Industrial corridor threatens Polo Club and Waterside tranquility

Lorraine Rd in Waterside

]From The Observer:

Polo Club and Waterside at Lakewood Ranch residents are worried the makeup of their peaceful, rural area is about to be challenged as the county explores a zoning change for the Lorraine Road corridor.

In an Aug. 30 meeting, Sarasota County commissioners will decide whether to send a county-initiated amendment to designate Lorraine Road from University Parkway to Fruitville Road and Lorraine Road from Clark Road to State Road 681 as a Business Corridor overlay. Such an amendment would allow office space, light industrial and some business and service uses along Lorraine Road.

On April 26, the Sarasota County Commission adopted a new Business Park zoning district. The intention was to provide economic development and employment opportunities by allowing light industrial, office space and limited business and service uses in areas not previously zoned for such uses. Four original corridors — Fruitville Road east of Interstate 75, Bee Ridge Road east of I-75, the S.R. 681 and I-75 interchange and South River Road — were created.

Property owners with a minimum of 10 acres and access from an adjacent arterial roadway could request a zoning change that would allow them to host the above uses.  

On May 24, the two Lorraine Road corridors were added as potential Business Park Corridors.

Although virtual public workshops have been held, those living along Lorraine Road have received no written notice of the amendments.

"It's almost like Sarasota County is trying to do this in secret," said Polo Club resident Tim Hornung, who has been trying to notify all his neighbors about the significance of the Aug. 30 meeting.  More here

Click on Agenda item #85 for the relevant August 30 planning documents

Watch the August 17 Neighborhood Workshop:

 

Support Old MIakka - Send this email

From Becky Ayech:

This is the second in the series of emails we are sending to the Board of County Commissioners in opposition to CPA 2022-B.

It is important they know about Old Miakka.  To know it is to save it.

I am the author of this email.  The other ALERTS will be excerpts from Attorney Richard Grosso's comments to the Board of County Commissioners.

PLEASE SHARE this email with your social media friends and ask them to email this to the County Commissioners.

The "drop dead " meeting is August 31st.  I do not yet have a time.

Becky Ayech

PS Be sure and sign your name.

Old Miakka

=========================================================

Commissioners email:

• Mike Moran  mmoran@scgov.net
• Al Maio     amaio@scgov.net
• Ron Cutsinger  rcutsinger@scgov.net
• Christian Ziegler  cziegler@scgov.net
• Nancy Detert  ncdetert@scgov.net

Subject:  OLD MIAKKA

Good day Commissioner

Founded in 1850, the rural Community of Old Miakka predates Sarasota County.  Never the less, this is a uniquely special place in Sarasota County.  Special to the people who homestead there, special to all the residents of Sarasota and surrounding counties and special to Sarasota County.

In the early 80’s, John McCarthy, Sarasota Historical Department, wrote this:

The project focuses on the unique lifestyles and the values which Myakka residents share…

…a portrait of the people who live in the small rural communities of Miakka and Myakka City.

In 1989, Sarasota County funded A HISTORIC RESOURCES SURVEY OF OLD MIAKKA AND SELECTED PORTIONS OF THE MYAKKA RIVER, SARASOTA COUNTY, FLORIDA.

2005, the Board prioritized the Old Miakka Neighborhood Plan.

County Staff set the boundaries of the Old Miakka study area.  These boundaries have never been disputed.  They are the Manatee County lines to the north and east, the Myakka River State Park and Myakka Valley Ranches to the south and west by Dog kennel Lane known now as Lorraine Road.

The community spans approximately 57 square miles or 36,590 acres.  The western edge is approximately 5.8 miles from the city of Sarasota and occupies the northeastern corner of Sarasota County

“Old Miakka is particularly rich in local history.  With historical records dating further back than many areas of Sarasota County, and the county itself, the area not only prides itself on its impressive history but also its ability to continue to preserve it.”  This is a quote from Sarasota County Staff.

