In a kind of "sneak preview" given on Tuesday, February 15 at the Audubon Nature Center, plans for three Quad parcels were unveiled.
The plans have yet to be agreed to by the County, but -- with hopes that all will go well -- they're pretty terrific.
This is just a brief update - we'll add more detail, especially after there's been a formal agreement with County planning staff and the Board.
For now:
Jeanne Dubi and Christine Johnson made clear that the goal is about "more than birds" - it will be "a teaching and learning site," said Dubi. It will be about re-wilding, buffering, restoring clean water, introducing plants, trees and other features that will attract a greater variety of birds, give them resting places as they migrate between continents, and areas for local birds to forage and nest.
The greatest changes will come to the southeast parcel. They include woodland habitat through new forestation, a meadow and a "ravine," with a bird blind and weir. The northeast parcel will include grading the bottom of the retention pond so that birds can wade without falling into deep water. The water from the retention pond would feed an entirely new feature, a "ravine" on the southeast parcel - coming under Palmer Boulevard then surfacing on that parcel (photos below).
Beyond bringing back the natural potential, there's room on the southwest parcel for humans -- parking, recreation, open areas with picnic tables, bathrooms. Six acres of this parcel were reserved by the County for a government building at the western end, next to James Gabbert's Waste Transfer Facility.
There will also be internships for folks interested in learning about water, soil, carbon sequestration, working with government, and more, said Dubi.
She credited the community with rising up to protect the Celery Fields, adding "we're all in this together."
A meeting with the County is coming soon -- we'll be watching to see how that goes.
A lot of thinking from a lot of people has gone into this - let's hope the county has the wisdom to embrace it all, and help see it through. The re-wilded Quads will need funding, and eventually an endowment.
The visuals will be open to the public beginning Saturday at the Nature Center.
The NE parcel
Proposed bird blind for the Southeast Parcel adjacent to the existing Celery Fields
The Southwest Parcel with parking, playground, picnic tables, bathrooms, open areas for recreation
The meadow and path leading to the SW parcel's bird blind on the canal
This Tuesday, Oct. 6, a plan for the Quads parcels at the Celery Fields comes before the Board for approval. It's a plan that contains two Agreements: one places perpetual easements on three of the four parcels; the second provides for the design of what the three parcels will becomes, with Audubon agreeing to play a major role.
In a nutshell, the County grants a perpetual easement for three of the four parcels:
The two agreements -- worked out in private with the Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast and Sarasota Audubon -- set a future course for these parcels, marked as #1 (SE), #2 (SW) and the NW parcel with retention pond. Parcel #3 (NW) has a new fire station and about 6 acres reserved by the County for future development (at Commissioner Maio's recommendation).
Below are links to the Memorandum and two Agreements which the Board is set to vote on:
The Conservation Agreement includes two "development envelopes." One allows the construction of a building of up to 40,000 s.f. on the western six acres of the SW parcel #2. Uses for the facility are limited to government, civic, recreational, education and conservation. Earlier discussions with the community included possibilities such as a history museum, visitor and nature center, or cafe.
The second envelope allows for the construction of "limited public amenities" -- restrooms, a pavilion, parking -- on a quarter acre of the eastern portion of the same parcel #2.
CONA Sarasota's last meeting (1.10.20) offered the occasion for a brief update on the Quads parcels. According to information shared by the Conservation Foundation, so far the Foundation has held one meeting with Sarasota Audubon and Sarasota County.
They discussed the process for working together, wish lists for desired outcomes, and success criteria. Nothing decided, just procedural. The project design will take many months as there are many county departments and two not-for-profits involved. A second meeting had not yet been scheduled.
This was shared by Kafi Benz at last evening's CONA meeting.
In addition at CONA, those attending heard a good deal of information on the Fish Farm proposed offshore from Justin Bloom and Julie Miller, and about efforts to speed the transition to renewable energy from Sean Sellers of the Suncoast Climate Justice Coalition:
The point has to do with the evolution of something new - unplanned, unanticipated. When this happens, and when it's a good thing, is it not in the public interest for this new beneficence to be recognized, its trending potential protected, and its future prospects planned for?
Is the best way to do this to act as if nothing has happened, and it's still 1975?
It's not every day that a code-based bureaucracy has to grapple with a radically new natural phenomenon. But you know, that's where you might find something to be enthusiastic about -- a challenge to entrenched ways of seeing and doing, an unexpected grace of Nature that calls for an equally unexpected grace of human imagination and spirit.
