SARASOTA — The Sarasota County Commission Wednesday reversed an earlier vote and approved all five amendments to its comprehensive land-use plan requested by developers of the 5,500-acre Villages of Lakewood Ranch South.
Commissioner Carolyn Mason, who in an earlier hearing cast the deciding “no” vote on two of five amendments to Sarasota’s 2050 Comprehensive Plan, reversed herself and this time voted for all five.
A motion to transmit the results for review to the Florida Department of Community Affairs, the state’s growth management agency, passed 3-2. Mason and fellow Commissioners Shannon Staub and Joseph Barbetta voted in favor, with Commissioners Jon Thaxton and Nora Patterson voting against.
Todd J. Pokrywa, vice president of planning for developer Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, Inc., said afterward that his company had sought the amendments to assure it had the commission’s support before continuing an expensive and complex project.
“This gives us the ability to move to the next step,” he added, noting the first phase is slated to begin in 2012 and would entail a 25-year build-out.
Plans call for the development to be located in eastern Sarasota County, south of University Parkway, north of Fruitville Road and east of Interstate 75.
It would include 5,500 homes, 300,000 square feet of office and commercial space built around a village center, and 90,000 square feet of neighborhood retail space, Pokrywa said.
He had previously told the commission his company needed approval of all five amendments in order to continue the project. It is the first development under the auspices of the Sarasota 2050 plan, which is a road map of the way eastern Sarasota County is expected to develop through mid-century.
Commissioners re-approved three amendments they had previously OKed: Redesignating Lakewood Ranch Boulevard from a two- to a four-lane road; eliminating greenbelt buffers along University Parkway at the north end of the project; and removing a parcel from a wetlands area adjacent to a swampy backwater called Gum Slough.
They also approved two they had denied before: A reduction in the width of a greenway buffer bordering Gum Slough from 550 feet to 200 feet; and elimination of a greenbelt buffer along the property’s southern boundary.
However, if property south of the site becomes part of the village, the buffer would be located farther south, commissioners decided.
Greenbelt buffers are designed to separate land of potentially incompatible uses and to protect native habitats and wildlife. Greenways are areas that planners feel should remain forever protected.
Among those appearing in support of SMR was a representative for Lindvest-Fruitville, Ltd. and Lindvest Sarasota East, Ltd., owners of about 480 acres contiguous with the LWR South site, which is in discussion with SMR about joining forces, said Fabian Bianchi, the company’s representative in Sarasota.
Also appearing in support of SMR was Vanessa Baugh, owner of Vanessa Fine Jewelry at Lakewood Ranch, SMR’s community to the north in Manatee County, who told commissioners, “The Villages of Lakewood Ranch (South) are very, very important to small businesses like myself,” adding that 5,500 new homes would help her firm’s bottom line.
Also supporting SMR’s request were representatives of homebuilders’ associations, the Sarasota Chamber of Commerce and the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance.
Testifying in opposition was Michael Figgins, of Sarasota, who gave an impassioned speech urging the commission to think long-term and not ruin a beautiful place by selling out to developers.
Voting in favor could curse the younger generation, he said, noting, “Where will we be in 2050? I’ve got a son. ...It’s for those people not even born yet we’re doing this thing. You’re better than that.”
Also urging the commission to vote down the amendments were representatives of environmental groups such as the Sarasota Audubon Society and Control Growth Now.
Sara Kennedy, Herald reporter, can be reached at (941) 708-7908 or at skennedy@bradenton.com
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