Oct. 15, 2019 Email to Sarasota Planning

Dear Mr. Osterhoudt, Ms. Grogg, and Mr. Kirk,

I wish to point you to a concept touched on in a story in today's Herald Tribune, entitled Celery Fields lovers keep an eye on the land next door.

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:

1. What do actual trends in the industrial park show in terms of vacancies, land prices, rental prices?
2. Why is no one seeking to purchase the MEC parcels in the 240 acres of the Fruitville Initiative for industry? 
3. 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?
4. Traffic analysis should include the peak times, patterns and needs of the immediate community.
5. 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?
6. How many people use the Celery Fields, at what times of day, what days of the week, for what purposes?
7. 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?
8. 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 except from Comment of Oct. 5.

Recap before pending Celery Fields decisions

The Celery Fields offers residents the freedom of walking, exercising, birding, kayaking, fishing - as well as a touch of fresh air, cool breezes at the summit, fantastic sunsets and tranquility.

Celery Fields drone photo courtesy of Emanuel Guzman

While things might be quiet there now, they're not dull. At the moment, our public lands adjacent to the Celery Fields are in a suspended state. We await a critical area plan report that is anticipated to be released in time for a Nov. 6 Board discussion. What the Board decides then is likely to lead to rezonings, area plan amendments, and one or more key public hearings.

Below is a recap of recent activity regarding future possible decisions on the public Quad parcels near the nature and birding sanctuary.

After the Gabbert Waste Facility hearing of August 23, 2017, the Board never swayed from its plan to sell our public land to industrial or other uses. More than 60 people spoke to them at that hearing about all the reasons the public Quad parcels should serve uses that benefit the people. The Board did nothing.

In 2018, after 10 months of input from residents who initiated a formal process to bring ideas from the community for our public lands, the Board did nothing.

Meanwhile James Gabbert began work on his Waste Transfer Station (or, the WTF) on six acres of land he bought adjacent to Quad Parcel #2. Work is ongoing - this is a heavy industrial use situated on thin, failing roads; it will be visible to drivers along the Interstate. Commissioners Al Maio and Charles Hines voted to approve this plan of Gabbert's back in 2014. For more background, see this detailed timeline.

After one commissioner said no further uses - industrial or otherwise - ought to be considered on the Quad parcels unless something is done about the roads, the Board in January ordered the Planning Department to undertake a Critical Area Plan, or CAP of the Quad parcels and the surrounding area.

That process has continued since then. Lead planner Steve Kirk held a neighborhood workshop on May 14. The Church of Hope venue overflowed with citizens offering input. No one spoke in favor of selling our public lands for commercial or industrial uses.

In advance of the workshop, several new proposals or planning concepts were submitted to the Planning Department, which reposted them on this page.

After the May 14 workshop, a few new ideas arose as well:

• Sarasota Audubon proposed an Urban Forest on Parcel #1, the SE Quad next to the Celery Fields wetlands. Such a forest would offer diversified habitat for birds, new nesting areas, as well as walkable parkland for residents.

• The Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast called for identifying a larger Rural Heritage Conservation Area that would offer a variety of uses and serve as a Central Park for eastern Sarasota, which is about to explode with new development. The area would include the Quad Parcels, the Celery Fields, and more properties totaling 1,300 acres.

Conservation Foundation Vision of Rural Heritage Area

• In June, Commissioner Hines threw out an idea to put affordable housing on Parcel #2, and said he'd like to see some action toward that end before the Board took its summer break beginning July 22. 

• Read more about both of these ideas here.

• In June, environmental advocate Jono Miller wrote to the Board advising against affordable housing on the Quad parcels. Miller proposed another possible use for the Quad parcels, a history and natural history center. 

• A similar suggestion for a combined museum and nature center forms part of the Celery Fields Community Estate group's proposal, which also includes a wealth of creative ideas for all four parcels.

Looking West at Sunset

A couple of days ago, lead CAP planner Steve Kirk offered a few updates by phone. Key points are summarized below (italicized sections are not from Kirk but from the editors):

• The May 14 workshop was the sole public workshop to be held in this process. The gist of the public input was clear - "pretty black and white," as he put it.

• Kirk aims to present results of the CAP study to the Board -- the tentative date is Nov. 6, 2019.

• Planning will transmit the critical area plan results - including community input - to the Board a week before the public discussion on Nov. 6 (or whenever it's held). No information about the findings of the area planning process will be available to the public before it is transmitted to the Board, Kirk noted. The Board authorized the report, and its contents will not be shared with the public ahead of when it's sent to the Board.

