Summer in Sarasota

Greetings to our Bee Ridge Neighbors,

We hope that all our fellow Bee Ridge residents are enjoying the early start of summer with its longer days, abundant sunshine and warmer temperatures. Hopefully, the onset of some much-needed rain showers to lessen the impacts of this years unprecedented water shortage and continuing drought will lead to more deliberate planning for the County's growing water needs, consistent with a more responsible and sustainable approach to growth management and future land use planning.  Eventually, this should allow the County restrictions to be recalibrated and hopefully set aside if we are not first washed or blown away by a hurricane. Some of the lessons learned should result in future development and growth in Sarasota County managed more responsibly by providing the infrastructure and public services needed by our residents, workers and visitors alike.

Here is an update on what is happening with The Classical Academy's (TCA) Bee Ridge Road campus, some other planned developments which will have direct impacts on our neighborhood and a few other issues we are monitoring at the County and State levels to be aware of because of its likely impacts on our quality of life.

1.      Update on Monitoring and Mitigating Impacts of SE 1874 (The Classical Academy) @ 8000 Bee Ridge Road

SEERD is continuing to pursue, on behalf of Bee Ridge residents, the efforts we began last year to object to the Special Exception (SE) 1874 allowing TCA to operate on Bee Ridge Road and demand compliance with County land use and building code requirements. We have been especially encouraged by resident comments made at our well-attended Annual General Meeting on April 10th at the Fruitville Branch of the Sarasota County Public Library. Given what has happened over the past year and where we are today, SEERD is determined to ensure that TCA complies with its legal obligations and that its negative impacts be adequately mitigated so as not to ruin our neighborhood. To pursue these objectives, since April this year, SEERD has taken the following additional actions:

1.      SEERD challenged TCAs building permit and site development application involving the installation of 30 modular classrooms at a Board of County Commissioner (BCC) public hearing in April. We also appealed BCCs decision from the April meeting in a petition for Writ of Certiorari in May with the 12th Circuit Court. SEERD argued against the Commissioners ill-advised decision approving an administrative appeal by TCA that its application for a building permit to install the modular classrooms on the 8000 Bee Ridge Road site be considered a “minor” modification of SE 1874 and its Binding Concept Development Plan which made no mention of such temporary structures, and that were originally approved a year ago by the BCC in July 2023. This recent decision by the BCC set aside findings by the County Zoning Administrator in March 2024 that the proposed installation of modular classrooms in place of originally proposed buildings amounted to a "substantial" modification from the applicants plans and related stipulations approved by the BCC in July 2023, thus rejecting any further consideration of TCAs building permit application. Notwithstanding such adverse opinions from its professional staff and our ongoing appeals, SEERD learned only through public documents request, that the County Building Department moved forward with processing TCAs building permit application. At the end of May, the County issued the necessary permits to install the prefabricated classrooms, with site work now well underway.

2.      To ensure the viability of this our second appeal to the 12th Circuit Court, SEERD demanded that the BCC complete the ministerial task of rendering a written order for a quasi-judicial decision concerning TCAs appeal of its building permit application. This follows its publicly noticed hearing at which parties introduced evidence and testimony on April 23, 2024, hence us petitioning the 12th Circuit Court for what is called a Writ of Mandamus on June 5, 2024. The 12th Circuit Court quickly agreed with our demand, gave the County 20 days to respond, and SEERD has agreed for a limited extension of time allowing the County to "cure" the defect by a resolution at its next scheduled meeting on July 9th.

3. What we have done so far does not appear to be sufficient and it would appear that site development of the school now underway will cause irreparable harm to adjacent land uses and the Bee Ridge neighborhood. The BCC, which is supposed to represent County residents including us, has fallen for what the County's Special Magistrate hearing the Code Enforcement complaint in March 2024 against TCAs storage of 52 modular classrooms on its campus since August 2023 characterized as "bait and switch". Therefore, SEERD is contemplating additional actions to protect our rights as landowners, residents and businesses. Stay tuned for further announcements.

2.   Addressing Other Growth Management and Development Challenges Adjacent to Bee Ridge and Beyond

For better or for worse, our Bee Ridge neighborhood does not exist in isolation. We are a small but unique part of the County made up of many other stakeholders. Over the past year SEERD has identified those that we need to engage with to achieve our objectives and have reached out accordingly. We agreed to partner as a member of Sarasota Citizens Action Network (SCAN) with several likeminded organizations across the County that are also demanding responsible growth that is managed in a sustainable fashion. After comparing notes and learning from each other’s land use conflict and development experiences, we agreed to support each other and predicted that the Planning Commission (PC) and Board of County Commissioners (BCC) would try and rush through as many applications as possible for re-zoning, special exceptions and amendments to comprehensive and area/neighborhood plans before elections in November.  They appear to be doing exactly that. 

Clearly, Sarasota needs a political solution so that our elected and appointed representatives reflect the sentiment of county residents willing to protect the unique nature of our neighborhoods which have made Sarasota such a desirable place to live and work. We urge residents in Bee Ridge and our neighbors to familiarize themselves with the candidates for the BCC and look for people who appreciate the benefits of managed growth and of farsighted public policy, statutes and local ordinances to protect the health, safety and welfare along with the rule of law, unique to advanced societies, that is applied equally to everyone.

