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Newsletter
of the Nokomis Area Civic Association
Vol. 11, No. 2, April 2006
Next NACA General Meeting
Tuesday, April 25, 7 pm, Nokomis Community Center
"THE PAST AND FUTURE OF OUR PARKS"
John McCarthy, Director, Sarasota County Parks & Recreation
All Are Welcome! Bring Your Friends and Neighbors!
FROM THE PRESIDENT'S DESK
John Ask, NACA President
Dear Nokomis Neighbors:
As usual, a lot of activity is occurring in
our community, from road construction on US 41 to the redevelopment of many
parcels in our Nokomis Revitalization corridors on Tamiami Trail and Colonia Ln.
NACA not only seeks to stay current on these happenings, but to provide
leadership to help "shape" their outcomes to raise the probability
that we'll approve of the result which we'll be living with for decades going
forward.
In the midst of growth and change, it's
important and enjoyable to invest some time to learn about how we got to where
we are today. It's vital that we learn about what has been and is being
done to connect the past with the present. It's vital to learn what we can
and should be doing to insure that future generations are able to retain a
knowledge and appreciation of our heritage. With these values and
priorities in mind, JOHN McCARTHY, Director of Sarasota County Parks &
Recreation, will be our featured speaker at our April 25, 2006, NACA Quarterly
meeting, 7:00 pm, at the Nokomis Community Center. John has spoken to NACA
in past years and was rated as one of our best speakers and programs ever.
Please come and hear John, and learn about and provide input on our future
direction!
NOKOMIS REVITALIZATION NEWS
Bruce Dillon, NACA Revitalization Officer & Nokomis Revitalization Committee
Chair, bkdillon@verizon.net
CENTRAL WATER
Construction contracts for the
central-water distribution lines in the Baypoint and Shore Rd. neighborhoods
were recently awarded by the Board of County Commissioners. Bid awards for
the other Nokomis segments now in the design phase are anticipated in the coming
months of 2006.
COLONIA LANE
Road-work improvements on Colonia Ln. from
Nash Ave. to Albee Farm Rd. should be underway by late May, following the March
21 contract award to E. T. McKenzie of Florida. The Bradenton firm will
have up to 300 days to complete the work, which includes sidewalks, bike lanes,
decorative streetlights, and other streetscape features. The road project
also includes installation of a water-transmission line that is the key to
extending central water to the Nokomis neighborhoods east of the Tamiami Trail.
Construction of the section from US 41 to Nash Ave. has already begun as a joint
project with the work on US 41.
COMMERCIAL CORRIDORS VISION
After months of public input at various
Nokomis civic meetings, the resulting Commercial Corridors Vision document was
presented at the NACA Presidents' Roundtable meeting in January. Our
guests that evening were County Commissioner Jon Thaxton and County
Administrator Jim Ley. The evening included a report of current
initiatives and issues impacting our County and input on the Vision from the
group. It was suggested that the best way to bring the Vision into reality
would be to amend our Revitalization Plan.
Amendments to the Plan's Conditions for
Development Approval in commercial areas include changes to berming and
buffering to enhance overall appearance, additional parking options, a maximum
building height of 5 stories not to exceed 65 feet to encourage distinctive
mixed-use buildings that allow for a variety of lower-floor
office/professional/service/dining/retail establishments in a vibrant,
pedestrian-friendly setting. Housekeeping items deemed necessary by County
staff to make the Plan consistent with zoning changes adopted since 2001 may be
included.
The formal amendment process starts April
25, 2006, with the Committee's request for approval from the Board of County
Commissioners (BCC) for authorization to proceed, followed by required Public
Hearings, with one at the Revitalization Committee level, one at the Planning
Commission, and two before the BCC. Dates for the Public Hearings have not
yet been determined. Community input is solicited and appreciated throughout the
process.
The next Revitalization meeting is May 10,
2006, at the Nokomis Community Center on Nippino Trail. The meeting begins
at 6:30 pm. Please visit the NACA website at http://naca-nokomis.com for
information on the Revitalization Plan and the Vision document, as well as our
weekly updates of the US 41 construction project.
