Why did Laurel Meadows flood? And why Board approvals of giant developments need to take a break

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 community now get not just flooded, but flooded with smelly sewage water that had very high fecal counts?

• The community claims to sit 30 feet above sea level, but maps show it was built in a flood plain (see the red circle on the right of the image below). Why did the county allow this? 

                          

• Also, it's right next to the county's Wastewater Treatment Plant - did water surge across Delft Road from that plant into Laurel Meadows, as the video above says it did? 

Laurel Meadows is to the left of Delft Rd. Wastewater plant on right

• To make matters worse, Laurel Meadows' lift stations stopped functioning during Debby's rainfall.

Homeowners need answers - they can't even decide whether to remain in the neighborhood if the causes of this flooding are not understood, and then addressed completely.

Every Sarasota County homeowner pays an annual stormwater assessment fee - what is this fee for, if not to prevent huge property damages due to floods?

Given these questions, the last thing this County needs just now is to approve a giant new housing tract projecting 6700 new dwelling units, plus hundreds of thousands of feet of commercial and industrial space - yet this is what the Board has on its August 27 agenda - Pat Neal's 3H Ranch. 

If we cannot explain the impact of Debby on Laurel Meadows, we do not have enough information to be approving more large-scale developments, such as 3H Ranch.

For another very good argument, see this post by Lourdes Ramirez.

Video shows water flowing across Delft Rd. from south to north