An update on County actions on the Quad Parcels

The County has initiated a process. Its aim is to decide what to do about four parcels of public land at Apex Rd. and Palmer Blvd. which the County acquired in 1997, commonly called the Quads.

Two parcels (#1 and #2) have lain vacant for 22 years. Parcel #3 has had a temporary fire station, but will soon have a permanent one. Parcel #4 has a retention pond.

The Planning Department's process, called a Critical Area Plan, is intended to take a new look at these parcels in the context of surrounding lands, assets and uses. Part of the decision about how these parcels are rezoned will depend on which surroundings are considered most relevant.

The immediate surroundings include:

Quads and partial surrounding context

• The Celery Fields
• Small office and warehouse facilities north and south of the Quads
• Thousands of new homes and apartments built on East Palmer Blvd., on Debrecen, on Lorraine (formerly Iona), on Cattlemen Rd., and more -- all since the Quads were acquired.
• Tatum Ridge elementary school.
• The commercial area just west of I-75 that includes Detwilers, JRs Packinghouse Cafe, and many more businesses.
• The Fruitville Initiative - now underway at Coburn and Fruitville, which will eventually contain more than 1,000 new residences.
• Ackerman Park

In mid-May (date not yet set), the Planning Department will hold one public meeting to hear input from our communities. The Board got an earful on Aug. 23, 2017, when more than 300 people attended an all-day hearing on a proposal from waste developer James  Gabbert, who wanted to buy parcel #2 and build a 16-acre, open air waste processing facility. The proposal eventually was voted down 3-2, with Commissioners Maio and Moran voting for Gabbert's waste facility.

These are public lands, but the Board, especially Commissioners Maio and Moran, have indicated preference for selling these 30+ acres to private developers. Industrial developers such as Robert Waechter and James Gabbert have long supported the political careers of Maio and Moran. Waechter owns several dilapidated warehouses just south of parcel #2 and has been strongly in favor of putting more industry on the Quads.

Here an update on the May meeting from the lead planner for the county's Critical Area Plan process, Steve Kirk:

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. 

Let me know if you have questions. 

Planner III
Sarasota County Planning Services
1660 Ringling Blvd, Sarasota, FL 34236
Office: 941-861-5202
Email: skirk@scgov.net

Steve Kirk, AICP, ASLA

*Editor's note: Fresh Start was a community-based initiative to propose uses for the Quad parcels that were alternatives to industry. The community provided many ideas which were vetted then voted on by community representatives. Four "finalist" ideas were presented which included a public open space and buffer for the Celery Fields birding area; an ecolodge and restaurant; an athletic complex, and an area of shops and affordable housing. The Board chose to pursue none of these ideas, or to respond to the community's vision. Instead, it paid $29,000 to a Miami consultant, Lambert Advisory, which advised industrial use on parcel #3, leading to this new Critical Area Plan.

When the date / time of the public meeting is set, we'll let you know.

Celery Fields looking west

Fresh Start: September 2018 Update

To our Fresh Start HOA's, delegates, advisers and far-flung Celery Fieldsians:

Fresh Start offered a broad view of the context of development and potential in and around the area of the Celery Fields in its Sept. 12th appearance before the Board. We showed visuals of the many thousands of acres of new housing the board has already approved, and asked why elected officials couldn't reserve 30 acres of public land near our birding and recreation area for public uses. (Links to all presentations and correspondence are below).

We've held off on this update to gain a better understanding of two parallel developments, which we'll mention in a minute. But it's important to note that Fresh Start believed our portion of the task was complete when we submitted our update on July 11. We did what we said we'd do: offered community-approved proposals for Quad parcels 1 and 2. Our four specific proposals in April had drawn praise from the Board, but no concrete direction. We were just asked to "refine" them. We surveyed our neighborhoods about sports resources, and the YMCA which did some further market research (which would pertain to all four proposals), and that's what we gave to the Board in July.

We expected a response -- some questions, suggestions, perhaps a directive to county staff to offer an analysis or pursue discussions via the EDC or tourism officials -- but we heard nothing. On August 14, more than a month after our July 11 update, we wrote to Long Range Planner Jane Grogg, our County liaison, asking when or whether such feedback would be forthcoming. 

We were simply told to show up on Sept. 12 -- to present. Frankly, we were more than a little baffled. As we had received zero response to our latest update, what exactly were we expected to talk about?

