Control Growth Now of Sarasota County has issued this statement with regard to the application to site a waste processing facility near the Park, Preserve and Bird Sanctuary known as The Celery Fields.
Control Growth Now urges the Sarasota County Commission to deny approval of the pending applications for land use changes to property near the Celery Fields, an internationally renowned birding sanctuary as well as an important stormwater management facility, for a construction debris recycling facility. In addition to the potential for adverse impacts to the environment and experience of the Celery Fields, the land use changes would dramatically increase heavy truck traffic on Palmer Boulevard, which is already experiencing traffic congestion, and would be incompatible with nearby neighborhoods. As the Sarasota County Planning Commission unanimously determined, the County should reject the petitions, including specifically an amendment to the Critical Area Plan for this property, as specifically allowed by the Sarasota County Comprehensive Plan for reasons of the admitted traffic impacts of the proposed change. Further, the County Commission should withdraw the subject land and two other adjacent parcels for sale as “surplus property” for industrial development and instead incorporate them into the Celery Fields preserve, to better protect the environment, neighborhoods and mobility in the area.
-- Dan Lobeck, CGN President
The Board of Sarasota County Commissioners will hear the matter on Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2017.
Thank you for this insightful letter. Sarasota County Commissioners have every responsibility to protect our neighborhoods.
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