The Gabbert Hearing: What's next?

The Planning Commission voted unanimously to deny all three elements of the Gabbert / Medred Proposal for a Waste Processing Plant at the Celery Fields Preserve and Bird Sanctuary. The proposal now presumably will go on for final decision by the Board of Sarasota County Commissioners.

A full transcript of the hearing is now available.

Video of the June 1, 2017 Planning Commission Hearing is here.

For more background on this issue: Tale of a Timeline: Bo Medred, Sarasota, and "Dirty Things"

Sarasota County Council of  Neighborhood Associations - CONA                 - monthly meeting -              Monday, June 12, 2017 at 7 p.m.      -   Celery Fields     - assessment of June 1 planning commission hearing   and - next steps   On Monday, June 12, please join CONA for an assessment by Adrien Lucas and Tom Matrullo of the recent meeting of the planning commission, entertaining an application that would put lands considered a community treasure in danger, perhaps irreversibly.         The application arose due to a current offer to sell public lands adjacent to the Celery Fields for a construction waste processing facility, which has drawn the objections of adjacent neighborhoods, environmental groups, conservationists, and many concerned individuals in neighborhoods throughout the region.           Owners of nearby businesses, even in industrial parks, also have expressed concerns about the introduction of heavy industry near them. Allowing this type of development could disrupt every aspect of the area, provoking a massive downward spiral.         Current sale policies, devoid of county commission and public participation, as well as this application for rezoning, will be examined in the assessment.          Although the planning commissioners unanimously recommended denial of the application, the county commissioners make the final determination and they are not bound by the recommendations of their advisory board.          So the assessment will be followed by discussion of the next steps that must be taken by citizens to prepare for consideration by the county commission, when public input will be crucial for success.         The issues will be examined to determine what should drive decisions about public lands and how policies may be changed to assure protection of our community treasures while making appropriate decisions about development and preservation.           Q&A will follow.         See www.conasarasota.org/meetings.html for more about CONA.              social 6:30 p.m. -  meeting 7:00 p.m. at the Sarasota Garden Club neighbors helping neighbors since 1961        CONA meetings are free and open to the public as well as members of the more than seventy associations the organization represents and its individual members. Unless otherwise noted, the meetings are held at the Sarasota Garden Club, 1131 Boulevard of the Arts in Sarasota, which is at the intersection of Tamiami Trail, south of the Municipal Auditorium. Parking and the entrance are reached from Van Wezel Way. Socials precede the meetings at 6:30 p.m., the meetings begin at 7:00 p.m.                       For additional information about CONA and our schedule of upcoming meetings,  please see the CONA web site copyright © 2016 Sarasota County Council of Neighborhood Associations  all rights reserved