Many stories and articles have been written about the Community of Old Miakka:

• 1976 A HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE OF SARASOTA COUNTY FLORIDA
• 1986 Better Homes and Gardens
• 1987 Beall’s Sunday insert
• 1988 Publix TV commercial
• 2000 Old Miakka article by Linda Maree
• 2003, 2018, 2020 2019 Sarasota Herald Tribune articles
• 2019 Sarasota Alliance History and Preservation Coalition chose Old Miakka as one of the “Six to Save”.  Spotlighting the most threatened historic properties, archaeological sites, and cultural resources in Sarasota County! The preservation community in Sarasota County wants to bring awareness to historical resources at risk.
• 2019 Recognized as a “This Place Matters”, part of the Place Matters national campaign that celebrates special communities in the U.S.
• 2020 Sarasota Magazine
• 2020 Bitter Southern magazine
• 2020 ABC local station Mike Modrick's story on Old Miakka

All these stories/articles are about what a uniquely special place Old Miakka is and how it needs to be preserved.  NOT ONE said it should be paved over!

Linda Maree stated it best: “Heavy population density is not a component of true rural living, so we can’t all live in places like Old Miakka. But even us city folks like to know that the “country” is there when we want to visit it”.

CPA 2022-B is an intrusion into this 172 year old rural and agricultural Community, i.e. Old Miakka.

It is NOTHING reasonably close to the lifestyles/homesteads in Old Miakka.

Keep the Country …Country for current and future generations to live on, learn from and love the land.

Deny CPA2022-B

Thank you.

Sincerely,

 

Help Save Old Miakka: Email the Sarasota County Commission

This email from Becky Ayech provides some of the background on Old Miakka, the rural NE corner of Sarasota County. Comprehensive Plan Amendment 2022-B would transform the land use in the Northeast to allow 5,000 more homes to sprawl eastward, basically paving 89% of what is now Old Miakka. 

The future of the rural area would be canceled - the opportunity for current and future generations to live on, learn from and love the land would be gone forever.

Ayech urges all who care about the county's history and legacy to write to the Board  -- the Commissioners' emails are below. It's fine if you wish to copy the text and send it as is. Becky writes:

It is important they know about Old Miakka. To know it is to save it.
PLEASE SHARE this email with your social media friends and ask them to email this to the County Commissioners.

The "drop dead " meeting is August 31st.  I do not yet have a time.

Becky Ayech

============================================================

Mike Moran  mmoran@scgov.net
Al Maio     amaio@scgov.net
Ron Cutsinger  rcutsinger@scgov.net
Christian Ziegler  cziegler@scgov.net
Nancy Detert  ncdetert@scgov.net

Subject:  OLD MIAKKA

Good day Commissioner,

Founded in 1850, the rural Community of Old Miakka predates Sarasota County. Nevertheless, this is a uniquely special place in Sarasota County. Special to the people who homestead there, special to all the residents of Sarasota and surrounding counties and special to Sarasota County.

In the early 80’s, John McCarthy, Sarasota Historical Department, wrote this:

The project focuses on the unique lifestyles and the values which Myakka residents shar… a portrait of the people who live in the small rural communities of Miakka and Myakka City.
 
In 1989, Sarasota County funded A HISTORIC RESOURCES SURVEY OF OLD MIAKKA AND SELECTED PORTIONS OF THE MYAKKA RIVER, SARASOTA COUNTY, FLORIDA.
 
In 2005, the Board prioritized the Old Miakka Neighborhood Plan. County Staff set the boundaries of the Old Miakka study area. These boundaries have never been disputed. 

They are the Manatee County lines to the north and east, the Myakka River State Park and Myakka Valley Ranches to the south and west by Dog kennel Lane known now as Lorraine Road.

The community spans approximately 57 square miles or 36,590 acres.  The western edge is approximately 5.8 miles from the city of Sarasota and occupies the northeastern corner of Sarasota County.

“Old Miakka is particularly rich in local history. With historical records dating further back than many areas of Sarasota County, and the county itself, the area not only prides itself on its impressive history but also its ability to continue to preserve it.” This is a quote from Sarasota County Staff.
 
