A permit was denied for dredging Phillippi Creek. But did Sarasota even need one?
By Kerry Sheridan
July 1, 2025 at 4:54 PM EDT
Residents discovered a memo from the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers that appears to show Sarasota County could get around the red tape. County and Corps officials disagree.
Phillippi Creek will not likely be dredged this year after an emergency permit was denied by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, according to Sarasota County government officials. But a vocal group of residents and local experts are questioning whether such a permit was needed.
Ahead of Tuesday’s county commission workshop, residents affected by Phillippi Creek flooding discovered a memo from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers that appears to show the county could get around the red tape.
“Through our own research and talking to experts, we've found that the county may be exempt from both state and federal permits,” said Seth Johnson, a volunteer with the South Gate Community Association.
“Because they are pursuing a navigational dredge instead of stormwater maintenance, they could be completely missing this process that could get a shovel in the creek within a few months, rather than taking delay after delay from going through the federal permit process,” he told WUSF.
Laura Odley spoke at Tuesday's county commission workshop. (1002x497, AR: 2.0160965794768613)
Johnson and another local resident, Laura Odley, a retired environmental scientist, sent their findings to county commissioners this week.
“There exist exemptions specifically for maintenance dredging for the purpose of conveying stormwater,” said Odley, who worked as an environmental scientist with the Southwest Florida Water Management District and later as an environmental consultant pursuing permit applications.
Odley, a resident of Forest Lakes, described herself as a wetlands scientist with 18 years of professional regulatory experience. She urged the county to press the issue further with the Army Corps of Engineers and hire some expert help.
“These exemptions appear to have direct applicability to the upper reaches of Philippi Creek, north of Bee Ridge, which was historically excavated as part of the Fruitville drainage district,” Odley said at Tuesday's meeting.
Odley sent commissioners a packet of information compiled by Johnson, including a “Memorandum of Agreement” between the Army Corps and EPA, which includes a flow chart that explains how maintenance of drainage ditches is exempt from federal permitting.
“It appears that the northern portion of the project could have been reviewed by the Corps as an exempt activity if it had been presented that way. Requests for exemptions are reviewed within 30 days,” Odley wrote.
Odley said she was surprised the county had not hired a consultant or an environmental attorney who does regulatory permitting to coordinate with both the Army Corps and Florida Department of Environmental Protection staff to determine exemption eligibility for stormwater maintenance dredging.
She urged to county to seek such expertise immediately, and if they do, “it's conceivable that the county could find itself in a position to begin maintenance dredging in a few short months,” she concluded.
A view of Phillippi Creek, in Sarasota (4032x3024, AR: 1.3333333333333333)
Public works director Spencer Anderson went on the defensive in a news conference Monday and again at Tuesday’s commission meeting, touting the expertise of his staff and blaming the need for a federal permit from the Army Corps of Engineers, and a lengthy environmental review, for holding up the process of dredging decades of built-up sediment out of Phillippi Creek.
After the emergency permit was denied, Anderson announced last week that the county would go through the regular process for a permit which he said could take six to eight months.
Commissioner Mark Smith asked Anderson about emails he has received from residents, indicating that the issue is “a maintenance dredge,” that “Phillippi Creek is not for navigation, it's for conveyance of storm water, and shouldn't need a permit.”
“We share an equal frustration, if not more so, on our side,” Anderson told the commission.
ALSO READ: Homeowners along Phillippi Creek say Sarasota County must act fast to avoid a repeat of 2024 floods
Anderson said the county told the Army Corps of Engineers, “Hey, this has been done before. Let us go ahead and do it again without an extrapolated permitting process. Their position is that, because it has not been permitted before, we have to go through and get a permit. It's not treated as maintenance until they have a permit that they previously issued to determine it to be maintenance back to that permitted condition. That's why we're having to go through the lengthy process of a standard permit for those areas that have not been permitted before.”
Independent water engineer Steve Suau has already provided the county with an original map and drainage plan from 1929, which could help the county’s attempt to get a permit exemption because it shows they are trying to restore the creek and drainage ditches to their original state. The county also has a detailed survey from 35 years ago, Suau said.
High spots
The county is seeking a permit to dredge 11 spots within about a seven-mile stretch that includes portions of lower Phillippi Creek near Riverbluff Parkway, all the way north to Beneva Road.
The section Odley described as being potentially exempt includes the northern portion of that entire dredging area, with the southern boundary of Bee Ridge Road.
Each dredging spot would be about 50 feet wide. The creek itself is about 150 feet wide in parts, so the project the county is requesting falls far short of a complete dredge of the creek.
Asked for comment, a spokeswoman for the Army Corps of Engineers said in an email that Phillippi Creek does not qualify for the possible exemption cited in the memo.
“The proposed area to dredge is new work. The area has never been previously dredged, and it cannot be considered a maintenance dredge scenario,” said Peggy Bebb, public affairs specialist.
