Media Updates: Fresh Start and the Celery Fields, 2017-19

ABC7 WWSB: Sarasota County asking for public opinion on future of land . . .

SRQExperience Overview of Celery Fields and Quads - thanks to Len Besterman.

Herald Tribune May 13, 2019: Matrullo: A big idea near the Celery Fields

Sarasota News Leader: May 3, 2019: Permitting Process continues for Waste Transfer Facility near Celery Fields

Herald Tribune March 9, 2019: Waste transfer facility to be built near Celery Fields in Sarasota County

Sarasota News Leader, Oct. 12, 2018: Commission calls for analysis before rezoning Quad parcel #3

Herald Tribune Oct. 10, 2018: Sarasota County still contemplating uses for land near Celery Fields

Sarasota News Leader Fresh Start Initiative leaders plead for County Commission to undertake commonsense approach to future planning around Celery Fields, making use of connectivity and recreational opportunities  (For non subscribers: Link courtesy of publisher)

Herald Tribune  Matrullo: Protect sites near Celery Fields

Sarasota News Leader The goal is to maintain a welcoming place

WWSB ABC 7 MySuncoast: Community group leaves disappointed by Commissioners response to Celery Fields proposal  (Taylor Torregano reporting, 9.12.18

Herald Tribune: Plans for land around Sarasota County’s famed Celery Fields still up in the air

Local Group Turns In Celery Fields Proposals - (video) Taylor Torregano reporting, 7.13.18

WWSB ABC 7 Fresh Start Initiative Submits Proposals for Celery Fields (print)

WUSF Tampa: A Community Group Presents How Public Wants To Use Land At Celery Fields In Sarasota 7.12.18

"Cultivating Happy Accidents" - Urban Planner Daniel Herriges discusses the Celery Fields public lands and the Legacy Trail controversy in addressing land use practices in Sarasota County, in Strong Towns.

The root problem is that Sarasota County will have budget shortfalls for the foreseeable future because its development pattern is unproductive.

WABC 7: Support for Celery Fields Unlike Anything Else

Herald Tribune
Sarasota County extends deadline for Celery Fields development plan April 25, 2018


Sarasota News Leader

• Fresh Start Initiative to present ‘Quads’ proposals to County Commission on morning of April 25, April 19 (non subscription link)

• Celery Fields advocacy group to present proposals to County Commission about potential uses of county land near popular park, April 5, 2018

• One ‘Quad’ parcel next to Celery Fields to be kept by county, with advocates for the bird-watching area invited to suggest uses for a second parcel, Nov. 30, 2017

• New collaboration of Celery Fields advocates seeks to persuade County Commission to take nearby county parcels off list of surplus lands for sale, Oct. 19, 2017

The Observer

Commission eager to find profitable use for Celery Fields properties April 25, 2018

Group to give ideas for land by Celery Fields April 18, 2018

Residents to give commission ideas for future of county-owned land Dec. 7, 2017

Commission votes not to allow recycling facility outside of Celery Fields, Aug. 23, 2017

Herald Tribune
Celery Fields advocates propose uses for surrounding land

FPL weighs option on transmission line route east of Interstate 75

Lyons: Why so much county welcome for an unwanted neighbor?


WMNF Tampa: Sarasota environmentalists oppose waste facility near Celery Fields

WGCU (NPR Fort Myers-Naples-Sarasota) + WUSF (NPR Tampa)
Sarasota Planning Board Rejects Plant at Celery Fields, June 2, 2017
Celery Fields Birding Enthusiasts Hope Serenity Remains, June 14, 2017
National Audubon Society President Focuses on Florida


2.25.17 Bradenton Times: Sarasota Stalks Celery Fields for Recycling Plant

WWSB TV - ABC7

• March 14, 2018: Community initiative gathers proposals for land use near Celery Fields Park

• August 24, 2017: Community Support for Celery Fields Unlike Anything Else

• March 22, 2017: Recycling Plant Applicant Donated $17,400 to Commissioners

• February 25, 2017: Company wants to rezone [public] land near the Celery Fields

• Recycling Plant Applicant Donated $17,400 to Commissioners (links to campaign contributions)

***Alan Cohen interviews Cathy Antunes, Audubon's Rob Wright, and former Sarasota Commissioner Jon Thaxton about the influence of money upon County Officials:***

Begin at 18:27 - runs to 43:30:

WTSP 10 Tampa

Sarasota residents sound off against Celery Fields project

WSLR Sarasota

Peace & Justice Weds Aug 16, 2017 – 9 a.m. – Sarasota Sustainability and Celery Fields

WSLR Sarasota

Peace & Justice Weds Aug 16, 2017 – 9 a.m. – Sarasota Sustainability and Celery Fields


