SCANNING Sarasota PLANNING

An email sent to the Sarasota County Commission from the creator of the Petition asking the County to seriously study the causes of the impacts of Hurricane Debby on neighborhoods in Sarasota. Subject:  Petition Proposal Date:  August 28, 2024 at 11:10:31 AM EDT To:  Michael Moran < mmoran@scgov.net >, Joe Neunder < jneunder@scgov.net >, Mark Smith < mhsmith@scgov.net >, Neil Rainford < nrainford@scgov.net >, Ron Cutsinger < rcutsinger@scgov.net >, Planner < planner@scgov.net > Dear Commissioners,  As you deliberate on all that was said yesterday, today and read the petition I gave to you, keeping in mind your allegiance to our Comprehensive Plan and the health, safety and sustainability of our community, please incorporate the 3 reasonable stated requests.  If you need more fuel in your minds, take a look at comments on the petition with over 1300 now signed including paper signatures of neighbors, friends and certainly tax ...

  Questions to the County after the Debby Debacle What steps are you taking to study the failures of the County in dealing with Debby? Debby set a one-day rainfall record.* What specifically happened to the county’s emergency response to the arrival of Debby’s heavy rains? Why did the county refuse to issue sandbags on August 4, and not open a shelter or shelters? ** Has human error been identified in the handling of gates or weirs related to the flooding of certain neighborhoods? Has the county looked into the flooding from the Wastewater plant to other areas resulting from Debby? It’s our understanding that fecal matter found in the waters of Laurel Meadows was off the charts - how did that happen? Investigation to Understand What Went Wrong What steps are necessary for a thorough investigation? Have you done a nationwide search to find qualified outside expertise to put fresh eyes on this? Some areas not in our floodplains flooded from Debby, and some areas in the floodplains di...

Pat Neal's 3H Ranch - proposes 6576 dwelling units on 2727 acres from Clark Rd. to 681 at I-75. But does the land support this density? Here is Neal's vision of the land: Neal Proposal for 3H Ranch Here is the official FEMA Flood Map for the same area: All blue is AE floodplain which means it should all be Greenway. Current FEMA floodplain map: The applicant may be PROPOSING to change the designation from AE to AH but that would be subject to a submittal and approval by FEMA . Even if this could be changed, the current FEMA maps are official, adopted, and should stand for this rezone. As such, the answer to the last question should be that zoning should be based upon the official County flood maps, not a separate analysis by the developer which has not been approved and so reflected on the official maps.  

The 3-H Ranch planning commission staff report says that 44% of the site is within the AE Flood Zone according to the official county floodplain mapping. (Page E-9) The SC Comprehensive Plan says floodplains designated as AE are Greenway RMA (GS Policy 1.1) The comp plan does not permit rezoning Greenway RMA to Village Planned Development (GS Policy 2.3 and 2.6) So how can Neal propose to develop the 44% of the project that is within the AE floodplain? Neal included in his application submittal recommendations that re-designates all the official AE floodplains to a lower hazard Floodplain.  He said this is based on a "separate analysis."  Hmmm... Should decisions on rezonings in floodplains - the community's safety - be based on the official county flood map or should the BCC blindly accept whatever a developer's consultant says? See also: Developer Fantasy vs. FEMA Reality

An email sent by Lourdes Ramirez to the Board of Sarasota County Commissioners (Commissioners@scgov.net)  Hello Commissioners, I am absolutely appalled that the 3H Ranch proposal is even being considered. There should be an immediate pause on all new housing proposals until the County thoroughly investigates why the "flood-free zones" got flooded a few weeks ago. What exacerbates the situation further is the outrageous idea of possibly reducing open space from the required 50% to 33%. It's utterly ridiculous! The more pavement that is installed in a gated development, the greater the likelihood of flooding in the neighboring communities. Sarasota homes inundated by Debby (HT photo) I know what will be said during the public hearing:  It's about Property Rights...I wholeheartedly reject the developers', recent candidates', and public officials' interpretation of 'Property Rights'. It is a deceitful ploy wrapped in the American Flag to justify overde...

If you can, please attend the first Board meeting since the summer break and Hurricane Debby, set for tomorrow, August 27.  Questions about the extraordinary flood after Hurricane Debby need to be addressed, but will the Board address them, or will it proceed to approve Pat Neal's latest proposal, the vast area where he wishes to build 6700 homes stretching south from Clark Road to 681 at i-75? The Board meeting begins Tuesday at 9 am at the Robert L. Anderson Administration Center, 4000 S Tamiami Trail, Venice, FL 34293 . Due to the Board's refusal to honor a set public time for public hearings, the hearing could be held in the morning or the afternoon. Here is why no giant new developments should be approved at this time - video by Zach Payne:   What really caused the flooding in Sarasota's Laurel Meadows? The flooding of Laurel Meadows - which has never occurred through various hurricanes over 22 years - raises many questions. How did 84 homes (out of 86) in this communi...

    Siesta Key News & Updates August 21, 2024 Primary Day results Tom Knight County Commission Candidate District 3 Southwestern Sarasota County  Winner of the Primary! Primary results Good News, Bad News: Despite losing the primary election, Alexandra Coe's efforts are appreciated, and  Tom Knight  emerged victorious in the Primary. The winners of the Sarasota County Commission races in the Primary usually go on to be elected as County Commissioners in November. This means that Teresa Mast, who is backed by developers, and Tom Knight, who is supported by neighborhoods, are likely to be the future County Commissioners. There are anticipated public hearings regarding Benderson's proposed change to the Comprehensive Plan, likely to take place in October. There is a possibility that developer pressure will push for these hearings to occur before the elections in November. This is due to the Sarasota County Charter, which mandates a super majority vote of the County Comm...