NEIGHBORS FORCING US TO FILL IN SENSITIVE WETLANDS!
- by: Erika Ginsberg-Klemmt
- recipient: Conscientious Citizens of the World, Sarasota, FL
When a property owner has the right to build a home on land that consists of both wetlands and uplands, don't you agree that county zoning should allow the homeowner to build in the uplands?
We are owners of ~9.6 acres of land in Nokomis, FL. We bought the parcel to build our own single family home on. We have never built a house before. We invite you to visit www.srqus.com to see the development concept plan, County staff report and videos of the influence the neighbors had at a preliminary planning board meeting last year.
The parcel is split zoned, with 0.841 acres zoned RSF1 (residential) and the rest zoned OUC (Open Use Conservation).
Because of a mistake at the county level, the residentially zoned portion of the parcel consists of 100% wetlands. If you want to understand how this happened, please refer to the special report written by environmentalist Jono Miller, titled "How Sarasota County Accidentally Mistook a Wetland for an Upland, an Upland for a Wetland, And Why it Matters"
We do not want to build in the wetlands.
The uplands portion zoned OUC is suitable for building and is already historically disturbed lands covered in invasive vegetation (Brazilian Pepper and Australian Pine)
We are asking the Sarasota County Commission to correct this zoning SNAFU.
Our main challenge is not the project itself, but pushback from a few vocal neighbors who live directly across the canal and are afraid our one house will ruin their view. They tried to force us to sell the property to them.
These neighbors have sworn they would do everything they could to stop us from building our home outside of the wetlands. Yes, you heard that right, they want us to build in the wetlands. They went door to door spreading lies about how we were building in the wetlands. They devised a Petition riddled with untruths which was taken down, but the propaganda already had its impact; despite the county staff's approval of the rezone, the planning board, a preliminary advisory board, voted unanimously against the rezone. Please watch the non-basis upon which they based their recommendation.
If we are unable to change the zoning, then we and any future owner of the parcel would be forced to fill in wetlands in order to build. This is perfectly legal in Florida as long as you mitigate the damage elsewhere. This is exactly what we want to avoid!
Please help us by signing the petition and agreeing that it is NOT good practice to zone residential property in the wetlands!
These days, it feels as if governmental entities encourage people to disseminate "fake news." Bullying seems to be all the rage these days. Unfortunately, it's the big developers that get away with rezoning hundreds of acres, creating massive impacts on neighborhoods. Please join us in saying NO to lies and extortion perpetrated by these few neighbors. Feel free to tell your own stories of mean, selfish people in your midst.
We also would appreciate if you would write an email or snail mail directly to the Sarasota County Commissioners:
Snail mail:
- Writing to the Commissioners supporting our rezone.
On the Envelope:
Sarasota County Commissioners
1660 Ringling Blvd.
Sarasota FL 34236
In the Letter, TO:
Christian Ziegler
Nancy C. Detert,
Alan Maio,
Charles D. Hines
Michael A. Moran - Contact them by email:
mmoran@scgov.net
chines@scgov.net
amaio@scgov.net
ncdetert@scgov.net
cziegler@scgov.net
Please also cc: the Sarasota Planning Staff:
kcrane@scgov.net
hberna@scgov.net
Finally, feel free to contact us any time with questions: erika@srqus.com
On November 8, 2021 - 6:00 pm, we have an appeal in front of the Board of Zoning Appeals at 1660 Ringling Blvd. Your participation would be immensely appreciated.
Here is the agenda:
http://sarasotacounty.granicus.com/AgendaViewer.php?view_id=16&event_id=1823
We hope that our appeal against the Zoning Administrators' latest Code Interpretation Letter will help us avoid building in the wetlands. THANKS from the Ginsberg-Klemmts
erika@srqus.com
941-284-0057
Voting is ON!! Please follow the above link and VOTE for Antonia Tahia Ginsberg-Klemmt and her stunning, innovative invention:
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Achim and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support.
The commissioners denied our rezone application with virtually no substantial reasoning.
We then were forced to withdraw the major work permit, because they said without the zoning, it would be impossible.
We are still in shock and contemplating our potential next moves.
You can watch the almost 4 hour meeting here:
https://youtu.be/bUoKvPSM8RQ
We would like to keep in touch. THANKS, Erika and Achim
Your written / spoken input in favor of this Rezone is CRUCIAL. Please register to provide live testimony via remote technology. An Online Public Comment Form and a Public Hearing Registration Form will be available from noon on Friday, September 4, until noon on Tuesday, September 8. Once registered, you will receive further instructions on when and how to access the meeting online. –5 minutes per speaker.
Thank you for taking the time to look at our project.
I've updated our site with a 2 min. video, an excerpt from a neighborhood board meeting where the attendees admitted that they actually WANT us to build in wetlands!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtVdnT6zEs0&feature=youtu.be
If you are willing to write a letter to the commissioners, I can provide envelopes, stamps and give you ideas of what to write if you're short of time/ ideas. Mahalo, Erika and Achim
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