Regarding Critical Area Plan Scope: A Letter to Planning

Note: this originated as an email to the chief planner working on the Critical Area Plan authorized by the Board of Sarasota County Commissioners for the area of the public parcels at Apex and Palmer Blvd, often referred to as the "Quad" because they form the four quadrants at that intersection, adjacent to the Celery Fields on the east. See also here.

The four public lands known as the Quad parcels

Dear Steve Kirk,

I have been collecting some questions from our community that have come up since the May 14 Quads public workshop, and will list a few of them here. 

1. Will you be providing a transcript of your audio recording of workshop, and if so, where may we download it?

On this point, a video of the workshop is posted here - it's complete but for the first minute or so:

2. Thank you for sharing our community proposals on your site - will you continue to post proposals as they come in? I ask in part because I recently saw one from Jono Miller which has yet to be posted to the CAP site.

3. What are the tasks left in your timetable, which I understand could extend to November? 

4. When will your report be published? Will it be simultaneous with handing it to the Board, or in advance?

SCOPE

5. Can you help us understand in some detail the "scope" of your study? Allow me to explain why this matters. 

For our purposes, we believe your process will perform a very valuable service in meeting the objectives listed by the County:

As the county description below states, the purpose of a CAP is manifold:

The CAP approach looks holistically at development and existing communities by coordinating drainage, transportation, water and sewer, environmental systems and the protection of habitats.

• Purpose and objective of a Critical Area Plan:
• Provides a bridge between the general characteristics of the Comprehensive Plan and the specific nature of permits.
• Provides information for evaluating future development proposals in critical areas of concern to ensure consistency with the Comprehensive Plan.
•  Provides a public process for the planning, development and redevelopment and infill, of critical areas of concern and the adjacent areas. It does this through the consideration of historical resources, the environment, utilities, drainage, community services, transportation and land use.

Our question about "Scope" arises in relation to the specific dataset you use for your plan. If you choose to keep a very tight, narrow focus, you will see things that are near -- e.g. Gabbert's new Waste Transfer Facility and Mr. Waechter's warehouses, and the new fire station -- but limiting your data to this, you'll not capture the true profile and profound changes happening in the area.

Robert Waechter's warehouses south of parcel #2

We believe that to fulfill the mandate of a CAP as outlined, the process must capture a rich profile of the many social, economic, natural, vehicular, eco-touristic, and environmental changes that have occurred to this area since the FLUM was last updated in 1985. To not take all these manifold changes into account would be to miss the most important empirical data and, quite possibly, the very purpose of doing a CAP.

I'm not a planner, but it seems to me that such data would include several items - some of which I mentioned at the workshop - here's a list, which surely can be added to. By the way, this is in acknowledged in the planning memorandum: “An analysis of the general conditions should be performed for the entire CAP area.”

At a basic level, the CAP process can gather layers of data, such as:

• The rate of the area’s new housing, with prices over time, with radii showing distances from the Quads parcels;
• The number of vacancies in the nearby industrial/office parks, and trends of vacancy rates in the various office parks;
• Trends for rents in the nearby industrial/office parks;
• The number of school buses and school children that are bused along Palmer Boulevard and Apex Road each school day;
• Which schools currently run buses on Palmer Blvd., where these buses stop, the impact on traffic, the times they operate;
• The time it takes cars going from a point on Palmer Blvd. -- say from Raymond Road -- to another point, e.g. Honore Blvd. (Take these traffic timing measurements now, and again after Mr. Gabbert’s Waste Transfer Station is in full operation);
• Assess the impact of Mr. Gabbert’s operation on real estate values in the surrounding area;
• Analyze the visual impact of Mr. Gabbert’s operation, smack in the line of sight of the Celery Fields for millions driving on I-75;
• Obtain trending tourist visitation numbers for Audubon Nature Center and for Big Cat Sanctuary over the last 5 or more years.

Widen the scope further, and significant trending changes come into view:

• Nearby developments include projects already underway like Worthington and Artistry, as well as others yet to start, such as sectors of the Fruitville Initiative (see, for example, this information about “Southwood Village”);

• Potential synergies from the planned flyover that will bridge the highway to connect Benderson Rowing Park with Lakewood Ranch’s new Waterside development (5,100 dwelling units along with commercial and recreational uses), with road and trail links to the Celery Fields;

• Palmer Blvd. should be looked at as a whole in this CAP process - it’s one road, and decisions on land uses will affect its performance east and west of the highway.

And of course the reality of change can't be addressed without including the time frame from 1985 to the pent-up demand of developers who are coming with giant new East County subdivisions, including:

• More than 30,000 dwelling units planned (some already under construction) at Hi Hat Ranch; Waterside; the Fruitville Initiative; Pat Neal's project formerly known as Lindvest, with even more housing proposals on the way.

• Detailed projections for needs - all these new residents will seek open space, recreation, community spaces, a “Central Park for Sarasota”;

• New tourism options - such as a Visitors and History Center.- to connect with new potential synergies coming with the flyover connecting Benderson Rowing Park (and the planned relocation of Mote Marine) to Jensen's Waterside and down via Lakewood Ranch Boulevard to Coburn->Apex->the Quad parcels -> The Celery Fields -> Big Cat and more.

Please note - the above is all coming to you as a large question, regarding the scope and ultimate dataset of your study. It is consistent with our concern that the truly new, and unique natural and social profile of the area be fully taken into account, and considered within the context of current trends and future projections.

So our final question (for now) is this: Please give us some detailed sense of the tasks before you, and the extent to which they are designed to capture the data, trends, population projections etc. which we feel are basic to this vital decision about this vitally important area.

Thanks in advance,

Tom Matrullo with Glenna Blomquist, Gary Walsh, et al