It is profoundly disappointing that our elected officials have so far been unmoved by self-evident natural beauty and community commitment to the Celery Fields.
It's not clear from our reading of the CAP [Critical Area Plan] that you've taken a close enough look at the community that will be impacted by whatever goes on the Quads. How many of the questions below does your CAP actually explore?
Please request more time if necessary to do a full visioning plan for the entire Celery Fields Area. There is no rush - no one is at the door, seeking to build there. This would be a very good moment to explore the beauty and graces of the New.
Questions appended below.
Respectfully,
Tom Matrullo
There’s a great deal of knowledge about the area that this CAP should see as its duty to address -- real-life factors for thousands of people who now live there:
What do actual trends in the industrial park show in terms of vacancies, land prices, rental prices?
Why is no one seeking to purchase the MEC parcels in the 240 acres of the Fruitville Initiative for industry?
Where are the vectors that would demonstrate the obvious fact that Board actions have changed the area in an overwhelming way to residential and recreational?
Traffic analysis should include the peak times, patterns and needs of the immediate community.
How many school children ride how many buses to school that stop on Palmer Blvd.? Why do they stop right in front of the Celery Fields Parking Lot and block all traffic in both directions? How can this be improved?
How many people use the Celery Fields, at what times of day, what days of the week, for what purposes?
How many groups use the Celery Fields for sports training, environmental studies, teaching, birdwatching, picnicking, stargazing, photography, dogwalking, kayaking, exercise, wedding photos and so many more purposes?
With evermore recreational users and visitors - human and avian - from elsewhere, what plans are underway to to meet anticipated needs for parking and complementary activities such as a place to sit and enjoy a meal?
Without fully studying the area, how can you possibly plan in a way that offers reliable estimates of probable impacts?
Above is a photo taken yesterday (9.8.19) of the wall which James Gabbert is building to "hide" his waste transfer facility (WTF) at Porter and Palmer. It will hide his waste piles from passing motorists - millions of them on the highway annually - about as well as it will keep traffic flowing while his trucks enter and leave at Palmer Blvd. opposite Bell Rd.
Sarasota County does not plan; it prefers to offer concierge services to its friends.
On Wednesday, citizens of Miakka in East County will attempt to get the Board to allow their proposed Comprehensive Plan Amendment to proceed. I.e., they are not asking the Board to approve changes, but merely to allow the Planning Dept. to consider a rural heritage vision of East County.
The "Planning Commission" -- an appointed board stuffed with realtors, insurance people and development interests -- already said "NO" to the Miakka Community of East Sarasota. They expressed dismay that citizens would dare propose a Comp Plan amendment to protect their way of life from leapfrog intensification - which developers are now proposing.
Keep an eye on the Board action on Wednesday afternoon, when Becky Ayech and the Miakka community ask our elected officials to allow the planning department to consider an actual plan.
Because in November, the Board will once again take up our public lands at the Quads. And they will discuss a plan - not a plan made by citizens, but directed by the Board.
The time to plan for the Quads was August 2017, when the people told the Board to not even consider industry on public land on Palmer Blvd. Early evidence is that they are still considering industry at the Quads, for the parcels west of Apex Rd.
They can say, "well, Parcel #2 (SW corner) is already bordered by Mr. Gabbert's WTF" - yes, now it is - because they didn't ever have a plan, a vision for the area, which fundamentally changed thanks to the Celery Fields, to Audubon, to the Fruitville Initiative, and to new residents who do not care to live next to industry.
Let's see what happens on 9.11, 1:30 pm, when Rural Heritage values come before the Board.
This letter was sent to the Board of County Commissioners (Chair: Charles Hines) from Jono Miller, who proposes two new projects -- a history and natural history facility on one of the public parcels, and affordable housing near the bus transfer station and current Sarasota archive on Porter Rd.
Charles et al.
I'm writing in reference to the article in the Herald Tribune this morning regarding surplus lands and affordable housing. I applaud any approach to surplus lands that places what the land can do for the County or its mere cash value.
I don't know if any commissioner's have advocated using any of the quad parcels for affordable housing, but, based on the handout at the May 14th public workshop, we know the public has suggested co-housing development, tiny homes, assisted living facility, assisted living apartments with staff housing, adult day care, elder cottage housing, AND affordable housing. There's probably a need for all those, but I don't they they represent the highest and best uses for the quad parcels.
