Given crowd anticipated at Nov. 21 hearing on proposed 170-home development next to Celery Fields, county staff working to facilitate public engagement

Planning Commission meeting relocated to R.L. Anderson Administration Center in Venice because of damage to downtown Sarasota building

This graphic, presented to May 2023 and May 2024 Neighborhood Workshop participants, shows the general area around the proposed D.R. Horton development site. Image courtesy Sarasota County

Given the anticipated level of interest in the Nov. 21 Sarasota County Planning Commission hearing on a proposed 170-home residential community close to the Celery Fields, Sarasota County Government staff members are taking a number of steps to help facilitate public engagement in the hearing.

Those will include making live audio of the meeting available to persons in the lobby of the R.L. Anderson Administration Center in Venice, where the hearing will be conducted, as well as in two small rooms outside the Commission Chambers in that building, Jamie Carson, director of the county’s Communications Department, told The Sarasota News Leader on Nov. 12.

Additionally, chairs will be set up in the lobby, she noted.

Concerns initially arose when the Planning Commission meeting was relocated to the R.L. Anderson Administration Center. That change of venue was necessary because of the extensive damage that the County Administration Center in downtown Sarasota suffered from Hurricane Milton in early October, staff has explained.

In response to questions from leaders of the Sarasota Citizen Action Network (SCAN), Todd Dary, manager of the county’s Planning Division, pointed out in a Nov. 7 email that “the County does not have the ability to broadcast or stream live public hearings. … [L]ive broadcasting/streaming capabilities originate from the [downtown Sarasota] Administration building and are currently unavailable for public hearings at the Robert L Anderson (RLA) building in Venice.”

Dary did note, “Public hearings will be recorded and [broadcast] at a [later] date on cable and made available online within a day or two of the public hearing.”

Email exchanges between SCAN and Dary were shared with The Sarasota News Leader.

SCAN was organized to unite county residents concerned about issues in three areas of the county. In the east, for example, residents have been focused on trying to preserve their rural lifestyles — especially in the Old Miakka community— by fighting large development plans, including the efforts of Schroeder-Manatee Ranch to expand Lakewood Ranch into the county.

In response to a SCAN email question about the capacity of public seating in the Anderson building, Dary noted that the Commission Chambers has 169 seats.

SCAN pointed out that the last time a public hearing was held on a land-use application regarding a project planned in close proximity to the Celery Fields, “[W]ell more than 169 persons were in attendance.” That was in August 2017, when Sarasota businessman James Gabbert was seeking County Commission approval to build a construction and yard waste recycling facility on county land that he had optioned near the Celery Fields.

Then-commission Chair Paul Caragiulo cast the tie-breaking vote to deny the application, citing concerns about the traffic problems already mounting in the affected area.

Referring again to the Anderson Center, SCAN told Dary, “If that’s all the capacity possible at this location, and many more people wish to participate, it seems like the usual effort to allow all who wish to speak to do so could be seriously compromised, while at the same time, access to the hearing from folks online is also not possible.”

SCAN then inquired whether “any workaround [might be] possible. E.g., is there a place nearby that can hold an overflow of interested citizens who could watch the meeting on a closed circuit TV and then get to the meeting to speak? Or, as often happens in public meetings these days, could the county provide a person to capture the meeting on a cell phone that could simulcast to the County’s YouTube platform?”

“Perhaps there’s a question here for the County Attorney to consider,” SCAN noted. “Major planning impacts deserve adequate facilities to accommodate all citizens who wish to speak.”

This is the Binding Development Concept Plan for the Smith Properties development, completed in July 2023, as shown in the application packet for the Smith Properties project. Image courtesy Sarasota County

“I would ask you and all involved to seriously look for some solution that would provide access to all who wish to attend this hearing,” the SCAN email continued. “If — as is not impossible — the majority of those who wish to attend are shut out and unable to follow the hearing, or participate in it in real time, is it still a ‘public’ hearing?”

Dary pointed out that both the Office of the County Attorney and the agent for Texas-based homebuilding company D.R. Horton, which is the applicant for what is called the Smith Properties project, were aware of the public concerns.

During a Nov. 12 telephone interview with the News Leader, Carson, the county’s communications director, acknowledged, “I know we’re expecting a high attendance for this [Nov. 21 hearing]. … We’re doing the best we can” to accommodate those who wish to participate in it.

Along with the audio indoors, she said, staff is looking into the possibility of placing additional speakers in an outdoor area.

Further, Carson continued, county personnel will be stationed in various sections of the Anderson Center to make certain that individuals who have signed up to speak during the hearing, but who are not in the Chambers, will know when they should enter the room. The goal, she said, is for staff members, to the best of their ability, to try to enable everyone present for the hearing to know what is happening.

Carson also explained that the server that county staff uses for its live-streaming of meetings was part of the equipment damaged at the downtown Sarasota Administration Center when Hurricane Milton struck last month. “We’re working to make … repairs,” she said. “It’s just going to take some time.”

The Planning Commission meeting is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. The R.L. Anderson Administration Center stands at 4000 S. Tamiami Trail in Venice.

Opposition remains strong

As the News Leader has reported, opponents of the D.R. Horton proposal have expressed concerns about the potential of the development to result in negative consequences for the wildlife at the Celery Fields, which has become an internationally known bird-watching destination.

Leaders of Sarasota Audubon, especially have been staunch in their opposition to the plans.

SCAN has pointed out, “The distance from the fence of Smith Farm to the nearest wetland/birding area [in the Celery Fields] is less than 60 yards.”

Image courtesy of SCAN

Just as Sarasota County sees an abundance of human tourists during “season” each year, the Celery Fields hosts untold numbers of migratory birds. Visitors to what officially is a regional stormwater project have documented dozens of species over the years.

On Nov. 1, 2023, the Sarasota Audubon Board of Directors issued a statement with the heading Raymond Road aka Smith Property. In bold, that document said, “A high-density residential development does not belong here. It will negate and undermine all the millions of dollars and planning invested by Sarasota County and its Stormwater Division.

A citizens organization related to SCAN, SCANing Sarasota PLANning, published a blog on Nov. 8 that said, “If you care about the Celery Fields as a healthy public amenity for humans and wildlife, tell the Sarasota County Planning Commission that you oppose Rezone Petition RZ 23-30The Petition would give DR Horton the opportunity to build 170 homes on the Smith Farm property, yards away from the Raymond Road Boardwalk and a critical nesting area:

Image courtesy of SCAN

Moreover, the blog pointed out, “Virtually the entire Farm property is a floodplain. Below, the FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] map indicates that a very large portion of the Farm, showing in blue, is AE — which means it’s in the 100-year floodplain. The grey area is in the 500-year floodplain”:

Image courtesy of SCAN

The blog also noted that the county’s Comprehensive Plan, which guides growth in the community, says that “the county is not supposed to approve dense housing in a floodplain. The reasons might be obvious after this hurricane season …”

This is a view of the Smith Properties land on Aug. 5, after Tropical Storm Debby had rained as much as 16 or more inches on parts of the county. Image courtesy of Tom Matrullo

The agenda for the Nov. 21 Planning Commission hearing was not available prior to the deadline for this issue of the News Leader.

The most recent details the News Leader has seen in regard to the Smith Properties application date to May, when a second county-required Neighborhood Workshop was scheduled on the proposal.

The site comprises six parcels of agricultural land, with a total of approximately 49 acres.

The project team members have explained that only about 30 of those acres could be used for the construction of the homes, because of the county requirement that a stormwater pond be located on the property.

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