CeleryFields.org

Celery Fields in the News - 16 news stories about the Celery Fields


WSRQ - The Detail: Cathy Antunes Show

Jan 20, 2017 - Tom Matrullo
Feb. 10, 2017 - Adrien Lucas & Tom Matrullo
Feb. 24, 2017 - Rob Wright
March 3, 2017 - Wade Matthews
April 7, 2017 - Adrien Lucas & Tom Matrullo
May 26, 2017 - Glenna Blomquist, Brian Lichterman, Jono Miller, Tom Matrullo
June 9, 2017 - Carlos Correa & Luigi Verace
Aug. 18, 2017 - Adrien Lucas
Aug. 25, 2017 - Adrien Lucas & Tom Matrullo
Dec. 1, 2017 - Elizabeth Gomez-Mayo, Dan Kriwitzky & Tom Matrullo
April 20, 2018 - Carlos Correa & Gary Walsh 

Control Growth Now News

CONA Sarasota Meetings

Herald Tribune Letters to the Editor

County should postpone sale of lands next to Celery Fields

Debris Plant at Celery Fields - Jono Miller

NEXT . . .

Fresh Start to bring community vision to Sarasota County Commission

Earlier Articles & Tourism Pieces

Sarasota Audubon

The Celery Fields Trails

Must See Sarasota

Trip Advisor

Birding is Fun

Yelp

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

Fresh Start Presentation (Video) of 9.12.18

Here's the video presentation made to the Sarasota County Commissioners by the Fresh Start team on Sept. 12, 2018. Beneath the video are two slides used in the presentation.

Growth Context

Connectivity Context

Our recent Petition with more than 1,040 signatures and more than 370 comments was also submitted in print form.

Group to present "common sense perspective" on public lands at the Celery Fields

Media Advisory

Contacts: 

Glenna Blomquist 941-556-9526 || Tom Matrullo  941-321-7663 || 

Gary Walsh  941-377-9077 || Carlos Correa 941-735-8385

A common sense approach to planning for our common good

A citizens group will present the findings of a nine-month community process focused on public lands adjacent to the Celery Fields on Wednesday, September 12, to the Board of Sarasota County Commissioners. 

The presentation will begin around 9:30 a.m. at the County Administration Building, 1660 Ringling Boulevard, Sarasota. As it is not a hearing, public input will be limited to 3 minutes before or after the agenda.

"We'll offer the perspective and vision of residents and visitors as to what these public parcels can do for our communities," said Glenna Blomquist, a member of Fresh Start. Since last December, the group has been working with HOAs in the area to identify viable and beneficial uses for the "Quad parcels" at the intersection of Palmer Boulevard and Apex Road, just west of the Celery Fields birding and recreation area and the Sarasota Audubon Nature Center.

The Celery Fields began as a stormwater management project, but has grown into a treasured spot for residents and visitors -- many drawn to its extraordinary bird population. Over 224 species, both native and migrating, have been sighted and photographed by bird lovers.

Last year two developers sought to purchase public parcels #2 and #3 in the quads, a distance of .8 mile from the birding area: one for a giant Restaurant Depot warehouse, the other for an even larger waste processing facility. The community outcry was substantial, including rallies and hours of public testimony. Both proposals ultimately failed, but the County never took the parcels off of the surplus lands list, or revised the land use designations that were set in 1981. That keeps the door open for industrial development.

"This is a highly popular Florida destination on the verge of an explosion of new development east of the highway" (I-75), said Tom Matrullo, another member of Fresh Start. "Our first thought was, why haven't these old designations been updated to reflect the tremendous changes that have come, with so much more transformation on the way?"

"The Quads"

On Wednesday the group will offer what it describes as a "carefully reasoned, but passionate analysis" of the Celery Fields context. It will examine current approved new housing development east of the highway, and zoom in on new developments immediate to the Quad parcels.

In addition to the four proposed uses determined to be most favored by representatives of 50 HOAs in the area:

• multi-use community center
• themed birding lodge and restaurant
• shops, cafes and affordable housing
• outdoor sports courts and fields 

the group will ask the Board to adopt a resolution dedicating these public lands, a total of some 30 acres, for the benefit of the public. It will also present a petition (still open) that quickly gathered more than 1,000 signatures in support of the effort.

"When you look at everything that's changed here -- from the amazing Celery Fields to the neighborhoods and Tatum Ridge School -- and then look at the big picture of where this is all going, it becomes clear that the county should invest in creating a place that both buffers the Celery Fields and supports it with complementary uses," said Gary Walsh, president of the Meadow Walk HOA.