As I testified at the workshop, I think the question we should be asking regarding the three quad parcels (or any surplus land) is " What can be done here that benefits the community, that cannot be done elsewhere?" That's because at this time It is only the three quad parcels that have the potential to synergistically contribute to the Celery Fields Stormwater Facility (and de facto nature park). Uses that are either neutral or detract from the Celery Fields should be located elsewhere. What sorts of uses might augment the celery fields? Projects that build off of the unique aspects of the site -- aspects related to water management, agricultural history, bird watching, or outdoor resource-based experiences in general.
Having said that, I am supportive of using county land to facilitate workforce housing, but I don't think the County should be giving surplus land away for such uses. Selling at a discounted rate might make sense, but I fear eliminating land costs for some projects could render other potential workforce housing projects that have to buy land unfeasible and create a presumption that the County will provide additional land in the future, absolving entrepreneurs of the burden of making the numbers work otherwise.
I am once again attaching a proposal to maximize the potential of county land adjacent to the bus transfer facility (for workforce housing) as a means to maximize part of one of the celery field quad parcels (by co-locating cultural history interpretation with natural history). The ability to reduce the number of household cars by creating workforce housing adjacent to the bus transfer facility is an example of something that cannot be easily replicated elsewhere. Location, location, location. And using that land sale, even at discounted rates, to fund a complementary publicly accessible amenity at the celery fields would potentiate both the transit-accessible housing and the celery fields.
Sarasota County staff seeking public participation in session at Church of Hope on Wendell Kent Road
A graphic shows the three ‘Quads’ parcels (outlined in red) originally under consideration for sale as surplus land. The Northeast Quad is home to a stormwater pond. Image courtesy Sarasota County
On Tuesday, May 14, Sarasota County staff will hold a workshop to begin discussions that could lead to new policies regarding development in the vicinity of the Celery Fields.
Formally, the event will focus on an analysis of the Critical Area Plan (CAP) for the Interstate 75/Fruitville Road Major Employment Center area. The County Commission authorized the scope of work for the study after a staff presentation on Jan. 30.
In preparation for the May 14 session, supporters of the Celery Fields have been at work on new proposals for the adjacent, county-owned parcels called the “Quads.” Last year, the County Commission allowed a group called the Fresh Start Initiative to recommend potential uses on the Quads that its members felt would be compatible with the Celery Fields, which has grown into an internationally known bird-watching park.
Although the Celery Fields was created as a major stormwater project, it is home — especially during the annual migratory season — to a vast array of avian species, its advocates have stressed to the County Commission.
Commissioners heard the final Fresh Start presentation in September 2018. After months of meetings conducted to winnow ideas from representatives of about 50 homeowner associations in the vicinity of the Quads, Fresh Start leaders implored the board members to take a commonsense, holistic approach to future planning in the area.
Among the ideas the Fresh Start group suggested for specific parcels of the Quads were an outdoor sports complex, a multi-use pavilion and buffer/visitor center, and an ecotourist lodge with a restaurant.
The commissioners did not ask staff to pursue any of the ideas.
This graphic shows the area of the Fruitville Road/I-75 Major Employment Center CAP and surrounding areas. Image courtesy Sarasota County
Additionally, in late November 2017, the commissioners directed staff to hire a consultant to analyze the potential for the sale and development of the county-owned Northwest Quad. After listening to an October 2018 presentation on the resulting report, then-Commissioner Paul Caragiulo cited ongoing concerns about the insufficiency of the road infrastructure in the area of the Quads to support any development. He indicated that a new industrial use — as the consulting firm, Lambert Advisory LLC of Miami, had suggested — could lead to greater safety issues.
Caragiulo then won unanimous support from his colleagues for staff to reopen the CAP that governs development of the area near Fruitville Road and I-75, so the Quads could be included in that CAP. The May 14 workshop is one step on that path.
The workshop has been scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Church of Hope, located at 1560 Wendell Kent Road.
This is one vista from the Celery Fields in eastern Sarasota County. image courtesy Sarasota County
A county news release about the session explains, “The purpose of this workshop is to provide the public information on the nature of the CAP study, and for staff to hear public comment on the study and other issues of concern in the area.”
Those unable to attend the workshop who would like to offer comments or ideas may mail them to Planning Services, 1660 Ringling Blvd., 1st Floor, Sarasota, FL 34236; email them to Planner@scgov.net; or call the county Contact Center at 861-5000, the release points out.
The Planning and Development Services webpage already lists a number of proposals people have submitted for consideration as part of the CAP analysis.