Another reason is that the dredging of Phillippi Creek “requires an authorization under Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 and is not a section 404 regulated project; therefore, the memorandum does not apply to this project,” she added.
“Phillippi Creek is a section 10 navigable water that is subject to the ebb and flow of tides and is considered tidal.”
A map provided by Seth Johnson shows the 11 "high spots" in Phillippi Creek where sediment has built up, and where the county wants to do dredging about 50 feet wide (1128x1784, AR: 0.6322869955156951)
Bebb also pointed out that Sarasota County “underestimated the amount of volume and square foot of dredging required,” which delayed the process by an additional week. A new permit request was filed, and the public comment period now ends on July 28.
The county initially sought to remove “9,480 square feet (35,906 cubic yards) of substrate using a shallow barge,” but the actual figure was almost twice as much. The new permit seeks to “remove 16,848 square feet (63,827 cubic yards) of substrate.”
“We are working to move this permit review quickly through the process. However, it does require us to coordinate with the National Marine Fisheries Service Protected Resource Division on listed species (turtles/smalltooth sawfish),” said Bebb.
Seth Johnson is active in the community and attends regular meetings with stormwater officials (965x527, AR: 1.8311195445920303)
Asked for comment on the Army Corps’ response, Odley said things may have gone differently if the county had a strong legal advocate from the very beginning, but it’s still not too late.
“If the county hasn’t checked with an environmental attorney and consultant yet, it would certainly be beneficial to do so, to complete permitting and plan for future programmatic permitting,” said Odley.
“I just hope the county leaves no stone unturned,” she added.
Its own department
Meanwhile, county commissioners pressed ahead Tuesday to make stormwater its own department, rather than a division inside public works. The county is hiring four new positions, including a director and a senior manager of field services.
“Please hire new blood for both positions,” resident Dave Ochs said during the public comment period.
“Do not hire from within. Hiring from within means hiring someone who is accustomed to a reactive, inefficient, ineffective and even neglectful culture,” he said.
Other speakers echoed those sentiments and criticized Anderson for his approach.
“Spencer's belated solution to the problem is a band-aid, a navigational dredge. What the creek needs is a stormwater drainage maintenance dredge to restore flow and reduce flooding,” said Kristy Molyneaux, whose home flooded in all three storms last year.
She referenced a report by the Florida Trident and Suncoast Searchlight, which said Sarasota County knew as early as August that it could not qualify for an emergency permit, which it applied for anyway in April, and which was rejected in June.
“The county was made aware by the Army Corps of Engineers back in August of the limitations of filing for emergency permits, and yet, Spencer still chose to file the 11 high spots under an emergency permit, causing extra delays. Why would he do that?” Molyneaux asked.
“The time for excuses is over. We need action, expertise and accountability."
Ahead of Tuesday’s county commission workshop, residents affected by Phillippi Creek flooding discovered a memo from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers that appears to show the county could get around the red tape.
“Through our own research and talking to experts, we've found that the county may be exempt from both state and federal permits,” said Seth Johnson, a volunteer with the South Gate Community Association.
“Because they are pursuing a navigational dredge instead of stormwater maintenance, they could be completely missing this process that could get a shovel in the creek within a few months, rather than taking delay after delay from going through the federal permit process,” he told WUSF.
Laura Odley spoke at Tuesday's county commission workshop. (1002x497, AR: 2.0160965794768613)
Johnson and another local resident, Laura Odley, a retired environmental scientist, sent their findings to county commissioners this week.
“There exist exemptions specifically for maintenance dredging for the purpose of conveying stormwater,” said Odley, who worked as an environmental scientist with the Southwest Florida Water Management District and later as an environmental consultant pursuing permit applications.
Odley, a resident of Forest Lakes, described herself as a wetlands scientist with 18 years of professional regulatory experience. She urged the county to press the issue further with the Army Corps of Engineers and hire some expert help.
“These exemptions appear to have direct applicability to the upper reaches of Philippi Creek, north of Bee Ridge, which was historically excavated as part of the Fruitville drainage district,” Odley said at Tuesday's meeting.
Odley sent commissioners a packet of information compiled by Johnson, including a “Memorandum of Agreement” between the Army Corps and EPA, which includes a flow chart that explains how maintenance of drainage ditches is exempt from federal permitting.
“It appears that the northern portion of the project could have been reviewed by the Corps as an exempt activity if it had been presented that way. Requests for exemptions are reviewed within 30 days,” Odley wrote.
Odley said she was surprised the county had not hired a consultant or an environmental attorney who does regulatory permitting to coordinate with both the Army Corps and Florida Department of Environmental Protection staff to determine exemption eligibility for stormwater maintenance dredging.
She urged to county to seek such expertise immediately, and if they do, “it's conceivable that the county could find itself in a position to begin maintenance dredging in a few short months,” she concluded.
