "Graceland," but a developer is seeking to put a housing development there -- 42 quarter-acre homesites.

The Foundation's vision goes beyond acquiring this parcel, however. Graceland, says Foundation President Christine Johnson, would be the easternmost parcel within a continuous area extending from the highway to Tatum Ridge Road: a 1,300-acre "rural heritage conservation area" comprehending the Quad parcels, Audubon Nature Center, the Celery Fields and a 140-acre wildlife conservation park that includes Big Cat and beyond to Tatum Road.

Under this plan, the 24-acre Graceland parcel would receive a conservation easement barring development in perpetuity. The land could be dedicated to equestrian uses benefiting the public: riding, hippotherapy, school visits, education, and more, says Johnson, who noted that several schools are nearby, including Tatum Ridge, Fruitville Elementary, McIntosh Middle, the Farm School, and more.

As the map legend below shows, the Foundation projects beneficial public uses on the Quad at Apex and Palmer, including an urban forest and wildlife habitat, a history center, a school bus shelter:

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The second new idea involving our public lands came on June 4, when Commissioner Charles Hines suggested selling the southwest public parcel (#2, 10 acres) to a developer of affordable housing.

Quads Parcels at Apex & Palmer

Mr. Hines noted that developers of affordable housing have not been knocking down his door, but didn’t articulate why. Perhaps, for example, the Board's willingness to tolerate developer overreach -- e.g. Siesta Promenade, LT Ranch, Waterside and more -- has disincentivized low-profit housing construction.

And, while affordable housing is indeed a goal that requires careful planning and policy incentives, Mr. Hines' fixing on public land that has been the subject of intense community interest for more than two years seemed to lurch suddenly out of left field.

In fact all four Quad parcels were the subject last year of a 10-month citizen effort to recommend compatible public uses that would rule out private industry. Sarasota Audubon has proposed an urban forest, others including Jono Miller have spoken of a history museum, a multi-use community estate, and more. Commissioners Al Maio and Mike Moran have both gone on record favoring sale to private industrial profiteers, including waste plant operator James Gabbert.

In January the Board found the Quads to be an area of critical concern, and, given the current narrow two-lane roads and levels of service, admitted that industrial development is not possible on these parcels. It ordered staff to reopen the Critical Area Plan, or CAP, for the area. This launched an in-depth, 11-month process examining all factors relating to potential uses of the public parcels -- roads, surrounding uses, trending demographic and environmental changes and much more. A public workshop held as part of the CAP process on May 14 brought out some 300 residents -- not a single one of whom spoke in favor of industrial development or affordable housing.

A Board decision approving affordable housing on parcel #2 by July 22 (Sarasota News Leader) will disrupt the methodical critical area planning now underway, as well as fly in the face of community and environmentalists' long-held views.

A view of "Graceland"

Clearly two very different approaches are exemplified here. The Foundation is advocating uses in keeping with the trends and surrounding human communities, integrating a long-range vision of a lasting rural heritage and wildlife conservation for future generations.

Mr. Hines conversely is promoting a quick fix to motivate the private construction of less costly housing, apparently without regard to how such an initiative would impact a host of significant social, environmental, economic and infrastructural concerns in a complex, radically changing area.

Another difference has to do with scope. The Foundation is looking wide and long term. The Board appears to be looking at one 10-acre parcel as if it existed in a spatio-temporal vacuum. The history, context and future of the Quad cannot be ignored -- which is why the county ordered the Critical Area Plan in January.

A credible CAP will form a faithful portrait of the entire Quad/Celery Fields area -- so that Sarasota as a community can assess the future needs and benefits of realistic options in a meaningful public process.

A lot is riding on this. If our elected officials have insufficient information, their decision-making authority is compromised. But if they have that information and choose to ignore it, a different public response will be needed.

It’s in our voting power to change the political landscape -- as dramatically as 246 species of birds have transformed the nature of a former industrial area. When good things happen -- like the Celery Fields -- they deserve prudent stewardship for all our citizens.

The Conservation Foundation seeks donors to help realize its vision

(This conservation effort ended June 30)