VENICE — The Sarasota County Commission decided to move forward with a comprehensive plan amendment affecting county land in Nokomis despite opposition from residents who decried its potential environmental impact.
A staff-initiated petition proposed to change the future land use designation of about 107 acres at the northwest corner of the intersection of Knights Trail Road and Rustic Road from Public Conservation/Preservation to Major Government Uses.
The petition came with an 8-0 recommendation from the county Planning Commission for approval by the County Commission and transmittal to the state Department of Economic Opportunity, as required by state law.
The transmittal should have occurred already but was delayed because the boundaries of the property have changed three times, Capital Projects Facilities Manager Brad Gaubatz said.
County Administrator Jonathan Lewis said staff did a “deep dive” in 2018 into all county-owned land and its potential uses.
The land in question was already zoned for government use and is located in a growing area where the demand for services has been increasing, he said.
It’s part of a 320-acre county property, Planner Ana Messina said, and the proposed change doesn’t affect the property’s zoning. Rather, she said, it just brings the future land use designation in line with it.
In fact, the staff report says, the change isn’t actually required, because GU zoning covers all the intended uses. It’s being sought for uniformity, the report says.
A parcel to the north is the projected site of the county’s planned fire academy, while the parcel in question will be home to a new fleet facility at an unspecified point in the future.
Already occupying the property to the west are a public park, recreation and athletic facilities, a gun range and a sheriff’s training facility, according to the staff report.
The parcel in question is undeveloped, however, and dedicated in perpetuity for conservation in the comp plan, Shari Thornton said in opposing the change.
Thornton, who’s running for the District 3 seat on the Commission this year, said that putting the county’s fleet facility on the property wouldn’t be “maintaining its existing use,” which the plan requires.
The county is “chipping away” at the protected status of the land, she said.
Joan Farrell, who said she was speaking both as a concerned citizen and a Venice City Council member, urged the Commission not to “commandeer” the land for government uses.
In making a motion to transmit the amendment, Commissioner Joe Neunder said the issue is improving the resources staff needs to provide services in South County.
“I don’t really have any heartburn on this one,” he said.
The motion passed 4-1, with Commissioner Mark Smith opposed.
His problem, he said, was that “somebody dropped the ball” by putting a future use of conservation on land zoned for government use.
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