Making Things Much Worse Indeed

Making Things Much Worse

On Planning

BY GENE KUSEKOSKI SRQ DAILY 

SATURDAY PERSPECTIVES EDITION 

SATURDAY DEC 8, 2018 

On the impact of Benderson's Siesta Promenade on its surrounding area,Gene Kusekoski, president of the Siesta Key Association, says this:

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"The problem with the current Siesta Promenade proposal is EXACTLY about the “What" and the "Where." If this project was being proposed by the most universally beloved organization on earth, it would still be facing strong opposition because it is quite simply the wrong size and scale for that location.

"Adjacent neighbors who used to have landscaped single-story mobile homes across the street would now be looking up at 40- to 85-foot buildings. Their neighborhood streets that are barely wide enough for two cars to pass would be flooded with hundreds of cars going in and out of the development." 

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Yet: The County (prodded by Bob Waechter and Bo Medred and Jim Gabbert) keeps saying that industry is appropriate at the Celery Fields because it is already there (although it's mostly set back and not on Palmer Blvd.). Why would the county cite existing compatibility with something as a reason for more of same at the Celery Fields, but go along with a radical shock to a settled area that is full of people, not industrial operations?

The 360-acre Celery Fields dwarfs the small old industrial area to its left, set back from Palmer Blvd.

Tough choice? Sign the Petition

This was the Celery Fields this morning, August 17, 2018:

Celery Fields, West Slope

Please sign the Petition to make sure no one comes back with a waste processing facility, or other egregiously inappropriate use, for the public - yes, PUBLIC - lands next to this clear, tranquil, happy place. Because this almost happened on August 23, 2017, for parcel #2:

Waste Facility built by James Gabbert, now WCA on Fruitville Rd., Sarasota 

Recreational Availability East of I-75: A Survey

The Fresh Start Initiative has received several informed and detailed responses to our mini-survey about recreational facilities for our HOA base -- thank you!

We have set a deadline of June 5, and we'd like to gather as many as possible. 

Update: It's been noted that while Tatum Ridge Elementary School has soccer fields, these are run by parks and serve programmed leagues, but otherwise are closed to the public. Therefore we've added "publicly accessible" to our survey questions - as in, accessible to the public.

Some influential industrial owners say the County should rezone the Quad parcels to ILW - Industrial, Light Manufacturing, and Warehousing. 

In response, Fresh Start has sent a letter to the County opposing that argument. The more data supporting the need and wish for community-friendly uses we have, the better. 

So here's the survey again - thanks for your help -- respond to FreshStartSarasota@gmail.com

Name of your HOA _________________

Does your community contain sports facilities within its boundaries?

If yes,

• indoor - sq. feet
• outdoor - fields? playgrounds?

If no,

• What is the distance to the nearest publicly accessible recreational facility for indoor sports?
• What's the distance to the nearest publicly accessible outdoor area for ball fields, football, track, etc.?

A recent morning at the Celery Fields

Yesterday morning at the Celery Fields, it was quiet - no highway noise, no copters or trucks. Why would the County be ok with introducing more industrial uses into this sanctuary?

The grass still had dew on it. Far off, a single kayaker was barely a dot on the lake's still surface. A tall fellow was walking up and down the Mound with a substantial backpack and hiking poles. I asked if he were preparing for a trek of some kind. Not right now, he said. Rather it's exercise he takes because he brings groups to the Celery Fields to train for long trail hikes.

"Where would you go if this mound didn't exist?" I asked him. "North Georgia," he said, adding that North Florida's rolling hills weren't steep enough for such training.

The mound is unique in many ways. It affords a wide angle view of clear open space. Look down, often you see birds in flight beneath you. Do our elected officials really want visitors who come for the birds and the beauty to look at heavy trucks, demolition waste, giant warehouses or other industry?

 == Tom Matrullo

Caracara at the Celery Fields - by Chuck Behrmann