New DR HORTON Neighborhood Workshop: ZOOM Link and Documents

A second Neighborhood Workshop for the DR Horton proposal to build a new housing project next to the Celery Fields is scheduled for Tuesday, May 14 at 6 pm.  

Please REGISTER to attend this online only meeting:

      ZOOM LINK to REGISTER for this Workshop

      If above link doesn't work, use this link

      Background Workshop Document from Kimley Horn

This DR Horton proposal to build 170 single family homes on 49 acres immediately east of the Celery Fields nesting area on Raymond Road looks similar to the original plan shared at the first workshop in May 2023. There are a few new or updated documents:

DRC Review Subject to Change 

Smith RZ Report pdf

Smith DRC Update pdf

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Note the close distance from the proposed homes to the wetlands area to the west (left) across Raymond Road:

The 170-home project on Raymond Road - note proximity to wetland nesting area

Now that the Horton proposal is going to formal review, here is the DRC packet with comments from 16 departments:

The proposal will be reviewed and if the county planners sign off, it will go to the Planning Commission. This group of appointees (all from the construction and real estate industries) is supposed to examine the proposal carefully and hear testimony.

Their duty, according to the county's playbook, is:

(4) Application Review. The report and recommendations of the Planning Commission to the Board regarding a specific application shall show that the Planning Commission has studied and considered the application in relation to the following findings, where applicable:

a. Whether the proposed change would be consistent with the intent, goals, objectives, policies, guiding principles and programs of the Comprehensive Plan;

B. Whether the proposed change would be compatible with the existing land use pattern and designated future land uses;

C. Whether the proposed change would have an impact on the availability of adequate public facilities consistent with the level of service standards adopted in the Comprehensive Plan, and as defined and implemented through the County Concurrency Management System Regulations, Chapter 94, Article VII, Exhibit A of the County Code;

D. Whether the existing district boundaries are illogically drawn in relation to existing conditions on the property proposed for change;

E. Whether the proposed change will adversely influence living conditions in the neighborhood;

F. Whether the proposed change will create a drainage or flooding problem;

G. Whether there are substantial reasons why the property cannot be used in accord with existing zoning;

H. Whether it is impossible to find other adequate sites in the County for the proposed use in districts already permitting such use;

I. Whether gradual and ordered growth contemplated in the Comprehensive Plan can best be accomplished through the approval of a land use which is less intense than the intensity designated on the Future Land Use Map of the Comprehensive Plan;

J. Whether the proposed change would create adverse impacts in the adjacent area or the County in general;

K. Whether the subject parcel is of adequate shape and size to accommodate the proposed change;

L. Whether ingress and egress to the subject parcel and internal circulation would adversely affect traffic flow or safety or control, or create types of traffic deemed incompatible with surrounding land uses.

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We - the public - can look at all the possible ways this can go wrong, and send comments in to the planners or to the Planning Commission.

Example questions about this plan:

1. How are the exits from the Horton housing designed? 
2. When cars leave after dark, are their headlights going to be aimed directly into the nesting area? 
3. Will the HOA be required to have rules governing lighting, noise, swimming pools, music, runoff, and anything else that could impact the nesting area across the road?
4. How will it police those rules?

Here is Sarasota County's Comp Plan statement about Property Rights.

For comparison, see this property rights information from 1000 Friends of Florida.