Many stories and articles have been written about the Community of Old Miakka:

• 1976 A HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE OF SARASOTA COUNTY FLORIDA
• 1986 Better Homes and Gardens
  
• 1987 Beall’s Sunday insert
• 1988 Publix TV commercial
• 2000 Old Miakka article by Linda Maree
• 2003, 2018, 2020 2019 Sarasota Herald Tribune articles
• 2019 Sarasota Alliance History and Preservation Coalition chose Old Miakka as one of the “Six to Save.” Spotlighting the most threatened historic properties, archaeological sites, and cultural resources in Sarasota County! The preservation community in Sarasota County wants to bring awareness to historical resources at risk.
• 2019 Recognized as a “This Place Matters,” part of the Place Matters national campaign that celebrates special communities in the U.S.
• 2020 Sarasota Magazine
  
• 2020 Bitter Southern magazine
• 2020 ABC local station Mike Modrick's story on Old Miakka

 
All these stories/articles are about what a uniquely special place Old Miakka is and how it needs to be preserved. NOT ONE said it should be paved over!

Linda Maree stated it best: 

“Heavy population density is not a component of true rural living, so we can’t all live in places like Old Miakka. But even us city folks like to know that the “country” is there when we want to visit it.”

Comprehensive Plan Amendment 2022-B is an intrusion into this 172-year-old rural and agricultural Community, i.e. Old Miakka.

The Amendment is NOTHING reasonably close to the lifestyles/homesteads in Old Miakka.

Keep the Country … Country for current and future generations to live on, learn from and love the land.

Deny CPA2022-B.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

______________________

(Your name)

A gaping barn door: The collapse of Sarasota's public planning

8.16.22

To the Board of Sarasota County Commissioners:

amaio@scgov.net, mmoran@scgov.net, rcutsinger@scgov.net, cziegler@scgov.net, ncdetert@scgov.net

RE: CPA 2022 B and CPA 2022-F - Failure to see the Big Picture

It's been a while since Sarasota could legitimately claim to be one of Florida's outstanding counties with regard to thoughtful planning. At one time, it was known for taste, moderate growth, and modest plans. Today it's in a dead heat with Broward County for Growth Gone Wild.

"Wild" not only because of the excessive overreach of developments such as Skye Ranch, Hi Hat, Wellen Park and Waterside, but also because you -- the County -- utterly failed to consider future needs, and to prudently provide for them before approving these and other large housing projects.

One specific proof of this is coming this Wednesday, when a half-baked plan to allocate lands on Lorraine Road for industrial and business uses comes up for a 6 p.m. neighborhood workshop. [Video of this workshop is now posted below.]

As you know, Lorraine will be an important North-South artery. When complete, it will extend south from Manatee County, running alongside key parts of Waterside, and Hi Hat down past Artistry to Skye Ranch before terminating where 681 connects with I-75:

When the proposal to set aside spaces for industry on Lorraine (CPA 2022-F) recently came up at the Planning Commission, it was voted down. The Commission didn't cite potential impacts to homeowners as its reason. Rather, the major sticking point was that Rex Jensen, Pat Neal, and the other developers involved with Waterside and Skye Ranch would not wish -- or allow -- such uses on their land.

Waterside, Hi Hat,
Skye Ranch

But there's a prior issue. You believe you are obligated to find land to meet the needs of future economic development, but have you done the analysis to demonstrate that this need exists? 

I ask because it has come to you only now, after Waterside is built out (and wishes to double its size), Hi Hat is approved, and Skye Ranch is well underway.

According to members of the Planning Commission, the developers whose wishes you approved are advising you in no uncertain terms that they will refuse industrial and business uses near their large, pricey developments.

And there's the rub: You knew the scope of Waterside, how it extended from University Parkway to Fruitville Road, and from I-75 to Lorraine. You knew the proposed scope of Hi Hat and that of Skye Ranch. You knew all this before these mega-housing projects were approved. Wouldn't that have been the moment to say:

Wait a second, Messers Jensen, Turner, Neal, et al, we will have a need for economic development east of I-75. We will need you to work with our planners to allocate space for future businesses before we can consider approving your plan.

Not only did you not apply forethought and public sense when you had bargaining power, but in fact you were giddy with delight in giving Rex and Pat the power to re-write Sarasota County's 2050 Plan-- the plan that is supposed to represent the collective vision of residents, builders, and the County. Rex and Pat took full advantage to write a chapter that allows them to increase density, to skip a host of planning steps, and to get underway while the market is hot.

