At 1:30 p.m. on September 23 -- today -- at the County Commission, a community will attempt to preserve its 170-year-old rural way of life, to "Keep the Country Country,"as Becky Ayech likes to say,
When the community of Old Miakka recently came before the Planning Commission, they were criticized, questioned, and essentially judged as doing something that, the planning board members said, threatened to unleash "chaos" if allowed to go forward.
They were merely echoing the words of the attorney for the development industry, William Merrill III, who had no client there to represent. His scare tactic snowballed through the meeting, and went even further. The Planning Commission board -- a group of appointees whose day jobs fall largely within the employment confines of the development industry -- unanimously voted against recommending Old Miakka's proposed Comp Plan Amendment, then took the further step (under vice chair Colin Pember's* goading) of sending a letter to the County Commission, requesting research on how other counties deal with citizen Comp Plan amendments. Normally developers bring such amendments - as we'll see in a moment.
Essentially the Planning Commission was ventriloquizing Merrill III - questioning the very right of a community to ward off undesired development that would irrevocably change the character of its life.
*Pember is land acquisitions mgr. for Pulte Homes of Atlanta
While this effort plays out in the farthest northeast corner of the county, a very different tale is just getting underway at the county's western edge. Three Siesta Key hotel developers - Gary Kompothecras, Mike Holderness and SKH 1 LLC - say their urge to build eight-story mega-hotels requires the county to increase density and height allowances. These changes are not just for their three new projects on Siesta, either. If approved as formulated, they would apply to the entirety of Sarasota County.
The dichotomy is clear: To the East, a community older than the county itself wishes to slow "progress" in order to preserve culture and history that otherwise will be lost. To the West, mega-hotel builders demand that the county open the gates to more intense development, more density, greater heights.
While the people of Old Miakka see rapid growth as loss, the hotel impresarios see no reason not to alter the character of Siesta Key forever. Three new high-rise hotels will bring the traffic, change the skyline and rush the Key into a future of intense development unlike it's ever seen.
Who shapes the future? After the Old Miakka hearing, we'll have a clue.
Citizens lost their voice with the Counties and State changes to citizen petition process. After the 2018 election, DeSantis told reporters on June 19, 2019, “Last year, we had so many amendments that I think we need reform.” “Whether this is enough, I don’t know ... We’ve let too much policy go into the Constitution.” What he didn’t say == And it will solidify Republican control in Tallahassee by eliminating one of the last threats to their power: the ballot box. And this change would solidify Republican control in Tallahassee by eliminating one of the last threats to their power: the ballot box. And Sarasota County Commissioners added similar measures also eliminating most citizen amendment petitions.
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