A view of Phillippi Creek, in Sarasota (4032x3024, AR: 1.3333333333333333)
Public works director Spencer Anderson went on the defensive in a news conference Monday and again at Tuesday’s commission meeting, touting the expertise of his staff and blaming the need for a federal permit from the Army Corps of Engineers, and a lengthy environmental review, for holding up the process of dredging decades of built-up sediment out of Phillippi Creek.
After the emergency permit was denied, Anderson announced last week that the county would go through the regular process for a permit which he said could take six to eight months.
Commissioner Mark Smith asked Anderson about emails he has received from residents, indicating that the issue is “a maintenance dredge,” that “Phillippi Creek is not for navigation, it's for conveyance of storm water, and shouldn't need a permit.”
“We share an equal frustration, if not more so, on our side,” Anderson told the commission.
ALSO READ: Homeowners along Phillippi Creek say Sarasota County must act fast to avoid a repeat of 2024 floods
Anderson said the county told the Army Corps of Engineers, “Hey, this has been done before. Let us go ahead and do it again without an extrapolated permitting process. Their position is that, because it has not been permitted before, we have to go through and get a permit. It's not treated as maintenance until they have a permit that they previously issued to determine it to be maintenance back to that permitted condition. That's why we're having to go through the lengthy process of a standard permit for those areas that have not been permitted before.”
Independent water engineer Steve Suau has already provided the county with an original map and drainage plan from 1929, which could help the county’s attempt to get a permit exemption because it shows they are trying to restore the creek and drainage ditches to their original state. The county also has a detailed survey from 35 years ago, Suau said.
High spots
The county is seeking a permit to dredge 11 spots within about a seven-mile stretch that includes portions of lower Phillippi Creek near Riverbluff Parkway, all the way north to Beneva Road.
The section Odley described as being potentially exempt includes the northern portion of that entire dredging area, with the southern boundary of Bee Ridge Road.
Each dredging spot would be about 50 feet wide. The creek itself is about 150 feet wide in parts, so the project the county is requesting falls far short of a complete dredge of the creek.
Asked for comment, a spokeswoman for the Army Corps of Engineers said in an email that Phillippi Creek does not qualify for the possible exemption cited in the memo.
“The proposed area to dredge is new work. The area has never been previously dredged, and it cannot be considered a maintenance dredge scenario,” said Peggy Bebb, public affairs specialist.
Another reason is that the dredging of Phillippi Creek “requires an authorization under Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 and is not a section 404 regulated project; therefore, the memorandum does not apply to this project,” she added.
“Phillippi Creek is a section 10 navigable water that is subject to the ebb and flow of tides and is considered tidal.”
A map provided by Seth Johnson shows the 11 "high spots" in Phillippi Creek where sediment has built up, and where the county wants to do dredging about 50 feet wide (1128x1784, AR: 0.6322869955156951)
Bebb also pointed out that Sarasota County “underestimated the amount of volume and square foot of dredging required,” which delayed the process by an additional week. A new permit request was filed, and the public comment period now ends on July 28.
The county initially sought to remove “9,480 square feet (35,906 cubic yards) of substrate using a shallow barge,” but the actual figure was almost twice as much. The new permit seeks to “remove 16,848 square feet (63,827 cubic yards) of substrate.”
“We are working to move this permit review quickly through the process. However, it does require us to coordinate with the National Marine Fisheries Service Protected Resource Division on listed species (turtles/smalltooth sawfish),” said Bebb.
Seth Johnson is active in the community and attends regular meetings with stormwater officials (965x527, AR: 1.8311195445920303)
Asked for comment on the Army Corps’ response, Odley said things may have gone differently if the county had a strong legal advocate from the very beginning, but it’s still not too late.
“If the county hasn’t checked with an environmental attorney and consultant yet, it would certainly be beneficial to do so, to complete permitting and plan for future programmatic permitting,” said Odley.
“I just hope the county leaves no stone unturned,” she added.
Its own department
Meanwhile, county commissioners pressed ahead Tuesday to make stormwater its own department, rather than a division inside public works. The county is hiring four new positions, including a director and a senior manager of field services.
“Please hire new blood for both positions,” resident Dave Ochs said during the public comment period.
“Do not hire from within. Hiring from within means hiring someone who is accustomed to a reactive, inefficient, ineffective and even neglectful culture,” he said.
Other speakers echoed those sentiments and criticized Anderson for his approach.
“Spencer's belated solution to the problem is a band-aid, a navigational dredge. What the creek needs is a stormwater drainage maintenance dredge to restore flow and reduce flooding,” said Kristy Molyneaux, whose home flooded in all three storms last year.
She referenced a report by the Florida Trident and Suncoast Searchlight, which said Sarasota County knew as early as August that it could not qualify for an emergency permit, which it applied for anyway in April, and which was rejected in June.
“The county was made aware by the Army Corps of Engineers back in August of the limitations of filing for emergency permits, and yet, Spencer still chose to file the 11 high spots under an emergency permit, causing extra delays. Why would he do that?” Molyneaux asked.
“The time for excuses is over. We need action, expertise and accountability."