Those uses could include any of the four already proposed, or some new combination the community prefers -- just not industry, says Carlos Correa, president of The Enclave. "We've spoken with many, many people -- not only in our communities, but planners, architects, environmentalists and visitors drawn to the area by the beauty and birding of the Celery Fields."

Looking west from "Mt. Celery"

"Gentle cultivation, not harsh industrialization," is the message on the group's blog called Fresh Start for the Celery Fields.

A Miami firm's recent analysis commissioned by the County came back with the finding that industry would be the "highest and best use" of one of the quad parcels -- parcel #3. Fresh Start notes that "highest and best use" is a term of art that looks only at potential monetization of a property, divorced from all else -- its local context (traffic, etc), community values, market trends, future economic viability and more. (More response to Lambert here.)

"The 49-page report (by Lambert Advisory LLC ) mentioned the Celery Fields twice in passing, but offered no analysis of potential impacts. It even failed to address issues from large industrial trucks," said Matrullo.

The Lambert report did not say what kind of industry might be suitable for this location. It made no distinction between a giant warehouse, a waste processing plant, or a clean, high-paying high-tech firm, said Walsh.

"When you look at all the factors -- not just dollars -- the choice seems pretty clear," says Correa. "Either you make a place that disrupts the natural beauty, flow, and preferred community uses, or you look to what the community wants and needs."

"The educational, social, and economic possibilities of the county's investing in a multi-faceted community center hold enormous value for the people," says Matrullo. "Private industry will benefit the industrial developer alone."

Fresh Start hopes to persuade the County Commission on Wednesday, Sept. 12 to look more holistically at a plan that would catalyze the unusual set of assets that includes the Celery Fields, Ackerman Park, Big Cat Habitat, and the Palmer Boulevard underpass to the Packinghouse district.

"If we don't form a common sense plan, we'll end up with fragments that add up to less than the sum of their parts," said Blomquist.

Consultant recommends industry near Celery Fields

Quads

Earlier this year, Sarasota County hired a consultant to study the "highest and best use" for parcel #3 of the public lands near the Celery Fields known as "the Quads." That report is now in (link here) -- it recommends rezoning 7 acres of parcel #3 for industrial use:

Some preliminary observations:

Specialized Approach: The $61,000 report from Miami-based Lambert Advisory LLC follows a specialized "highest and best use" (HBU) approach, which looks at real estate comparables solely to form an estimate of highest potential dollar value. By design HBU ignores quality of life, community benefit, impacts on the environment, potential social or economic gains from other uses, and basically everything other than top-dollar price for this public land.

Siloed Consultancy: Since January, Fresh Start repeatedly asked to communicate with the consultant. We were told that at the County’s direction, the Consultant was to work walled off from residents or anyone else, to “limit the influences on the data.”

Fiscal Motive Evaporates: Last November, the Commission cited a need to sell public lands to cover a temporary budget shortfall as the compelling reason for this rezoning. Since then the Board has revised its view. Commissioner Maio now says the county is in excellent fiscal health and that there is "no shortfall" this year or next (audio clip: longer; shorter). 

Warehouse south of parcel 2

Dominoes: Rezoning parcel #3 to industrial is not only about parcel #3. IF/when that rezoning is complete, the southwest parcel (#2) will be surrounded on three sides by industry (Parcel #3 to the north, James Gabbert's planned waste transfer station to the west, and Robert Waechter's warehouses immediately to the south). Private industrial interests will use this "enveloping zoning" to argue for making parcel #2  industrial. (Parcel #2 is the 10.6 acres Mr. Gabbert wished to situate a giant open waste processing facility on last year.)

Fresh Start will present a very different vision of the prospects for the Quad parcels to the commissioners next Wednesday, Sept. 12 at approximately 9:30 a.m. As it is not a public hearing, input from the public will be limited to 3 minutes before or after the Agenda.

The Fresh Start Executive Council

Have you signed our petition opposing industry at the Celery Fields?

On the Anniversary of the Gabbert Hearing

August 23 marks exactly one year since hundreds of Sarasota residents came out to oppose an incomprehensible proposal -- a developer seeking to operate a giant open-air industrial waste processing facility on public land at Apex Road and Palmer Blvd., a short walk from the Celery Fields bird sanctuary, wetlands, and recreation area.

Had the Board's 3-2 vote gone the other way, we might now be seeing diesel trucks on Palmer Blvd and Apex Road, coming and leaving a 16-acre construction debris and yard waste pulverizing operation on parcel #2. (Video: Gabbert hearing) Mr. Gabbert still has Board approval for a 6-acre waste transfer station at Porter and Palmer.

