Progress with Another Judicial Appeal and Petition for a Stay Pending Appeal

SEERD's second Appeal to the 12th Circuit Court and a Petition to the Sarasota County Board of Commissioners (BCC) to "Stay" site development and occupancy by The Classical Academy (TCA) at 8000 Bee Ridge Road are among the two most recent actions taken to preserve the rights of Bee Ridge residents and protect our neighborhood.

In case you are wondering ... what is SEERD is doing right now to challenge TCAs latest and highly visible efforts to accommodate its students this fall as the school moves to Bee Ridge Road from its Fruitville Road campus? We can all see from Bee Ridge Road that the school is renovating existing buildings and installing what appears to be 30 of the 52 modular classrooms that have been parked on the Grace Church site, visible from Bee Ridge Road, and exposed to the elements over the past year. Here is a quick summary of our ongoing actions and the latest update. We will upload the two legal documents filed in late May and early July to our web site shortly. These documents detail our analysis and legal arguments for those residents who care to familiarize themselves and participate in our discussions.

History. Bee Ridge residents will recall that our first Appeal to the 12th Circuit Court in August 2023 was in response to Sarasota County's approval of Special Exception (SE) 1874 in July 2023. That case challenged the County's failure to follow its own land use, zoning and Special Exception criteria to properly mitigate development impacts, protect property owners and neighborhoods. The arguments and responses were completed in December 2023, the case remains pending and has yet to be resolved.

Second Appeal. More recent concerns have surfaced since County approval of the SE last year related to site use and development by TCA and Sarasota County. This forced SEERD to file a second Appeal with the 12th Circuit Court in late May 2024. This Appeal challenges the BCCs decision made this past April to regard as a "minor" rather than a "substantial" modification of SE 1874 the use of modular classrooms instead of the permanent brick and mortar structures indicated in the Binding Site Development Plan that was originally approved as part of SE 1874.

Stay Pending Appeal. Another filing, submitted just a week ago in early July to the BCC, responds to the recent issuance by Sarasota County of building permits in late May allowing TCA to install 30 modular classrooms and undertake some, but not all, the traffic-related and other site improvements required under SE 1874. These mitigation measures were required by the SE applicant TCA to comply with a number of stipulations aimed at managing the surge of traffic expected to accompany Phase 2 of the school's site development. The purpose is to ensure the safety of students and the public along the narrow stretch of Bee Ridge Road and the already deficient connecting road network with the rest of the County. Our arguments in this filing are made on behalf of adjacent landowners and neighborhood residents. We raise a number of disturbing questions about the responsibility of our elected leaders to promote the public interest while protecting the health, safety and welfare of all of its citizens.

Progress. Regarding the second Appeal, the 12th Circuit Court issued an Order to Show Cause on June 6th allowing 20 days for the County and TCA to reply to SEERDs appeal which we eagerly await. In response to SEERDs motion filed with the BCC for a "stay", the County Attorney indicated that with its planned summer recess, a late August hearing before the BCC was possible. Because of the damage being done from ongoing site development and likely unmitigated impacts on students, teachers, adjacent land uses and across the neighborhood as TCA segues this fall into Phase 2 of its site development, many would argue that waiting until late August is too late.

If you agree, let us and our elected representatives know as there are additional measures that we are considering. And please continue your support for our efforts to protect the Bee Ridge neighborhood, maintain the integrity of our public policy and critical local decision-making processes and hold our County officials accountable.