VICE PRESIDENT'S REPORT
Bob Merrill, NACA Vice President
Hello! My name is Bob Merrill and I'm
your new Vice President. This is my first Voice of Nokomis article, so be
kind to me. I was previously the President of Sorrento East Property
Owners Association, which kept me pretty active. As Vice President of
NACA, I now receive e-mails about new and ongoing projects in our area.
The communications involve US 41 construction, Nokomis Revitalization,
Waterways, Rails to Trails, and, most of all, our unbelievable growth. I
sometimes wonder if our area is the center of the world.
I asked John Ask, our President, if he had
a job for me. He said, "Don't worry. We will find something for
you to do." Well, he did. I am now in charge of setting up a
"Meet the Candidates Night" for our July 25, 2006, meeting. We
have invited all the candidates involved in the District 2 County Commissioners
race, as well as those for State Representative in District 70. We have
asked the candidates to come early and meet our residents prior to the start of
our program. We will then ask them to introduce themselves during a formal
program and answer some questions concerning our area. When our formal
program has ended we will serve refreshments and give our members another
opportunity to mingle with the candidates.
I have personally spoken to the candidates
and they were all eager to attend. Please keep Tuesday evening, July 25th,
open and spend it with your neighbors as they search for a candidate that will
serve them best.
WATERWAYS REPORT
Patrick McCarthy, NACA Waterways
MIDNIGHT PASS RESTORATION UPDATE
It truly is NOW OR NEVER! If we don't
succeed in getting the permits to reopen Midnight Pass this time, we can just
forget it. We'll have no choice but to live with the manmade mess.
And taxpayers will have to foot the bill for continuing beach restoration.
Erickson Consulting and Sarasota County
staff responsible for the project have done a masterful job of providing the
engineering, documentation, and rationale in support of restoring Midnight Pass.
Sarasota residents owe them and our environmentally responsible County
Commissioners a very special thank you.
However, at this time, the Midnight Pass
Restoration Permit is in real jeopardy. A few state employees responsible
for processing the permit application are concentrating on the impact of the
construction phase of the project and totally ignoring all of the many benefits,
environmental and otherwise, to be gained by reopening the inlet. If the
Project Team cannot open these closed minds, we will lose.
So, we need your help and we need it now.
Included in the newsletter provided by the Midnight Pass Society is a current
status report for the Midnight Pass Project, the Mason Inlet connection,
comments on water quality, and the case for restoration of Midnight Pass.
This document can be accessed at our website and I will try to have some on hand
at our quarterly meeting on the 25th of April. Or you may e-mail me and I
will send it to you or get a "hard copy" to you. Whatever it
takes to educate everyone on this very important issue and encourage YOU to
write a letter of support to the "powers that be" listed below.
Tell them you want Midnight Pass reopened
and ask to have your homeowners' association or group put on the "Keep
Informed List." As I said at the beginning of this article, it is
truly "NOW OR NEVER."
State of Florida:
Governor Jeb Bush
PL 05 The Capitol
400 S. Monroe St.
Tallahassee, FL 32399
850-488-4441
jeb.bush@myflorida.com
Department of Environmental Protection:
3900 Commonwealth Blvd.
Tallahassee, FL 32399-3000
Colleen Castille, Secretary
850-245-2011
Bureau of Beaches & Coastal Systems:
Mike Barnett, Chief
850-488-7708
Michael.Barnett@dep.state.fl.us
Lizabeth Meigs
850-413-7766
lizbeth.meigs@dep.state.fl.us
Army Corps of Engineers:
Michael F. Nowicki, District Engineer
904-232-2171
Department of the Army
Jacksonville District Corps of Engineers
P. O. Box 4970
Jacksonville, FL 32232-0019
michael.f.nowicki@saj02.usace.army.mil
BREAKING NEWS!
