SCANNING Sarasota PLANNING

A presentation from water engineer Steve Suau to an overflow crowd at Selby Library last evening (Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024) was by all counts excellent. Many in the audience who lived inland had suffered damage or disruption from the heavy rains during Tropical Storm Debby. Many more had experienced the strong coastal storm surge of Hurricane Helene, and many more had experienced the astonishing winds and rain from Hurricane Milton, all within a three-month period - August to October. Suau, who founded Sarasota County's stormwater division 25 years ago before going into private practice offered clear and incontrovertible evidence that at least some of the flooding occurred thanks to a breach in a dike near Cow Pen Slough - a breach that was at least 6 years old, as evidenced by the way the opening was cluttered with Brazilian Pepper and more. There was much more to Steve's deep dive into the watersheds, the drainage mechanisms, and the sophisticated tools that are available to t...

  Sarasota County Strategic Plan What you see below has been a "reaffirmed vision" of the people who lead us into development - the county commission - here's their page  https://www.scgov.net/government/county-administration/strategic-plan   +   - About Sarasota County's Strategic Plan Sarasota County reaffirms its strategic plan annually. The Board of County Commissioner’s approved strategic plan includes 15-year vision and mission statements and an annual action plan. The purpose of the process enhances the effectiveness of the County Commission (BOCC) by providing a unifying vision, goals and an annual work program. Additionally, this results in a policy action calendar to focus attention on critical discussions and decisions from the Strategic Plan. This area of scgov.net is dedicated to providing the public updates on Actions within the Strategic Plan as well as key performance measures related to the plan. Vision Sarasota County is a beautiful community that ...

 A number of developer proposals are coming - here's what we know so far: Tues. Oct. 22 - Lakewood Ranch will try for the third time to get approval for 1,399 more homes in NE Sarasota - this is part of what Rex Jensen wishes to build, and what Old Miakka wishes to quash. See the attachment from Stantec . Mike Huchinson's notes are here. Thurs. Oct. 24 - Sarasota Water Engineer Steve Suau will offer findings on the unprecedented flooding of inland communities after Debby. Dozens of homes in communities such as Laurel Meadows flooded, and the Board at its first meeting after the storm had no answers - nor much in the way of questions. The live and in-person presentation is at Selby Library. SCAN hopes to also record. Details here. On the corruption of flood zone planning , see this editorial from the Washington Post. Thurs. Nov. 7 - DR Horton will present its astonishing idea of building 170 single family homes in a floodplain immediately next to the bird nesting...

Washington Post Editorial:   As hurricane seasons worsen, taxpayers subsidize people to live in risky areas Laurel Meadows after Debby Helene and Milton spotlight a federal flood insurance program drowning in debt By the Editorial Board October 18, 2024 at 4:59 p.m. EDT Hurricane Helene likely caused more than $30 billion worth of damage. Less than two weeks later, Hurricane Milton inflicted almost $50 billion more. With six weeks left in this hurricane season, the Small Business Administration’s disaster loan program is already out of money. And more tropical storms are swirling over the Atlantic. Who pays for all of this? Because private home insurers generally find this sector of the business unprofitable, the federal National Flood Insurance Program shoulders the burden of providing homeowners inundation coverage — and it has problems. The NFIP is managed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency — the same body fighting misinformation and dodging vigilantes as it tries t...

From Mike Hutchinson and Eileen Fitzgerald: At the last minute on Tuesday October 1, Lakewood Ranch cancelled the Neighborhood Workshop (NWS) for the rezone of areas 1, 6 and 7. They held a NWS for this rezone back on March 27, 2024 and are now doing it again. Attached please find the notice for the meeting and my notes from the first NWS . A reas 1, 6 and 7 are shown on the map. On Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024 just before 6:00 PM click this link to go to the  Workshop .  Please try to attend the Workshop.  We need to show that we are still paying attention so please attend. Our appeal is continuing with our final brief filed Oct. 1, 2024. LWR is allowed to hold n eighborhood  workshops  hoping  they will get a favorable ruling. Thanks! Mike and Eileen Click to Donate to Keep The Country, Inc Donations to Keep the Country, Inc. are not tax deductible. A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERV...

The next SCAN meeting will be at Selby Library on October 24. Laurel Meadows after Debby, August 2024 Three serious storms in the past three months have people asking why flooding occurred in areas that should have had stormwater protection. Nearly 2000 residents have signed a Petition asking the County to study what went wrong when Hurricane Debby flooded inland communities. Join us on Thursday, Oct. 24 at 5:30 PM to hear a professional stormwater engineer talk about the recent experience of flooding in Sarasota.  Twenty five years ago, Steve Suau was head of the county's stormwater department and played a key role in developing the Celery Fields stormwater management facility. He went on to a successful career in the private sector. Hurricane Ian flooded North Port and the Myakka in 2022. Helene and Milton wreaked havoc with coastal storm surges. After Debby flooded several areas of Sarasota County including Laurel Meadows, Pinecraft, and homes along Phillippi Creek in August ...

  SCAN, Overdevelopment,  and The Silencing of Community This is the transcript of a talk given by Tom Matrullo at the Unitarian Universalist Center in Sarasota on September 21, 2024. It’s a real honor to be invited to speak to you today In the coming weeks, we anticipate a parade of developer proposals as unpopular and potentially damaging as any we have seen in years. The Board has scheduled a series of controversial land use hearings, and what makes them controversial is that they require changes to elements of our Comprehensive Plan. The proposals will impact - in some cases severely - iconic and beloved places including Siesta Key Village to the West, Old Miakka to the East, and the Celery Fields in the middle. To understand how it is that our planning Code can tolerate ruptures of the Comp Plan proposed by Randy Benderson, Rex Jensen, Pat Neal and DR Horton, we must go back some years to see how a highly sophisticated system of rigorous planning was dismantled - first a...