Throughout this process, no one seems to have considered the big picture -- balancing the whole set of needs that come with shaping a well organized, very attractive county. You handed over the controls built into our Comp Plan to Rex and Pat, who have rewritten it to satisfy their highly profitable business plans.

In short, Commissioners Maio, Moran, Cutsinger, Ziegler and Detert, the barn door is wide open, the horses are long gone. You're wondering how to meet the growing needs of Sarasota's business and industrial sectors, but where is the analysis that proves this need exists?

One  recent industrial "need" you tried to meet was Jim Gabbert's. You nearly approved putting a dump next to the Celery Fields, with no analysis of need.

At that time, our residents suggested looking at other areas where such uses could more sensibly be organized. 

Now, having now carpeted most of Northeast Sarasota with plans for yet more gated communities, you are facing two challenges: (1) Where to find space for putative industrial uses, and (2) How to justify erasing 89% of Old Miakka - our last unique rural community - in order that Pat Neal and Rex Jensen can pave it with yet more boring human warehousing, without their having proved any demonstrated need. 

Appeasement of private interests rarely meets the comprehensive demands of well-thought-out public planning.

                                                                                             Respectfully,

                                                                        Tom Matrullo

Business Parks on Lorraine: Neighborhood Workshop 

Planning Commission recommends Lakewood Ranch expansion despite Old Miakka impact

Green blotch shows proposed 4,100-acre expansion of Lakewood Ranch

Lakewood Ranch developer Rex Jensen    

    

The Planning Commission is an appointed Board. It reviews proposals and recommends approvals / denials to the Board of Sarasota County Commissioners.

Below is a note from Becky Ayech on the result of the 8.4.22 Planning Commission Hearing regarding the expansion of Lakewood Ranch and the threat it poses to the Old Miakka Community. (Background here). 

Official Video of Meeting Here 

(Begin around 1 hour 11 minute mark) 

First, it was great to have so many people show up and fill out speakers cards.  I will get a total, but I can tell you it was a lot.

Our attorney, Richard Grosso, was very impressed with us, but of course, we are impressive.

Special thanks to the folks who "read" information into the record.  It is hard to do which is why you don't find me doing it.

Lourdes Ramirez was one of many
speakers at Old Miakka Hearing

The vote was 4-3 to approve, but that is a victory.* The last few times the Community has appeared before them, it was a 7-0 vote against us.

So our arguments were persuasive enough to get almost 1/2 the vote.

The County Commission meeting is August 31st, no time yet, but during the day.

Our focus will now be on educating the Commissioners.

Best

Becky Ayech

*(Editor's note: Colin Pember made the motion to approve this major Comprehensive Plan Amendment. The commissioners are volunteers appointed by the Board of County Commissioners. Pember is Division Director of Land Acquisition at Pulte Homes.

History in the Un-Making: Sarasota teachers talk back

 

Will Bunch: Conservative attacks on higher education

Excerpt of a Fresh Air interview NPR's Terry Gross did with Will Bunch, author of the new book, After The Ivory Tower Falls: How College Broke The American Dream And Blew Up Our Politics And How to Fix It. He's a columnist at the Philadelphia Inquirer.

BUNCH: Ronald Reagan emerged as an underdog candidate for governor of California in 1966. And this was right after the Berkeley Free Speech Movement. It was when you started seeing publicity about the counterculture of, you know, kids wearing blue jeans and having these parties with the wild psychedelic screens, with the music from the Jefferson Airplane or the Grateful Dead. And Ronald Reagan said famously that taxpayers should not be funding the intellectual curiosity of students. And this was a defining, you know, governmental philosophy for him.

When he won in a landslide that fall - when he took office, you know, he tried to impose tuition. Colleges in California had been free. And, in fact, that was basically part of the state constitution and something that was cherished in California - the idea that higher education for all its citizens would be free. And Reagan thought that, you know, free tuition basically encouraged kids to rebel against the establishment. So he launched this long crusade to - he wasn't - you know, he had political opposition. And he wasn't able to increase tuition right away. But he did raise fees, and he basically set the groundwork for higher tuition in California. And then it became higher tuition in other states as well as the backlash spread.