Last November, a group of citizens organized a coalition of neighborhoods to come up with a better idea for the Quad parcels. Fresh Start consulted the community as well as local experts, researching alternatives to selling the lands for industrial uses. The group received many ideas and conceptual proposals -- a final four were presented to the Board on July 11, 2018. All results were contained in the Fresh Start report handed in that day.

Fresh Start now has a Sept. 12th date to meet publicly with the Board. With hopes for a good decision the group will make a presentation, but is also grappling with the fact that since handing in its report, there has been no communication, no directed action, in response to our citizens' proposals. So far, Fresh Start has done all the talking. Will they find Board support? Or will each proposal in turn be weighed, found wanting, and dismissed?

We'd like to hear your thoughts -- here are some of ours: Regardless of the Board's view of any or all of our community proposals, our commitment and vision have one overriding purpose: to remove the Quad parcels from the County's surplus lands list.

So our position today is the same as it was a year ago: The Celery Fields is too valuable, too unique, too beautiful a natural treasure to degrade with industry. There's no reason to sell any of these 30 acres to a private developer when so much East Sarasota open land -- upwards of 20,000 acres at last count -- has recently been approved for private gated communities.

Before turning rural lands into sprawling housing projects, the County needs to think about the public's right to breathe clean air, travel safe roads, have police, fire and school resources at hand, and public spaces to gather, play sports, practice hobbies, and share and learn from each other -- in short, to exist as a community. The public lands at Apex and Palmer can and should be dedicated to community-oriented uses, and that's what we'll say -- with some new data and images -- in a few weeks to the Board.

So please join us Sept. 12 if you can. We'll let you know the time as soon as we know.

Meanwhile, please sign and share our Petition --- it's got hundreds of comments from those who've already signed.

Public Vision for our Public Lands at the Celery Fields

 Common Sense to Protect our Celery Fields

Herald Tribune

Video: Fresh Start's April 25th Presentation to Sarasota County

This is the County video of the April 25th Fresh Start presentation of community-based proposals for Quad Parcels 1 and 2 to the Board of Sarasota County Commissioners.

The process by which residents came up with over 40 proposals, which then were vetted and narrowed through a rigorous community roundtable process to four, was outlined. The proposals were then described with a powerpoint including images, and an integrative vision for the entire Celery Fields area was briefly outlined.

Fresh Start was encouraged  to refine the proposals and return with a report before the Board's vacation break. Fresh Start returned on July 11 to present an updated complete report, entitled Public Uses for Public Lands at the Celery Fields.

The April 25 presentation below begins at the 30 minute mark, and ends at 1 hr. 27 minutes:

Public Uses for Public Lands At the Celery Fields

This is the updated report submitted to the Board of Sarasota County Commissioners on July 11, 2018. It can also be downloaded here:

To:     The Board of Sarasota County Commissioners
From: The Fresh Start Initiative
Re:     Update Report
Date:  July 11, 2018

The Executive Council of Fresh Start is pleased to present this update report, Public Uses for Public Lands at the Celery Fields, which offers our communities’ sense of the highest and best use of the quad parcels at Apex and Palmer Boulevard at the Celery Fields.

This update focuses on progress made since our last report of April 25th, 2018 (our prior reports are attached for ease of reference). We anticipate that you will address this community request for action after your summer break, and we look forward to a positive outcome for our community.

Brief background

On Nov. 28th, 2017, the Board granted the Fresh Start Initiative time to determine the priorities of our communities in the area of the Celery Fields with regard to appropriate and feasible uses for two of the three Quad parcels. Specifically you removed parcel #1 from the surplus list, and chose not to put parcel #2 out for sale pending the Fresh Start effort. You directed that a consultant be hired to rezone parcel #3 for “highest and best use,” with the intent to sell it. [Minutes (1)]

On April 25th, we reported that our residents and an advisory panel had examined over 40 conceptual ideas and proposals from our communities. Through a process of expert evaluation and rigorous community selection (method described in April 25th presentation), four proposals were deemed to best meet the four criteria of feasibility, compatibility with the area, utility to the neighbors, and economic viability:

For Parcel 1:

1. A multi-use community facility - trails, gardens, a wedding pavilion, meeting area.
2. A Celery Fields-themed nature lodge/restaurant with platforms for birders.

For Parcel 2:

3. A boulevard style set of shops, fooderies, and upstairs residences.
4. Outdoor sports courts and fields built, run, and maintained by the Sarasota YMCA.

The community expressed the highest support -- 84% -- for option 4, the $1 million YMCA proposal featuring pickleball, tennis, basketball, a shaded exercise area, open sports field, parking, pavilion and gourmet food truck area. Since April, at your direction we have focused on refining that proposal and addressing questions raised in our individual meetings with the Board and with staff in May and June.