Last year, the YMCA proposed a sports complex on one of the county-owned parcels next to the Celery Fields. Image courtesy Fresh Start Initiative
Further, leaders of the Fresh Start Initiative have offered comments in advance of the workshop. “The public record of this workshop goes to the [County Commission], which will decide the future of these public lands,” they wrote. Among their concerns, they added, are the following, with their emphasis.
“Not everyone on the Board sees the point of using public lands for the public good. With thoughtful stewardship, public lands can provide needed public facilities and activities. Why sell them to enrich a couple of private developers?” (In late 2017, facing gaps in future budgets, the County Commission talked at length about selling surplus county property. The Quads were part of that discussion, though no effort is underway to market the parcels, pending the outcome of the new CAP analysis.)
“Industrial uses will generate traffic, noise [and] dead space incompatible with the developing natural beauty of the Celery Fields area, and its recreational potential.
“The scope of this process is narrow.… This plan should not exclude important considerations that PLANNING should be thinking about now, such as “future protective measures for wildlife, residents and visitors”; “the impacts of coming growth in East County”; and quality-of-life “benefits from safe roads and a tranquil environment.”
The following is a sampling of other comments county staff has received:
The Community Land Trust of Sarasota, which describes itself as a not-for-profit entity “chartered to hold land in stewardship for all mankind, present and future, while preserving and protecting the legitimate use-rights of its residents,” proposes the Celery Fields Community Estate (CFCE).
This graphic shows potential development of Quads 1 and 2, as proposed by the Community Land Trust of Sarasota. Image courtesy Sarasota CountyThis graphic from the Community Land Trust of Sarasota shows potential development on the Northwest and Northeast Quads. Image courtesy Sarasota County
Former Sarasota City Commissioner Susan Chapman suggests that the Quads be used as an auxiliary location for Selby Gardens’ greenhouses “and protected storage for priceless collections. A library could be built for the preservation of the rare horticultural books.”
Jono Miller, retired director of New College’s Environmental Studies Program, wrote that he would “love to come brainstorm” the following idea with knowledgeable birders: how to simultaneously increase stormwater capacity, diversify the habitat types at the Celery Fields, create two types of roosting/nesting areas over water, create a restaurant “with great two-story views of the roosting/nesting areas” and provide a place for birders to stay next to the Celery Fields.
A combination of a community co-op garden, a butterfly garden, a sculpture garden and an area with affordable housing for artists that would incorporate studios and teaching and production space.
Greg Para, who has operated his nonprofit Sarasota Parrot Conservatory out of his home office and a large sanctuary in Manatee County, wrote that he would like to relocate the nonprofit’s facilities to the Quads. From that location, he indicated, he could continue to provide avian therapy for military veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); undertake excursions with the birds to senior centers; and plan events for pediatric cancer patients.
Another person proposed a wildlife and bird rehab center, with, perhaps, a children’s educational center and art center/gallery promoting Florida artists.
Jono Miller and Rob Wright, conservation chair of the Sarasota Audubon Society, suggest that the county History Center could be relocated to the Southwest Quad, where it would have much more space to showcase its collection.
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.
We ask that proposals be submitted to CeleryFieldsForever@gmail.com by March 1. A review of proposals is tentatively scheduled for March 15, and a public workshop to determine which proposals will be submitted to the County is tentatively set for March 30th -- confirmation of dates, times and locations TBA.
Quad Parcels #1, #2, #3 at Apex Rd. and Palmer Blvd.
The Quad Parcels:
Parcel #1: 13 acres, Southeast Quadrant of Palmer Boulevard and Apex Road:
Immediately adjacent to Celery Fields wetlands, this parcel can buffer the preserve and offer low-intensity commercial and public uses on the east side of Apex Road that are compatible with the Celery Fields as an international birding area.
Goal: Identify compatible and enhancing public and commercial uses for the community.
Update: The County Commission took this parcel off of the Surplus Lands List on Jan. 30, 2018. For now it is Open Use Rural Zoning, but further land use changes are possible.
Parcel #2: 10.7 acres, Southwest Quadrant of Palmer Boulevard and Apex Road:
A planned, already approved, 6-acre waste transfer station is adjacent to the west side of the parcel, separated by a treeline.
This parcel is a transition parcel between the Celery Fields and the Packinghouse district, west of Apex.
Currently authorized future land use: Office-professional with Apex corner set aside for commercial.
Goal: Identify uses consistent with transition from Celery Fields to Packinghouse.