Fresh Start had a choice: We could go and simply stand there, waiting for the Board's thoughts and direction. Instead we chose to offer a broader analysis that would support Board action on one item: Removing the public parcels from the surplus lands list, and working together on future uses:

The Board took no vote. Actually, it didn't discuss the proposed resolution, or any of our community proposals. The only commissioner who addressed practicalities, Paul Caragiulo, said the Board needed to first deal with serious road issues. What we didn't have an opportunity to say is that this was exactly the sort of work the county staff could have been doing all along to help the Board come to a determination. Mr Caragiulo was exactly right, but the County had yet to make a beginning. Commissioners Hines, Moran and Maio said nothing to Fresh Start after our presentation. Commissioner Detert thanked us, characterizing our September report as beautiful yet critical. (Fresh Start believes it's the situation at the Celery Fields that is critical.)

Parallel proposals

Here's where the plot thickens. While Fresh Start was working for nine months -- more than a thousand volunteer hours -- to find, vet, vote, and present our community's ideas, the county had hired a Miami consultant, Lambert Advisory LLC, to assess and rezone Quad parcel #3 for sale, at Commissioner Maio's instigation.

Emails obtained through a public records request show that county staff was working assiduously with Lambert. In August, the firm's assessment was that the county could obtain the highest price for parcel #3 if it rezoned it to industry. The parcel could hold an 80,000 s.f. warehouse or other such industrial operation, Lambert stated.

County staff apparently accepted this assessment and has scheduled the Board to discuss rezoning parcel #3 to Industrial (ILW) on Oct. 10. If the Board wishes, the proposed rezoning will then begin the public process - Neighborhood Workshop, Planning Commission, Public Board Hearing.

Three observations:

1. If the fragile roads need addressing before allowing a simple park on them, as Mr. Caragiulo stated, how is it that staff would approve and forward a rezone certain to generate more large truck traffic?

2. Lambert Advisory's report compared industrial uses with residential, office, and commercial for parcel #3, and states unequivocally that an industrial zoning would bring the highest sale price ("highest and best use" actually means "best price"). Others question this conclusion, however. 

            One source familiar with the nearby Fruitville Initiative, which has over 200 acres all with the same "MEC" (major employment center) designation as the Quads, says none of the five major Fruitville Initiative landowners is finding interest from industrial developers. Companies seeking to build in that area are proposing a mix of multi-family, condos, homes, offices, and commercial. These parcels are all closer to the highway than parcel #3. If industrial were the best way to realize monetary advantage, why wouldn't someone be rushing to put it there?

3. Fresh Start of course knew that the County had commissioned Lambert's study. We repeatedly asked to speak with Lambert, and were denied by County staff. Which provokes another question: Lambert was tasked with gaining a knowledge of the Community (see scoping document below); how was the mission helped by blocking communication with the community?

More industry

Finally, we must note that James Gabbert has resubmitted his plan to build a waste transfer station on 6 acres he owns that run along Porter Rd. west of parcel #2, with a strip along the southern edge. We only learned about this earlier this week.

No new traffic study will be required for Mr Gabbert's Special Exception, according to County Transportation staff. 

To sum up:

While Fresh Start presented, presented, and presented, were we heard? Did any engagement occur? We have yet to hear consideration of what our communities have offered. We are asking when that consideration will take place.

At the same time, an initiative to industrialize parcel#3 is moving ahead, and Mr. Gabbert is moving ahead with plans to put his waste transfer station adjacent to parcel #2, right next to the highway. Will our Communities' concerns, voiced in three presentations, be considered as these industrial efforts go forward? Will parcel #2 go industrial next? And what of parcel #1?

Please stay tuned, and thank you for your ongoing support. 

The Fresh Start Executive Council

Glenna Blomquist, Carlos Correa, Tom Matrullo, Gary Walsh

Presentations and relevant links

February 4, 2018 First Interim Report of 2018, with updates from March 25 and April 11, 2018

April 25, 2018 PowerPoint presentation to the Board - April 25 2018

• April 25 Accompanying Text Report of April 25th to the Board with links to previous documentation
• April 25th, 2018 -  Video of April 25th Presentation

July 11, 2018 - “Refined” Fresh Start Report

August 14, 2018 - “Has the Board responded?” Email from Fresh Start to Jane Grogg

August 16 and 20, 2018 Email from Jane Grogg to Fresh Start and Response from Fresh Start

September 12, 2018 Fresh Start Presentation - Video

Waste Transfer Facility Porter at Palmer Blvd.

• Gabbert Waste Transfer Special Exception Review
• Gabbert Waste Transfer Plan, August 2018

Photo of Celery Fields by Emanuel Guzman

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?

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.?