Two portable toilets were stationed at
Nokomis Island boat ramp on a three-month trial basis. The situation will
be re-evaluated in three months. This will certainly be of great relief to
the many boaters who use this ramp. A huge "attaboy" to everyone
who worked to get this done!
That said, summer is on its way, so don't
leave the sunscreen or your common sense at the door. See you on the
water!
WE NEED MORE NACA MEMBERS
Tom Bartholomay, NACA Secretary & Membership Chair
Will you help strengthen the voice of
Nokomis?
As you know, there are 39 community
organizations in Nokomis that are brought together to form NACA, which
represents your interest in Sarasota County.
Membership in NACA is individual, and a few
associations have 100% of their residents signed up. To have a strong
voice and influence in the County (to get things done in Nokomis), we need more
members in your neighborhood.
With the revitalization efforts, which
include the expansion of US 41, improving Colonia Ln., and bringing public water
to all Nokomis residents, there is a lot to be concerned about, and NACA is
representing you in every way.
I hope you have paid your own dues and that
you will please ask a neighbor to join.
With a potential membership of 7000, our
goal this year is to reach 2000. Please help us meet this goal!
The membership application is included in
this newsletter and dues are only $5 a year. It is not too late to qualify
for a special bonus of one year's dues free if you sign up a new member.
Thank you for doing your part in making Nokomis a better place to live.
PRESIDENT'S PERSPECTIVE: TWO PETITIONS SEEKING TO AMEND THE SARASOTA COUNTY
CHARTER
John Ask, NACA President
"Good Intentions Gone Awry" is
how to characterize CITIZENS FOR SENSIBLE GROWTH, a special-interest group
recently formed to place two referendum items on the ballot in November intended
to moderate growth in Sarasota County.
One referendum ballot initiative is seeking
a Super Majority vote of the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) before land use
can be modified to be more dense or intense. The second seeks to remove
from the BCC the ability to modify the Urban Service Boundary (USB), so that to
move the USB would require a vote from the general electorate of the County.
[Cont'd next page]
While we all tire of traffic, have concerns
over problems associated with growth, and have fears over the escalating cost of
housing, taxes, and living in Sarasota County, these referenda are ill-thought
through. They are not consistent with our representative form of
government and are fraught with unintended consequences. We have five
County Commissioners. This proposal would empower two commissioners to
rule over the other three. In my view, this is not the American way.
In our representative form of government, we routinely elect individuals to
represent our best interests; if they don't represent us well, we vote them out
of office.
Many issues we face are complex, often
without easy solutions. We count upon our elected leaders to invest the
necessary time to study solutions and act in our best interests. To alter
our County Charter from representative democracy is an experiment that I'm not
willing to support and that I view as dangerous.
The unintended consequences from the
passage of these referenda are serious. Recall that the goal is to slow
growth in the County. Annexations into the cities of Sarasota, North Port,
and Venice are a way to avoid County policies that are viewed as too stringent.
Annexations into these cities are already taking place and the County is
shrinking. The passage of these referenda will serve to add fuel to the
fire of annexations.
Heavy traffic is blamed on growth.
While growth contributes to traffic, the number and distance of trips is a more
significant factor in congestion. If Sarasota County enacts anti-growth
policies in comparison to the cities and adjacent counties, people will live in
those areas and commute longer distances through our county, hence traffic and
congestion.
These other jurisdictions will collect the
impact fees and taxes from properties, while Sarasota County will suffer the
consequences of usage without monetary support. A major concern is the
affordability of housing; if we create policies to slow the construction of new
housing, existing housing will disproportionately increase in price.
Again, people will be forced to live outside of the County and commute longer
distances. These unintended consequences are predictable and reason enough
not to support these two ballot initiatives.
Finally, most of the potential growth in
Sarasota County is from Osprey and Nokomis south to Charlotte County. This
is presently our most sparsely populated area, having the most potential for
growth. The damage from the passage of these two referendum ballot
initiatives will hurt us the most, and the resulting damage will last for
generations. Diminishing the quality of life in South Sarasota County will
be the biggest and saddest unintended consequence of the passage of these
proposed ballot initiatives.
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