Moran and Maio: County must step up Concierge Services

People might not matter, but DEVELOPERS MATTER:

The county must not brook delay when a massive development with an extremely complex and rather impenetrable master plan needs rapid approval 

On March 23, a scheduled hearing pertaining to the proposed development of new homes on Hi Hat Ranch, in the eastern part of the county, had to be postponed because of what [Commissioner Al] Maio described as “a technical situation.”

Sarasota News Leader Plan amendment related to timeline for County Commission to consider specific type of amendments

Why bother with cumbersome review by staff? Just fire them and say "YES" to all

Sarasota Commissioner Mike Moran

developers.

The commissioners should explore the idea of allowing permits to be approved when staff fails to meet county timelines, [Commissioner Mike] Moran said, characterizing that stance as “healthy pressure” on employees to adhere to what Moran called a “hard, hard deadline …”

Shall planning heads drub painstaking staff into rapid negligent approvals?

Moran said, an employee who delays a project should “be written up."

Sarasota News Leader With streamlining county’s permitting process a top County Commission goal this year, staff creates ombudsman position to help facilitate timely approval of construction applications

Wetlands near you may be in trouble.

More than 1,000 permits to change wetlands have been submitted to a state agency since it took over Clean Water Act powers from the federal government in December.

“There’s a heck of a lot of demand for new development. You need an efficient permitting program so the projects can go forward.”   Herald Tribune

Citizens pleading with the Sarasota County commissioners and waving signs on street corners, aimed at stopping developers from building hotels on Siesta Key and halting the devastation that the Benderson project at Stickney Point Road promises, all seem for naught.

LTE in HT May 3, 2021: Don’t let Sarasota be buried in concrete

Nothing so far has stopped our county commissioners from burying Sarasota and Siesta Key in concrete and massive traffic lines everywhere. Pleasing the monied interests is their only criterion.

With deaf and development-friendly commissioners, there are only two avenues left to preserve our town and stop this headlong rush to pour concrete everywhere.

Get rid of these Republican business types on the commission and vote for environmentalists. Or, sadly, the last resort, the First Amendment: Stand in the streets, peacefully, by the thousands.

It is a pity that just a couple of people on the County Commission can cause so much damage to our town and the environment.

Mike Burns, Sarasota

Tumultuous Growth - Sarasota News Leader

In an April 20 memo to the County Commission , , , the overall number of county permits issued grew to more than 41,000 in the 2020 fiscal year, which ended on Sept. 30, 2020. The county has sustained such a high level “for more than three years,” the memo pointed out.

• The total number of permits the county issued through March, since the 2021 fiscal year began on Oct. 1, 2020, is up 8% — to more than 21,000 — compared to the same period during the 2019 fiscal year. A bar graph listed the exact figure as 21,310, compared to 19,741 from Oct. 1, 2019 through March 2020.
• The number of permits for construction of single-family homes has increased 54% for the fiscal year to-date; through March, that figure was 1,538, compared to 996 for the same portion of the 2020 fiscal year. “We’re running the highest we’ve had” over the past five years, Osterhoudt emphasized. 
• The number of permits for applications filed online is up 42% for the fiscal year to-date — more than 17,750.
• The number of building plan reviews has increased 17% for the fiscal year to-date — more than 18,000.
• The number of inspections performed by the Building Department’s Inspections unit staff has climbed 5% for the fiscal year to-date — more than 76,500.