Survey and Site Analysis

In May, Fresh Start performed a short survey (4) of its HOAs asking what sports fields -- for soccer, baseball, football -- and sports courts -- pickleball, tennis, and basketball -- currently are available to them. It turns out that none of these facilities are publicly available East of I-75. To reach the nearest tennis, baseball or soccer fields required drives of up to 9 miles. It turns out that nearly all public sports fields and courts lie west of the Interstate at Colonial Oaks, Fruitville Park, 17th Street, each with limited facilities to serve its nearby communities.

Also in the past couple of months, Tampa-based SEER Analytics performed a site study authorized by the Sarasota YMCA which is attached to this report (3). It reveals a substantial user base within a short radius of parcel #2: More than 43,500 households would be within easy driving distance of the facility. The SEER study includes detailed demographic data and finds a ready community of households to make use of a YMCA facility there.

Learning & volunteering: YMCA and Audubon

We’ve also learned more about the YMCA’s range of programs for children. In certain counties, YMCAs lease parklands to provide summer camps. At the Celery Fields, the Sarasota Y could offer a rich array of children’s programs making great use of the natural treasures right next door. Think of kids birding with Audubon volunteers, and fishing, hiking, and kayaking with YMCA leaders. A YMCA at the Celery Fields would amplify the range and richness of what our community’s seniors and children can experience.

Zooming Out

We thank you for the opportunity to present these proposals, which grew out of a half-year of serious community outreach, consultation, feedback and choices. The ball is now in your court. As a final consideration, let’s zoom out from this present moment, and remember what brought us to this point.

On August 23, 2017, this Board experienced the community’s shock and outrage that an open air industrial waste facility would even be considered for parcel #2:

• Residents of neighborhoods that didn’t exist when the area was zoned MEC in 1983 spoke of profound changes the area has seen, and how much the Celery Fields means to them. 

• Environmental groups reminded you of the County’s extraordinary good fortune in having an eco-tourist wonderland attractive to 224 species of birds evolve from a stormwater project. 

• Citizens wondered what planning principles and vision would allow consideration of heavy industrial uses in this ecologically sensitive area with fragile roads.

After the August 23, 2017 hearing, many believed the Board would direct staff to take a fresh look at this area, consult residents, and work to optimize its potential. Fresh Start arose out of that concern. Even now, a year later, an industrial proposal could compromise the community.

If we zoom out further, big projects are coming. Large-scale housing tracts plan more than 27,000 homes on 20,700 acres stretching from University Parkway at the north end down past Fruitville, Bee Ridge, and Clark roads to SR 681 near Venice. Sarasota County’s open spaces and country roads are vanishing forever.

Commissioners, it is the responsibility of your office to evaluate these large proposed developments in light of public infrastructure, services, and amenities. We take this opportunity to assert the public’s right to a vision that balances private development with public needs.

Fresh Start urges the Board to take this small step towards a proactive vision and a positive direction for the future of Sarasota’s people. On behalf of our 50 communities we ask your support for a YMCA sports facility on the 10.6 acres of Quad Parcel #2. Ideally, all four quad parcels should be dedicated to sensible, interrelated uses that will become more acutely necessary as East Sarasota builds out. Staff has outlined the requisite re-zoning actions for each of our four proposals (8).

Sarasota County is at a significant crossroads: The Board can dedicate these public lands to optimal public uses, or sell them to industrial developer

                           THIS . . .         or              THIS?

Vote for your community’s future: Let’s make a healthy fresh start at the Quads for East Sarasota County.

Thank you.

The Fresh Start Executive Council
Glenna Blomquist, Carlos Correa, Tom Matrullo, Gary Walsh
Fresh Start HOA Signatories

Public Parcels at Apex Rd. and Palmer Blvd.

Parcel 1: Off Surplus List                  Parcel 2: Fresh Start                    Parcel 3: Consultant Rezone

Supporting Documents Introductory Letter to Jane Grogg Minutes Nov. 28th, 2017 Think Tank YMCA Field Proposal SEER Analytics Study for the YMCA Fresh Start Neighborhood Survey (Distance from Sports Facilities) Fresh Start April 25th Presentation Fresh Start Report of April 25th Fresh Start Report of Feb. 5th with updates Staff Zoning and Land Use Analysis East County Athletic Resources Map Letter to R. Waechter

•                   Parcel 1: Off Surplus List 

•                 Parcel 2: Fresh Start 

•                   Parcel 3: Consultant Rezone

Supporting Documents

Introductory Letter to Jane Grogg

1. Minutes Nov. 28th, 2017 Think Tank
2. YMCA Field Proposal
3. SEER Analytics Study for the YMCA
4. Fresh Start Neighborhood Survey (Distance from Sports Facilities)
5. Fresh Start April 25th Presentation
6. Fresh Start Report of April 25th
7. Fresh Start Report of Feb. 5th with updates
8. Staff Zoning and Land Use Analysis
9. East County Athletic Resources Map
10. Letter to R. Waechter

Community Vision for the Quads - Fresh Start

Update: a specific proposal for the Quad Parcels is in the works and will be presented to the Board in July. We hope the Community will come to the hearing (date TBA) and show support. There is resistance to our community-friendly proposals that only our communities can overcome.

