SCANNING Sarasota PLANNING

 From the Herald Tribune: The Sarasota County Commission scheduled a workshop for April 9 to discuss whether  $14 million in public funds  would be used to widen a small portion of Bee Ridge Road, a move that many think would only benefit a planned super development east of Interstate 75.  The commission last month initially approved splitting the  $28 million cost of widening  a portion Bee Ridge Road − from Bent Tree Boulevard to Lorraine Road – with the developers of Hi-Hat Ranch.  However, the deal faced immediate backlash on social media. Matt Osterhoudt, the county’s Director of Planning and Development Services, estimated in a memo last October that the road widening would cost $14 million.  Months later, that projected cost had doubled with a new estimate by the engineering firm Kimley-Horn. The entire road deal was negotiated by Alan Maio – a principal at Kimley-Horn and former Sarasota County Commissioner, according to a report from the...

Blog editor's note: Excellent piece from the Orlando Sentinel - essentially the interests of greed, development, and profiteering are driving the public out of the public square. This has parallels in Sarasota County, where the Board has over years edged the public out of the planning process -- for example, the timing of hearings so that people never know when they will begin; the obfuscation of plans so that no one even knows they're coming, and the reduction of formerly in-person Neighborhood Workshops to useless Zooms. Florida is in danger of being totally corrupted by the oligarchs:  Sentinel Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of editorials on major issues facing the state in the legislative session that begins March 4. Florida legislators will soon flock to the Capitol in Tallahassee for their annual 60-day session, and that means the public’s right to know will once again be under siege. Year after year, legislators in both parties work relentlessly to reduce ...

 An update from Mike Hutchinson and Eileen Fitzgerald Tuesday the County Commission will vote on a rezone for LWRSE;  RZ 24-10 Area 2 . Please email the commissioners and ask them to  deny  this rezone based on the fact the County should not be reimbursing developers. See this article for additional info:  County to partially reimburse LWRSE .  The County already gave the LWRSE a deal when they paid to run the water line out Fruitville Rd. rather than have the developer pay for running the line as originally approved. Since the County is now reviewing the "deal" they recently gave Hi Hat as being too generous they should be reviewing this deal. See this article:  County negotiations with Hi Hat . To email the Commissioners: Joe Neunder   jneunder@scgov.net Ron Cutsinger   rcutsiner@scgov.net Teresa Mast   tmast@scgov.net Mark Smith  mhsmith@scgov.net Tom Knight   tknight@scgov.net Changing subjects, though o...

This article was submitted by Julie Forestier, a leading member of SEE - Social Equity and Education  Should $7.5M go to the Sarasota County School  District, or  t o Theresa Mast’s husband's  Building Industry Institute? Background: The Sarasota County Commission dedicated $15M of Hurricane Ian Relief funds to workforce development. Sarasota County School District (SCSD) applied for this funding for North Port Technical College , but was told to not apply for more than half because there were other organizations that would be applying for these funds too. As a result the district only applied for $7.5M, even though SCSD needs $21M for the project.  There were only two other organizations that applied for the funding- one that wasn’t even considered for the funds, and the Suncoast Builders Association’s newly registered non-profit, the Building Industry Institute (BII) , which has no track record of workforce development training. As a result, the School distric...

Nancy Simpson spoke at the DR Horton hearing on February 12, 2025. As a floodplain manager, she focused on the amount of fill that would be needed on the Smith Farm to make it viable for houses. The amount of fill she calculated is staggering, and would have needed dump trucks on Raymond Road for months: My name is Nancy Simpson, and I have signed a speakers card. I am a Certified Floodplain Manager and Urban and Regional Planner with nearly 10 years of experience. As a floodplain manager, I specialize in riverine and inland flooding. The applicant has mentioned they over designed SWM and compliance with Floodplain compensation. In my experience, human intervention is NOT sufficient to keep property reasonably safe from flooding. Water is the most destructive natural force on the planet. Hurricanes Katrina and Harvey are perfect examples of how flood structures should not be relied upon for flood protection. More recently and locally, the dike breech during Debby shows us that properti...

This article encompasses collusion, a secret planning session, lies to the County Commission and much more. In brief, here's great deal of what has gone wrong with Sarasota County's relationship to developers over the past 13 years or so: Behind Closed Doors: Sarasota County’s contentious negotiations with a developer Hi Hat Ranch, Sarasota County’s largest development project that will add over 13,000 homes east of I-75, recently moved forward with a controversial plan allowing developers to build a road across 24 acres of county land. Despite a 2021 ordinance requiring the developer to cover the full cost, taxpayers are now responsible for half of the Bee Ridge Road extension to the private development’s entrance. The Hi Hat deal could become one of Sarasota County’s most contentious land-use decisions because it is also the largest development project in the county’s history. Adding to the controversy, former County Commissioner Al Maio played a key role in  drafting  the ...

An email from Jacob Broadway, a builder who opposed DR Horton's plan to put 126 homes adjacent to the prime nesting and feeding area of the Celery Fields.  Note: When sending an email, you can reach all the Commissioners, the Administrator, and the Planner of the Day by using these addresses: Commissioners@scgov.net Countyadministrator@scgov.net Planner@scgov.net Mr. Broadway's email: I am vehemently against the proposed rezoning by the celery Fields. I am a resident of the Paddocks neighborhood. The celery fields are a wonderful oasis for surrounding residents. A new development would permanently damage the natural aesthetic of the area. Especially a DR Horton style neighborhood. Replacing pastoral farmland with a neighborhood of giant cubes crammed together is bad for neighbors, residents and is also the type of development where the people who eventually inhabit do so reluctantly succumbing to overpriced, bad architecture, with little to no privacy, and bad traffic. As someo...

Smith Farm here shown as "The Farm" On February 12, Sarasota County Commissioners will reveal whether they take flooding concerns seriously when they vote on a 50-acre rezoning request. Their decision on the Smith Properties project will indicate whether they are committed to preventing future flood disasters or continuing a troubling pattern of approving developments without fully assessing the risks. Expert Warnings About Flood Risks Recent storms have made it clear that Sarasota County has a flooding problem. In response, the commission asked stormwater expert Stephen M. Suau to conduct an independent review of the county’s stormwater regulations and operations. His recommendations are clear: the county should stop approving rezonings that increase housing density in 100-year floodplains unless developers first conduct a complete flood model analysis proving that the project will not cause off-site flooding. This recommendation should not be controversial. The county’s own...

  Request to Attend The Gulf Gate Golf Course Acquisition has been listed as a 2025 Policy Agenda item for the Sarasota County Board of Commissioners.  A key to purchasing the 49-acre parcel is funding.  Your prior participation in emails and attendance in 2023 was effective and thank you.    Sarasota County will receive $210 million in Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds to support long-term recovery efforts from the 2024 storms Debby, Helene and Milton.   The Gulf Gate Golf Course acquisition qualifies and will be submitted by the Gulf Gate Community Association.    We are reaching out to request that you attend and speak for one minute at the County’s Resilient SRQ public meetings.  Numbers of attendees is important. The County Commissioners will get a tally of how many people showed up for the public meeting about the Gulf Gate Golf Course acquisition  and the number of s...