For more than two decades, Sarasota County has had a single program to counter the suburban sprawl that has come to define the area’s recent development boom.
In November, voters will decide whether to extend that program for another 23 years.
The Sarasota County Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to add a referendum to fund the Environmentally Sensitive Lands Protection Program through 2049. As Sarasota County has grown at a staggering pace, carving once-rural areas into asphalt and cul-de-sacs, local environmentalists see the government program as the most effective weapon to protect land from otherwise inevitable development.
The referendum needs a simple majority of votes to pass.
Since its inception in 1999, the program has conserved 42,000 acres across 101 properties, according to a presentation to the county commission. Notable tracts protected include Deer Prairie Creek, Carlton Ranch and the Snook Haven Campground.
There are two ballot measures — one that allows for a 0.25 mill property tax and another that allows the county to fund the program using that revenue. A mill equals $1 for every $1,000 of a property’s taxable value. If approved, the referendum would give the county up to $250 million to buy new conservation land.
Commissioner Teresa Mast lauded the program at Tuesday’s meeting.
“I remember when this was first put in place, and I know there were some skeptics,” Mast said.
“I think we’ve proven them all wrong.”
Mast wants 40% of Sarasota County to be environmentally protected, either by the county, the state, or some other public or private interest.
The county would need to preserve another 20,000 acres to reach that goal, according to Kim Heuberger, a senior manager of the Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Department.
The county collaborates with local environmental and nonprofit groups such as the Trust for Public Land, Gulf Coast Community Foundation and Big Waters Land Trust to find potential sites. If the referendum fails, the program would lapse in 2029.
Jon Thaxton, one of the area’s most noted environmentalists and a member of the Sarasota County Planning Commission, was among the early founders of the Environmentally Sensitive Lands Protection Program.
The environment has been a lifelong passion for Thaxton, a partial namesake of Scherer Thaxton Preserve, a protected flatwood in Osprey. As a fifth-grader, he wrote a newspaper editorial on how littering was un-American.
“All of Sarasota County, from the Gulf of Mexico to the DeSoto County line, will eventually be developed,” Thaxton said. “Except for lands under environmental conservation.”
He characterized the referendum as a “swan song.” The way Thaxton sees it, by 2049, all of Sarasota County will either be developed or protected.
“We have to find a way to get ahead of the development curve — the competition,” Thaxton said.
Christine Johnson, president of the Big Waters Land Trust, said that the 40% goal may be difficult to achieve even if the program is extended. There may not be enough land left.
If the county runs out of property to buy, the funds could instead go towards restoring natural habitats and purchasing waterfront land for public use, like the county’s $18.1 million purchase this year of “The Boatyard” on Stickney Point Road to create a park.
The program also gives property owners an option, she said. Rather than sell their land to developers, they could sell it to the county to be protected in perpetuity.
The referendum has historically been popular among voters. It first passed with more than 64% support and then again in 2005 with 77% of the vote, according to data from the Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections.
But Thaxton and Johnson said they are taking nothing for granted, even as Florida seems on the cusp of an anti-development backlash at the ballot box.
“If you’re frustrated about development in Sarasota County,” Johnson said, “you need to vote Yes and Yes.”
Christian Casale is a local government/politics reporter for Suncoast Searchlight. Email Christian at christian@suncoastsearchlight.org
This story was originally published by Suncoast Searchlight, a nonprofit newsroom delivering investigative journalism to Sarasota, Manatee, and DeSoto counties. Learn more at suncoastsearchlight.org.