Fresh Start, a community coalition for rational planning and land use on public lands at the Celery Fields, presented the results of its community outreach and roundtable process for parcels 1 and 2 between I-75 and the Celery Fields at its April 25th Presentation to the Commission.

All proposals had come to the Fresh Start Initiative through our community, although some were submitted by nonprofit organizations. Each proposal was examined and evaluated by a volunteer panel of advisers. Part of the vetting process was to gauge how proposals stood up to four community-based criteria:

• Feasibility
• Compatibility with the Area
• Utility to Neighbors
• Economic Viability

 Slides from the full presentation to the Board are here.

Note: Parcel #2, near the highway, is adjacent to a planned waste transfer station to the West.

Parcel #1 has the Celery Fields wetlands to the East, separated by a canal with 150' borders (Main C).

Of 41 submitted ideas and proposals, the final four are below -- the delegates from our HOAs selected two options for each parcel, and voted on them -- voting results are in parentheses. 

But the process has not stood still. Additional ideas from our community for connective elements like a roundabout, a footbridge, a bus loop and an observation tower have been coming in. 

rookery

bus loop

whimsical observation tower

Footbridge from Parcel 1 to Celery Fields

Some of these connective elements are shown in the composite images below.

Proposals for Parcel #1 12.7 acres

Community Multi-Use Area: Pavilion, adult playground, wedding spot, buffer for Celery Fields (supported by 63%):

Ecolodge with outlook on roosting areas for birds (37% support)

Below, the figure shows a combination of Nature Lodge and buffer, pavilion, trails on eastern portion on parcel #1. Additional suggestions from community shown include a roundabout at Apex/Palmer, a footbridge across the canal to the Celery Fields wetlands, and automobile ingress to parking area from Apex Road, not Palmer Boulevard:

Proposals for Parcel #2 10.7 acres

YMCA playfields, sports complex (84% support): Fully funded, $1 million investment by the YMCA in structures, commitment to fully maintain at no cost to County, leased.

Shops, Fooderies, Apartments (16% support)

Below: The two parcels, with YMCA facility on #2, and Ecolodge with trails, pavilion and buffer on #1:

Fresh Start to bring community vision to Commissioners April 25

Feasibility | Economic Viability | Compatibility with the Area | Utility to Neighbors

MEDIA ADVISORY

April 18, 2018

What: Fresh Start Initiative Update
When: 9 a.m. Wednesday April 25
Where: Sarasota County Commission, 1660 Ringling Blvd.

Fresh Start to Present Proposals for Public Lands near Celery Fields

The Fresh Start Initiative will present the first-round results of its civic experiment in community-based visioning for public lands to the Board of Sarasota County Commissioners on Wednesday, April 25.

The community Initiative began November 28, 2017, after the Board agreed to hold off on surplus-land decisions for two public parcels near the Celery Fields for six months while the citizen group consulted the community’s wishes for the parcels. Fresh Start cites the support of 50 HOAs surrounding the Celery Fields for the effort.

The results offer a sense of the community’s vision that could transform the two parcels, which total 23 acres, by developing them in ways that would both enhance the natural treasure already there and serve the people of the community, according to members of the group’s Executive Council.

The Quad Parcel

The parcels are at the intersection of Apex Road and Palmer Boulevard. Parcel #1 on the southeastern corner is 12.7 acres and abuts the western edge of the Celery Fields wetlands. Two bird walks there draw tourists from across the country eager to see some of the rarer of more than 225 species known to visit there. Parcel #2 on the southwestern corner has 10.7 acres. The parcels have sat vacant for 20 years.

Fresh Start’s process required time to organize and implement.

"Over the past five months, we have designed, organized and implemented a three-step process,” said Fresh Start council member Marguerite Malone. “We first elicited interest, ideas, and then proposals from our communities. Secondly, we reviewed those proposals through a strong team of local experts in planning, architecture, environment and neighborhood organization. Thirdly, we established delegates from our community who attended a roundtable meeting to discuss, listen, modify, and then vote for the best proposals."

