Charlotte County plan imperils Manasota Key

HeraldTribune.com

Eric Ernst: Charlotte County plan imperils Manasota Key

By Eric Ernst

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Manasota Key as we know it is in danger, and not from the infamous oil spill. Charlotte County government has mounted its own threat with a plan to inject new commercial districts and high-rise condominiums on a barrier island whose residents are dead-set against either.

Pressure to more intensely develop the Englewood key has been relentless. The latest effort comes via the county's "Growth Management" Department, whose idea of managing growth calls for letting select property owners construct taller buildings closer together.

Current rules cap condo heights at 52 feet and houses at 43 feet, including appurtenances; the new rules would raise them to 71 feet and 62 feet, respectively, not including appurtenances. Planned developments could rise as high as 120 to 150 feet.

The general public knew nothing of the proposed changes until a Manasota Key resident saw a legal ad for the plan in the newspaper. The word spread quickly.

"I started getting calls from people and they were all angry," says County Commissioner Robert Skidmore, who represents the key. "I said, 'What are you talking about?' This is a classic miscommunication from Growth Management."

It's also a slap in the face of island residents, former planners and former county commissioners, who spent about three years putting together the island's special development district, adopted in 2005.

A citizens advisory committee scrutinized hundreds of suggestions during scores of meetings to devise rules emphasizing low-slung development, green space, low intensity and density, ease of evacuation and protection of natural resources.

In 2008, under the guise of routine housekeeping, a new group of planners tried to gut the community plan. After an uproar, then-Commissioner Tom Moore elicited a promise from staff to work closely with residents on any revisions.

Since January 2009, there have been no public meetings about the subject.

Then this.

The Planning and Zoning Board was to consider the plan on Monday. It was pulled from the agenda last week.

However, a measure remains that would rezone 5 acres north of Stump Pass Beach State Park from residential to commercial. And last Thursday, shortly after Skidmore implied he had a commitment from county administration to hold off discussions until the key's seasonal residents return, a press release said otherwise.

It announced the draft document and encouraged residents to comment on it, online, before Nov. 5, "which is the Monday before the second (and final) public hearing before the Board of County Commissioners."

This proposal directly conflicts or undermines a carefully designed community plan. It's a good example of why Amendment 4, the so-called hometown democracy initiative that would allow citizens to vote on land-use changes, made it to the November ballot.

Eric Ernst's column runs Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Contact him at eric.ernst@heraldtribune.com or (941) 486-3073.