Surplus lands policies and zoning processes to be the focus of April 10 CONA meeting

Celery Fields’ proximity to site of proposed construction waste facility continuing to prompt public concerns

An aerial map shows one parcel that TST Ventures already owns (outlined in red), as it plans for a waste recycling facility. The firm has proposed buying property to the east of this site that has been designated surplus county land. Image from the Sarasota County Property Appraiser’s Office

A town hall type of examination of Sarasota County’s surplus lands policies and zoning process will be the focus of the Monday, April 10, meeting of the Sarasota County Coalition of Neighborhood Associations (CONA), the nonprofit has announced.

Some of those procedures “are putting lands considered community treasures in danger, perhaps irreversibly,” a CONA news release points out, adding, “Such crucial decisions require public participation.”

The release references the “current offer to sell public lands adjacent to the Celery Fields for a construction waste processing facility,” which, CONA notes, “has drawn the focus of adjacent neighborhoods, environmental groups, conservationists, and many concerned individuals.” The release adds, “The issues will be examined to determine what should drive decisions about public lands and how policies may be changed to assure protection of our community treasures [while providing for] appropriate decisions about development and preservation.”

See www.conasarasota.org/meetings.html for more about CONA.

A social period will begin at 6:30 p.m. on April 10, while the meeting will begin at 7 p.m. at the Sarasota Garden Club in downtown Sarasota. The club is located at 1131 Boulevard of the Arts, which is at the intersection of North Tamiami Trail. The club building is south of the Municipal Auditorium. Parking and the entrance are reached from Van Wezel Way.