With three of the five seats on the Board of County Commissioners up for re-election, two which are being contested in a GOP primary this August, you could say that the pro-development legacy of our county leaders and the disruption it has caused to our lives are very much “on the ballot”.  We are all familiar with the process. Virtual neighborhood workshops managed by development petitioners to socialize their plans and assess any opposition are refined in consultation with County staff to finalize applications for some of the same staff to review. This is followed by aggressively scheduled and perfunctory public hearings to move forward the deluge of development petitions, allowing registered speakers 3-5 minutes to weigh in but not in an organized way so the County can get on with the business of approving as many of the applications as possible before the end of the current terms. Clearly, they want to appease a select and entitled group of developer friends while demand remains strong from the private sector. The urgency is made greater by the boom-and-bust nature of building since we may be at an inflection point as the overheated housing market softens and the overall economy slows from its breakneck pace of recent years. 

There are so many new development proposals in Sarasota County in the approval pipeline or on the drawing board that it's hard to keep track. Since we maintain a comprehensive list, we would be glad to share it with anyone who might be interested. There are for example, hotels proposed on Siesta key and proposals for reduced if not eliminated density limits, county wide; new development out in Old Myakka on the eastern edge of the county where there is no infrastructure, few public services and many essential conservation easements form part of our storm water management system and where wells provide much of the County’s drinking water supply; and native habitat giving way to large housing and some mixed-use developments in the southern part of the County, much without needed infrastructure, water and required services.

Of direct and immediate concern to Bee Ridge and for us to have any influence to mitigate impacts, SEERD has presented some of our concerns at public hearings on two adjacent developments which will directly harm our neighborhood if not considerably modified. We are also considering what role we might play when it comes to site development permitting for the third which is considerably larger in scale and more advanced, all in addition to our work monitoring TCA. We are not planning for the costly and management intensive appeals and other measures being taken with TCA, but do not want to count that out entirely. If we believe that these threats are imminent, avoidable and we have the support of the neighborhood behind us, SEERD would reconsider.

1.      Involvement with County approval of 3H Ranch to mitigate impacts on Bee Ridge.  This is a Neal Homebuilders development (one of the largest homebuilders in the region) to construct 6,500 new residences divided into so called "villages", provide internal parkland and open space, room for a school and 350,000 sq ft of commercial/retail space on over 2000 acres of what is currently pasture for cattle, located south of our neighborhood along Clark Road just west of and adjacent to Skye Ranch.   SEERD in consultation with other partners who are concerned about this new development are carefully reviewing its application and concept plans, studying the County staff reports and considering our options. Final approval awaits a public hearing before the BCC, probably in July. 

2.      Critique of Neighborhood Shopping Center Plans. This new neighborhood shopping center would encompass five acres of land currently owned by Bayshore Church on the eastern side of its property that it wishes to sell. By selling off this undeveloped portion of its property the result will be to increase the proportion of land built upon under the terms of its existing Special Exception and likely in violation of County site coverage standards. If Bayshore Church ends up providing the second required access/egress for TCA as called for under SE 1874, its ratio of site coverage to parcel size will be increased even more creating a variety of site and off site impacts and a dangerous precedent for the County. 

3.      Monitoring of Hi Hat Ranch site preparation and build out. Hi Hat, located between Clark and Fruitville and east of Lorraine Rd with its eventual 13,000 residences, shopping, parks, schools etc. has the zoning, special exception and approvals it needs and is now moving to get its site development plans and permits approved. Hi Hat, has run into problems with the permits needed for excavation of a massive “borrow pit” from which soil will be mined, transported and used elsewhere on the property in land preparation. The mining operation, movement of the soil over congested County Roads and subsequent management of the mined site are being challenged by other more directly impacted groups of residents.  

All three of these developments will create considerable traffic, raise environmental concerns, storm water management, sewage and potable water challenges, generate noise, lighting and other impacts that need to be mitigated.   So far, we have seen little indication from the County Planning Commission, notwithstanding a number of concerns raised by its professional County staff, of anything but praise for the plans. There is a clear pattern across the County of little concern shown by the Commission for addressing public infrastructure and service needs nor how the impacts of these developments will affect adjacent property owners and neighborhoods at large.

3.        One More Thing

Finally, there is one more piece of the development puzzle to share that we are concerned with and monitoring closely.  Back in April, Ron DeSantis signed into law, with little fanfare, HB 1285 governing private schools in Florida and suggesting the basis for some new regulations. It’s an unusual law with a bunch of things thrown in but some of its provisions of particular interest to us impact only private schools that want to build and operate on Church-owned properties.  Sound familiar?

Some suggest that it was inspired by our ongoing challenge of TCA but let's not flatter ourselves just yet.  HB 1285 takes effect on July 1st and although the language in places is vague, this new law could pre-empt local government actions in those situations where schools want to operate on church owned property. It does not appear to be retroactive to petitions filed prior to its effective date, but we believe that schools such as TCA and the new private for-profit Charter School applying for Special Exception (SE 1888) to add 50% more students to the church campus on Fruitville Road where TCA currently operates its elementary school, are both studying it to figure out how to advance their plans to operate here in Sarasota County and circumvent local opposition.  SEERD lacks the ability and resources to challenge a state law by ourselves, but we are reaching out to other organizations that have expressed concern about its impact and constitutionality because of some of its peculiar provisions and characteristics.  

So, there is a lot to do, and we have tough decisions to make about what to focus on, how to partner with other organizations and what commitments to make. Your ideas and suggestions would be welcome. Your support via volunteering your time and/or continuing to make financial contributions will determine what we do and how much more we can accomplish toward demanding greater accountability from our County Government and its impact on our neighborhood and lives.  Please continue to donate so that we can continue this fight for our homes and neighborhood and full accountability. Thanks for your interest and continued support.  

Miles Toder

President, SEERD