Poppycock and Balderdash where Sarasota Needs Vision

To: the BCC

From: Tom Matrullo
Re: Old Miakka CPA Hearing on CPA-2019-C on 9.23.20
Date: 9.9.20

Commissioners, when the people of Old Miakka came to you with their intent to offer a Comprehensive Plan Amendment (CPA), you gave them the go-ahead to hold workshops.

Old Miakka map courtesy of Sarasota News Leader

At the workshop I attended, there was strong community sentiment from the residents of Old Miakka and District 1. The consistent theme was that leapfrog intensification of this north-eastern sector of the County contradicts the fundamental logic and purpose of the Comp Plan.

Yet at the 8.20.20 Planning Commission (PC) hearing, the Commissioners failed to treat this initiative as what it is: A CPA brought by the County for consideration. The allegation that this CPA constitutes a taking of property rights rose out of William Merrill III’s mouth to become the nucleus of the PC’s reasoning. If you aren’t sure that this is balderdash, check with your professional planners who reviewed the CPA. Surely they would have raised this concern had it been anything other than a red herring.

Consider a re-set: This long-existing community wishes to maintain something that goes well beyond technicalities of density. They seek to preserve a part of Sarasota’s traditional historical diversity, much as people wish to protect wetlands, or wildlife corridors. This is a cultural plea to help preserve a viable and healthy way of life, intact for 170 years.

The Bert Harris bugaboo simply derails the actual facts.

Invite both parties to seek a way to guarantee the value of this way of life. Don’t put the County in the absurd position of treating its own Comp Plan Amendment as if it were a nefarious scheme to take private property.

You can rise above this: Bring some originality, some creative vision that helps both sides find a win/win resolution. Show us you have the political skill and custodial dedication to do what’s best for Sarasota County.

Thank you,

Tom Matrullo

Citzens for Sarasota County

See also: Irreplaceable impact of Old Miakka lifestyle by Carrie Seidman in the Herald Tribune.