Quads update and a blueprint for water quality

News from the Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast: 

Via a conference call on Thursday, Christine Johnson updated progress on the Quad parcels and other projects.

Quads: The CF has met three times with County staff and there is confidence they will have permanent easements in place by the beginning of summer on the three parcels (1,2,4) which the County has agreed to give in perpetuity.

• Parcels 1 and 4 - the Eastern quad parcels - are to be left natural for the most part. Johnson did say there could be some work to bring the canal that runs between the SE parcel and the Celery Fields to a better level of development. I.e., it has paths where people walk, run, bicycle - these might be improved.

• Parcel 2 (SW) could have some development component that would allow for parking. One of the major issues with the entire area is how little parking and other welcoming facilities are there for visitors.

Once these easements are in place, the property will be left to the CF and Audubon to develop and maintain. It is anticipated there will be no county funding. Here's where the community is likely to be invited to step up and help out.

The Foundation is also working toward solutions for other properties, including the giant Orange Hammock near North Port. The latest on this 5,500-acre site is that the CF has until June 1 to come up with $1.5 million for it. Johnson said this is a key project in that it not only means fewer homes, but also protects drinking water, serves as animal habitat, protects against floods, and still offers recreative and eco-tourism uses. Amazingly, Johnson says the CF is already 41% on its way to the $1.5 million needed.
More here.

Updates on other projects, including Bobby Jones, the Felts preserve, and more - can be found via links here.

a blueprint for

water quality improvement

to stop feeding

harmful algae blooms

As many know, Jon Thaxton and Steve Suau were two of the key people behind the creation of the Celery Fields Water Management facility. 

They're still concerned with water, and will be giving several talks on the results of a year's research on nutrients in our soil, and how they affect our bays and waterways. It's a wake-up call for us all. 

Jon and Steve will be at the Robert L. Anderson Administration Center in Venice this Tuesday (March 10) shortly after 1:30 pm presenting to the Board of Sarasota County Commissioners.

Also on Tuesday, they'll do a broader version of their work at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Venice at 7 pm. It's at 1971 Pinebrook Rd, Venice, Florida 34292.

And they'll be presenting at CONA Sarasota on Friday March 20, at 7, at the Waldemere Fire Station.

Some slides from the "Playbook" are here. For the interpretive commentary, try to get to one of these presentations -- we all affect water quality, and in turn it affects us all.

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)