Three Sarasota Icons at a Breaking Point

A version of this story originally appeared in WSLR's Critical Times, Jan. 2024, page 11.

Sarasota is in the grip of a growth machine that threatens to render three of its most iconic places unrecognizable.

US News & World Report recently tagged Sarasota County as the second fastest growing region in the United States. That “success” has had consequences: Between 2013-23, housing prices shot up by 148% here -- way above the national average.

While local boosters point with optimistic glee to the prosperity new residents and tourists bring, residents have pinpointed growth as their #1 concern four years in a row, citing failing roads, development incompatibilities, and the exodus of working people unable to buy or rent. As gated communities and strip malls crop up, developers ask for -- and often receive -- maximum densities.

As we move into 2024, exorbitant developer proposals threaten three unique places beloved by the public. Could these assets be at a breaking point? 

1. Siesta Key: With its walkable village and famed beach, Siesta has long been the number one tourist feature in the county. Developers want high-rise hotels that would far exceed the current density limit of 26 units per acre; residents have lined up to oppose them. 

"Siesta Key has the most intensive residential development in Sarasota County,” says Lourdes Ramirez (left), a resident who took the county to court for violating its Comp Plan, and succeeded in blocking the County Commission’s efforts to bypass those limits.

Benderson Development Inc. now wishes to change county policy to allow hotels with virtually no unit limit. After more than a dozen community leaders offered cogent reasons why that would disrupt the character of their neighborhood, they watched the Commission direct staff to process Benderson’s proposal. 

“Increasing density for mega-size hotels on a hurricane prone barrier island will put residents and visitors at increased risk,” says Ramirez. Will the Board listen? An online workshop about the project is scheduled for Jan. 8, at 6 p.m. A public Zoom link to the workshop has not yet been shared.

2. At the opposite edge of the county, residents of northeast Sarasota oppose the eastward march of Lakewood Ranch. At risk are 4,123 acres of Old Miakka with 5,000 dwelling units removed from the county’s oldest rural community. Folks there believed they were protected by an “Old Miakka Neighborhood Plan” developed by the County 20 years ago. To their dismay they learned that the plan was never formally adopted by the County -- it was merely “accepted.” 

Old Miakka Schoolhouse

Founded 170 years ago -- before Sarasota was a county -- Old Miakka now fears for its very way of life. Leading the impetus to expand Lakewood Ranch to the east are two powerful developers, Rex Jensen and Pat Neal. Old Miakka has appealed a Comp Plan amendment approved by the Board, and a judge’s ruling could come in mid-December. If the ruling goes against them, their distinctive world will become part of Lakewood Ranch -- without the ranch, wood, or lake.

3. Midway between Siesta Key and Old Miakka sits the Celery Fields, which began in the late 90s as a stormwater management effort. The area now protects hundreds of homes on Phillippi Creek that earlier had been ravaged by a fierce 1992 flood.

From that project rose an unexpected dividend -- actually, two: First, more than 250 species of native and migratory birds discovered a serene wetland haven where they can rest and nest. Soon after, “Mt. Celery,” the elevated plateau created from muck, began to attract Sarasotans to a unique recreational space where, after a gentle climb, they see birds in flight below.

Firefighter training at Mt. Celery

These days residents and tourists who love to hike, walk their dogs, work out with their track and athletic teams, or just watch the birds and the sunset, gravitate to the Celery Fields. At night, a “Dark Skies” policy mutes the streetlights, and amateur astronomers often bring huge scopes to explore the heavens.

The public investment in creating this Trifecta approaches $50 million, a success story that has captured the hearts of the people. When a developer sought to build a dump next to it, the overwhelming public reaction was fiercely articulate and unambiguous. He lost.

After Sarasota Audubon built a Nature Center at the Celery Fields at a cost of $1 million, the County granted them an easement on 27 acres west of the Celery Fields. Along with the Conservation Foundation, Audubon plans to buffer and diversify the habitat through a $5 million “Re-Wilding” of the Quad parcels.

Now, however,Texas builder DR Horton proposes to build 171 homes on farmland immediately east of the nesting wetlands on Raymond Road. This intense cluster will impact wildlife, traffic, runoff, the dark skies and more. 

“The effort and funding going into the Quad parcels to buffer the western edge of the Celery Fields will be adversely affected by this development planned for the southeastern edge," says Jeanne Dubi, president of Sarasota Audubon, adding, “A lose-lose all round.” A petition circulating by a concerned citizen is closing in on 6,000 signatures opposing Horton’s plan. 

Siesta Key, Old Miakka and the Celery Fields contribute immensely to Sarasota's diversity, charm, and quality of life for all. Each is a beloved and iconic public asset. At coming hearings, each could be sacrificed for the sake of private profit.

• Old Miakka will soon learn if its challenge to the Neal/Jensen project holds up in court. 

• The public hearing for DR Horton’s proposal at the Celery Fields is expected in March.

• A workshop about Benderson’s mega-hotel proposal is set for Jan. 8.

Imagine Sarasota County without modest Siesta Village, or once-peaceful evenings at the Celery Fields with a Horton neighborhood next door. Picture the rural legacy of Old Miakka paved into oblivion by an extra subdivision of Lakewood Ranch. 

Sarasota could lose its genius loci -- the unique aura that makes it Sarasota. All three of these irreplaceable communities will need widespread community support if they are to keep the places they love intact.

                                                                                            -- Tom Matrullo