Community Proposals shared with Sarasota Planning

Email regarding Community proposals sent to Sarasota Planning 4.23.19:

Dear Mr. Kirk and Ms. Grogg

Thank you for choosing to include proposals received from the community in the Critical Area Plan workshop on May 14 at the Church of Hope.

You have indicated that these will include the community input given to the County via Fresh Start. That initiative brought a lot of ideas to the table, which were presented to the Board on Sept. 12 of last year.

To ensure you have the complete set of our community's ideas, the links below will take you to that body of work. Many in the community wished to co-sign this email; their names are included below.

1. Fresh Start Sept. 12 Report 
2. Fresh Start July 11 Report
3. Video: Common Sense and Uncommon Opportunity: Our public lands at the Celery Fields 
4. Community proposals and ideas

We're happy to answer any questions.

Thank you,

Glenna Blomquist

Gary Walsh, President, Meadowwalk

Tom Matrullo

Signatories

Kathryn Young

Rev. Steve Baran

Phil Eboli

Mary M. Ostermann

Chris Bales

Christine Evans

James C. Wallace

President, Legends at Tatum Ridge (162 Homes)

Cathy Comora

Nicole Graham

Carlos Correa

Vickie French

Margaret Haas

Paula Berkowitz

Margo Rose - Gulfport

Wendy Oster - Bradenton

Dan Shire - Canada

Rhonda Stapleton 

Mona Johnson

Laurel Hamel

Diane Warmbier

Peter Blake

Ken Zajak

Andrea Courtney

Sue Schoettle

Joy de Bruyn

Virginia Pritt Hickey

Luigi Verace

Angy Angel

Suzanne Mauzey

Ximena Griffioen

Pat Coco Gill

Karyn Massi

Michelle Wilfong

Christine Hoffman

Fendell Dustin Pilsbury

Marsha Arrowsmith

Edie Dee

Chuck Behrmann

Ben Davis

Gayle Reynolds 

Conservation Chair, Manatee/Sarasota Sierra Club

Nancy Miller

Diane Wallace

Michelle van Schouwen

Lora Reed

Charles Preston Rawls

Bob Gorevan

Pam Koepf

Laurie Hutson

Pat Kaufman

Patricia Casey

Guy DiLullo

Virginie Zemler

Ligia Dovale-Kiamco

Harold Logan

Bertha Gabriel

Lynn Hautamaki

====

Fresh Start Sarasota Blog

FreshStartSRQ

YouTube Channel

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