The proposals were vetted both by the community and the Advisory Panel for their congruence with four leading criteria: Feasibility, Economic Viability, Compatibility with the Area, and Utility to Neighbors. Utilizing a weighted vote approach, the roundtable participants selected four proposals -- two for each parcel.

The proposals combine a variety of public uses with private opportunities to offer goods or services on land leased from the county, said Fresh Start member and Meadow Walk president Gary Walsh. Instead of selling the lands outright to private developers, they would remain in public hands, but provide annual revenue to the County via leases, tourist taxes, and employment. Over time that revenue could exceed what a one-time sale would bring in, he added.

The group is scheduled to present details of the four proposals to the County shortly after 9 a.m., April 25.

“In some cases the final ideas combine two or more original proposals,” said Glenna Blomquist of Fresh Start, adding, “There was a creative ferment -- ideas evolved along the way.”

Fresh Start grew out of a community uproar over a developer's proposal last year to convert one of the parcels into an open-air demolition waste processing facility. More than 300 residents concerned about traffic, health, noise, environmental harm, property values and more turned out at the County Commission's August 23 public hearing on the petition, which lasted seven hours before the Commissioners voted the proposal down.

The waste plant was a wake-up call, the group says. While the waste proposal failed, nothing prevents another developer from seeking to convert the same public parcel to heavy industrial use.

“The Board didn’t use the opportunity to direct staff to review the underlying land use provisions for the area, which were put in place nearly 40 years ago -- before many of the residential communities and businesses -- before even the Celery Fields area itself -- existed,” said Fresh Start council member Carlos Correa, president of The Enclave, a residential community on Palmer Boulevard East.

That concern prompted the formation of Fresh Start, which offered to research the area, gather community participation and input, and to come back with some conceptual plans within six months of the November 28, 2017 agreement with the Board.

“The Initiative here was to facilitate a potential synergy of community vision and county supervision,” said Tom Matrullo of Fresh Start. “We are not backing any specific plan, nor are we associated with any organization behind any proposal. We facilitated a community-based method to produce and gain consensus on coordinated, viable plans, creating the opportunity for a positive collaboration between our elected officials and our residents, who were deeply divided over the County’s handling of the Waste Plant proposal last year.”

In addition to proposals for the two parcels, ideas came up along the way for enhancements to the common areas -- a roundabout, a bus loop, a footbridge, and more. The group says such features would unify the area and hopes the County will give them consideration.

The group will present the four proposals selected at the Roundtable meeting to the Commissioners and invite them to take the next step: To authorize staff to work with community representatives on refining them.

“The enthusiasm and creativity of our citizens working on this has been extraordinary,” said Fresh Start’s Blomquist. “A balanced collaborate effort of community and County can transform these vacant public lands into a win/win: a community catalyst that interrelates commerce, history, nature, neighborhood walkability, recreation and tourism.”

Fresh Start has been given 30 minutes for presentation and discussion beginning shortly after 9 a.m. on Wednesday, April 25. The public is welcome to attend the meeting, to be held in the Commission Chamber of the County Administration Building at 1660 Ringling Boulevard. Supporters of Fresh Start plan to wear green shirts or tops.

Advisers of the Fresh Start Initiative

The Fresh Start Advisory Panel

Cathy Antunes' professional experience includes a twenty year career in executive sales with three Fortune 500 companies. A recipient of numerous national and regional sales awards throughout her career, she executed over a dozen successful product launches and served on national brand advisory committees. Antunes has served as an officer on the board of local civic non-profits, and currently hosts her radio show, The Detail, on WSRQ. She writes a monthly column for SRQ Daily and blogs at www.thedetail.net. She is married to Dr. Jose Antunes and lives in the City of Sarasota.


Kafi Benz author, illustrator, graphics designer, and publisher
- president, CONA — Sarasota County Council of Neighborhood Associations, Inc.
- founder and president, Friends of “Seagate” Incorporated
- studio director, Jim Gary’s Twentieth Century Dinosaurs
- appointee, Sarasota-Manatee Metropolitan Planning Org Citizen Advisory Committee
- curator and narrator for muralist and film maker, MTO
- was instrumental in accomplishments in the field of public land acquisitions:
- establishment of Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, a National Natural Landmark
- acquisition of “Seagate” (Powel Crosley Estate) by the state of Florida
- partnered with Sarasota effort to acquire Rus-in-Ur’be via Florida Forever Program