Forty-five million people have some college debt. And many of those 45 million have more than 10,000. Some of them have 50,000, 100,000, 150,000.

You know, there's been a lot of research that the Princeton University economists Case and Deaton have made a name for themselves writing about deaths of despair among working-class people, which refers to, you know, suicide, drug overdoses, alcohol addiction. And what they found is that people succumbing to these deaths of despair are getting younger and younger. And the No. 1 determining factor is whether or not they have a college degree, you know? Not having a college degree is the No. 1 driver of people being prone to these deaths of despair.

Gross: You say that Republicans are waging a war on higher education. And you offer examples from a couple of states, Wisconsin and North Carolina. Give us an example of what you mean.

Scott Walker

BUNCH: Well, Wisconsin is a perfect example, particularly during the tenure of Scott Walker as governor from 2010 to 2018. Some of it was just cutting funding for education. He certainly tried to reduce tenure protections for professors because he saw professors as promoting a liberal ideology. But to me, the most interesting thing was this idea of, what is college really for? And on the right, there's this push that college should be for workforce development and nothing else, you know, the flip side of this whole idea of liberal education and critical thinking. And in the middle of his tenure as governor, there was a huge controversy because he actually pushed to change the language of the University of Wisconsin's mission statement to take out the idea that the goal of the university is the search for truth. He wanted that language removed. He wanted it changed to, the purpose of the university is to develop the state's workforce, period. And, you know, I don't think people were ready for that. There was a huge outcry. And he actually backed down from that.

But what you have seen in states like Wisconsin and North Carolina and several other red states is more and more politically connected people being appointed to the board of university trustees, trying to exert more control over what goes on on-campus, you know, over hiring, you know? . . . You know, now in Florida, you know, Ron DeSantis has done the same thing, you know? He has a very conservative board of trustees overseeing the public universities in Florida.

And so, you know, you've seen this intense focus on, what are kids learning about race? What are kids learning about gender? What are they learning about the LGBTQ community? And, you know, it's interesting because I think it's an evolution, you know? In the 1960s and '70s, conservatives were worried about what kids were doing on college campuses. And now they're starting to think that we need to nip some of these critical thinking ideas in the bud when these kids are in grade school. And, you know, that's become the next battleground.

It takes a developer to erase a Village

Kevin Sullivan, Night in Eastern Manatee County

Sarasota has become a national poster child for those who say the government can’t be trusted with guiding a response to a pandemic - in schools or in hospitals.

Wherever we turn, we find a politically motivated war on public entities. Vituperative School Board meetings have made national news. Now, according to the Washington Post, Sarasota Memorial Hospital faces a concerted effort to replace long-term Hospital Board members with challengers who think they can be trusted to do away with governmental oversight of public health.

It’s worth asking why this county appears so receptive to private property rights. In 1975, forward-looking Sarasota was the first Florida county to promulgate a comprehensive land use plan, putting quality of life above private profit. This year our County Commission gave mega-developers Rex Jensen and Pat Neal carte blanche to write a brand-new section of the Comp Plan. 

Pat Neal

Mr. Neal now seeks the breathtaking power to put 5,000 homes in East Sarasota, where existing zoning allows for 717 homes. This would end the rural life of Old Miakka, yet it's framed not as the taking of a 172-year-old community, but rather as a "right" inherent to a developer's private ownership. When you absolutize private property, it can rather quickly get medieval. Do we wish to give Mr. Neal such a confiscatory Droit de seigneur over the people of Old Miakka?

The pressure to privatize public health, education and planning radically undermines shared norms, values and protected rights, replacing them with a world shaped by loud voices and fat wallets.

We must not cede the public sphere to private interests. Our imperfect democratic institutions deserve protection from those who'd profit from their extinction. Our public schools, hospital, and comprehensive planning cannot be for sale.

* * * * * *

Pat Neal's Comp Plan Amendment comes before the Planning Commission on Thursday, August 4. The meeting begins at 5 pm at the Administration Center, 1660 Ringling Blvd.- see Item #7.

Old Miakka has organized, lawyered up, and will be at the meeting. More here: https://www.sarasotacountry.net/

And more background here and here.