• When the Commissioners discuss the CAP, that discussion is not a public hearing. Yet, at that point, the Commissioners can do as they wish - they asked for the study, but are not bound by it, so they can ignore it and proceed to authorize a rezoning for whatever purposes they wish.

• Whatever the Commissioners decide, they will probably order a rezoning of the Quad parcels, and a CAP amendment to enable changes to the plan. They could even order a Comprehensive Plan Amendment, Kirk added. Each of these processes calls for a public hearing. For example, if the Board votes to rezone one or more parcels for industrial use, even if no industrial developer is known to be asking for it, that rezoning process can go forward.

EDITOR's NOTE: This could lead to a peculiar step in planning: At an industrial rezoning hearing, for example, the public will be given the opportunity to speak, but there might be no information as to what sort of industrial use could eventually go on these lands near the Celery Fields. Should the Board decide to authorize industrial rezoning, respect for the area and for the community demands that any such directive be very specific, and include strong proactive and protective constraints: No heavy industry, no trucks, no environmental pollution, no eyesores, etc. Anything less would open the doors to yet another Gabbert waste facility, giant slovenly warehouse, or worse.

Commissioners Hines and Detert

The Board has not yet given any indication to Planning about affordable housing. They could address the issue upon their return. A"Think Tank" workshop for the Board is scheduled for Aug. 21.

While the Commissioners could direct planning to take steps to put affordable housing on the Quad parcels, doing so before the CAP process is complete would be out of sequence.

If the Board has any respect for sound planning or for the community, it will allow the planning department to complete a rigorous critical planning process, then use the results as the basis for considering the best options for our public lands at the Celery Fields.

Courtesy of Chuck Behrmann

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

Quads Workshop Info so far

Last fall, the Board of Sarasota County Commissioners directed Planning to undertake a new Critical Area Plan study of our public lands at the Celery Fields known as the "Quad Parcels," or just "Quads." 

Critical Area Plan Scope 

On Jan. 29, the Planning Dept. issued a memorandum outlining the Scope of Work for this study. That memo is here.

Lead County Planner Steve Kirk has been helpful in answering our questions about the process. The County is looking at a date in mid-May for the workshop, probably to be held in the evening. The date and venue have not yet been finalized. 

Note: Mr. Kirk says staff will review and discuss proposals submitted by the Fresh Start Initiative. We are aware that some new proposals are being developed within our communities. Anyone who has a new proposal is invited to submit it to Mr. Kirk at any time -- his contact information is at the end of this post.

Below are the responses to our queries thus far:

The public workshop will be an informal event and staff will be flexible in how it concludes. Timing speakers would be unnecessary, however, domination of discussions will be discouraged. 

Any input regarding CAP should be directed  to me at my address, phone number or email address below. The intent  of the workshop is to present to the public all the information the staff has at the time, and then hear ideas and feedback from those in attendance. The staff presentation will include any ideas related to the CAP or the County properties previously provided by the public, including those previously put forth by Fresh Start.  We will also include anything else we receive  prior to the workshop.  It will be made clear in our presentation that we will continue to take public input, and will welcome conversations on the CAP issues after the workshop, and until the CAP study is completed. 

The staff is beginning the study and preparing for the public workshop. 

We will record audio of the workshop.   

The work of the study will continue after the public workshop and should be completed within the 9 month period.  

As stated in the scope of work, once completed, a presentation and discussion of the study will be scheduled with the County Commission. What happens after completion of the study is at the discretion of the Commission and I would not speculate on what action they may take. However, should the Commission direct staff to amend the Critical Area Plan or rezone any of the County owned properties, the public hearing processes as required and outlined in the UDC and CAP regulations will be followed. The County owned “Quads” parcels are all zoned Open Use Rural (OUR), and industrial uses are not permitted. The establishment of an industrial use  would require a change of zoning to a district permitting such use. 

If the Board directs staff to rezone any of the parcels, staff would prepare and process a rezone application as required by the UDC including all necessary documentation. The preparation and processing of such an application, including public hearings, would likely take a minimum of 6 months. The CAP study authorized by the Board, on which we are now working, is not an application to amend the CAP or rezone any property.  It is intended to provide the Board with information to inform decisions in the area of the CAP. Notice of the public workshop will be posed on the Planning and Development Services Calendar on-line at  https://www.scgov.net/government/planning-and-development-services/pds-calendar.This calendar will link to documents related to the workshop. I cannot at this point tell you exactly when this will be posted, but approximately 2 weeks before the workshop.

Steve Kirk, AICP, ASLA 

Planner III 

Sarasota County Planning Services 

1660 Ringling Blvd, Sarasota, FL 34236 

Office: 941-861-5202 

Email: skirk@scgov.net