Brian Lichterman, President, Vision Planning & Design. An experienced Land Use Planner with over 34 years of public and private sector Land Use Planning experience, Brian was born and raised in Racine, Wisconsin. He moved to Sarasota in 1983 and spent the next 22 years as a Senior Planner with the Sarasota County Planning Department. When working for Sarasota County, he was the recipient of numerous planning awards for innovativeness on some of the 33 corridor studies and critical area planning studies he managed throughout Sarasota County. In 2005, after leaving the County, he opened Vision Planning and Design, a Planning Consulting firm based in Sarasota, Florida.
         His firm is still very active, specializing in land entitlement by representing both public and private sector clients. As of 2018, he has successfully obtained approval of rezonings, special exceptions and comprehensive plan amendments on well over 50 properties in the Sarasota and Manatee County. In 2010, he obtained a Real Estate License and he currently works for Wagner Realty. He received a Masters Degree in Public Administration from the University of South Florida in 1996 and a Bachelor of Science in Urban and Regional Planning and Sociology from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh in 1979. Reach Brian at 941-780-4166 or Brianl@visionplanning2.com.


Jono Miller has been a Sarasota environmental educator, activist, volunteer and sometimes consultant for the past four decades. He’s been a community leader on topics such as environmentally sensitive land protection, neighborhood parkland, voting systems, tree protection, comprehensive planning, coastal issues, cabbage palms, water supply, backyard chickens, and protection of the Myakka River. He is a member of class twenty of Leadership Florida, and in 2006 received the 1000 Friends of Florida, Bill Sadowski Award for public service at the regional/state level. He is retired from teaching and directing the Environmental Studies Program at New College of Florida.


Tim Rumage - Planetary ethicist and the Coordinator/Developer of Environmental Studies at Ringling College of Art and Design, Tim teaches courses on environmental science, sustainability, creating ecological cities, applied environmental design, food, water, biodiversity, and environmental ethics.
       Tim is also a Coordinator for Sustainability in Design Education at CUMULUS an international organization of over 200 art, design and media colleges from 50 countries. Recent work focuses on Biophilic design (the incorporation of nature’s services in urban design and infrastructure), the economic value of nature as well as climate change and sea level rise. 

       Previous endeavors include developing curriculum on sustainability and a variety of interdisciplinary projects involving habitat restoration and protection, local food production, water issues. Early research areas included Marine Mammals, Bats, Pelagic Birds, and environmental surveys. He is a frequent lecturer at other colleges and community organizations and leads workshops on Sustainability in the US, UK and EU.
       Along with David Houle, Tim co-authored the book This Spaceship Earth and co-founded the non-profit organization This Spaceship Earth, Inc.

Stephen Suau is a registered engineer with over 30 years of experience in southwest Florida. Although he has previously served as Executive Director of Sarasota County’s Growth Management and Development Services Business Center as well as Director of Sarasota County’s Stormwater Environmental Utility, he has spent most of his professional career in the private sector. His specialty is watershed management planning and water resources, including the Sarasota County’s Celery Fields and Dona Bay initiatives. Mr. Suau has engaged local communities relative to watershed management at the regional and neighborhood scales.
        A Principle and Managing Partner of Progressive Water Resources, he has a Bachelors of Science degree from the University of Illinois in Civil Engineering and a Masters in Engineering Administration from Bradley University. He resides in Sarasota, Florida and has served as chairman of the Sarasota County Stormwater Environmental Utility Advisory Committee, co-chairman of the Sarasota County Environmentally Sensitive Lands Advisory Committee, vice-chairman of the Myakka River Planning Advisory Committee, and the Sarasota County Sustainable Agriculture Policy Committee. He has also served as the Southwest Florida areas representative on the Technical Advisory Committee for the proposed State Stormwater Rule, and chaired the Manatee County Chamber of Commerce’s Green Sustainability Task Force.


Rob Wright - Mr. Wright grew up in Sarasota County and has called the area home for most of his life. Living here has sparked a deep abiding love for our water and lands natural resources and the need to manage them wisely to enhance our quality of life. His overriding philosophy is “Development should blend within nature not be placed on top of it.” He is currently Conservation Chair for Sarasota Audubon Society (SAS) and a leading voice on environmental issues.
       He served as Neighborhood Environmental Stewardship Team (NEST) Coordinator (Environmental Specialist) for Sarasota County (15 years) specializing in stormwater water quality enhancement/habitat restoration, shoreline erosion control and rehabilitation for ponds, canals and bays. He is a Certified stormwater inspector.

       Mr. Wright has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Geography/Coastal Zone Management, Florida Atlantic University and has been involved in the administration and implementation of water resource environmental management programs in the public and private sector for over 35 years. He has extensive experience as an environmental educator and troubleshooting water resource issues.


William C. Zoller, AIA. Architect. Born and reared in Manatee County. Graduated from MIT, worked in New York and Brussels, then returned to the area and settled in Sarasota in 1971. Established architectural practice in Sarasota. Past president of CONA, currently on Board of Directors of CONA.

Celery Fields Area