Sarasota County commissioners are putting farm life under needless threat | SEIDMAN SAYS

Colleen Blumenthal says her husband, Mitch, was “a flower child wannabe” from New York when the couple bought a 10-acre former blueberry farm north of Fruitville Road and east of Interstate 75 in 1995.

Since then Blumenberry Farms — which produces 80 different kinds of organic fruits and vegetables for local businesses, restaurants and a community supported agriculture program — has been at best a break-even operation.

“We really view ourselves as a kind of community resource,” says Colleen Blumenthal, who hosts local children year around so they can “see where their food really comes from” and wander amidst the farm’s free-range chickens and ducks.

Blumenthal adds that the farm "is not a money-making venture, but we love the mission. Anything that increases our challenges just makes it more difficult to justify continuing.”

At the moment these challenges include not only the aftereffects of Hurricane Ian which, thanks to the bordering wetlands, flooded acres of newly planted crops, but also the threat of a zoning amendment the Sarasota County Commission will vote on next week (CPA 2022-F) that would permit a light industrial “Business Park” overlay along Lorraine Road north of Fruitville Road and south of Clarke Road.

The Blumenthals fear potential water runoff and air and noise pollution from the overlay, which excludes heavy industrial use but does not rule out the possibility of “limited commercial services,” could jeopardize the farm’s organic certification. The zoning change would require a mere 50-foot greenbelt “buffer” between neighboring properties.

“The county can draw whatever line they like on a map, but Mother Nature is Mother Nature,” says Colleen Blumenthal, who worries that even with the costly additional soil and water testing they can ill afford that would likely be necessary, the farm’s organic recertification could be rejected.

This comes at a time when local and organic food production has already been under pressure from development and the economy. Mitch Blumenthal recently sold the organic distribution company he created to collaborate with other small farms – now only one other organic farm, DeSoto Lakes/Jessica’s Organics, remains in the county.

Colleen Blumenthal says she's puzzled why the county would pursue this proposal "especially now, when our local organic food supply is so fragile. It will reduce supply, increase prices and create a larger carbon footprint.”

Residents in the neighboring Lakewood Ranch developments of Waterside and Shoreview – who also access their homes from Lorraine Road – unanimously object to the overlay, which they believe would increase traffic and fundamentally change the rural nature of their surroundings.

“We moved here to get away from high-density and commercial (areas),” says Stanley Morrow, a Shoreview resident since 2019. “And we came with the expectation the area would remain residential.”

In April, the county commission adopted a “Business Park” zoning designation that could be applied to parcels of 10 acres or more that front on two sections of Lorraine Road – on the north from University Parkway to Fruitville Road and to the south from Clarke Road to State Route 681 – to “provide economic development and employment opportunities.”

After the Planning Board recommended by a 6-1 vote to deny approval and more than 20 residents voiced their opposition during public comment at an Aug. 30 meeting, the county commissioners eliminated the area north of Blue Lake Road to University Parkway but retained the 1.4-mile segment from Blue Lake Road to Fruitville Road.

On a 3-1 vote – with Nancy Detert declining and Mike Moran, this district’s representative, absent – the commission moved the amendment forward for state approval, which it subsequently received.

Commissioner Al Maio argued the overlay will spur jobs and economic activity, and he envisioned enclosed office parks with minimal impact to neighbors. But use is not limited to that tidy vision, and it could include, for example, a distribution center with 24-hour activity.

During the Aug. 30 meeting, only two people spoke in favor of the change: developer Jack Cox – who owns all but two of the parcels eligible for the designation on the northern segment – and Joe Hembree, chair of the Sarasota County Economic Development Corp., who owns a commercial real estate business that has done business with Cox.

Left unconsidered, however, was that fact that in July commissioners approved a Comprehensive Plan Amendment opening up nearly 16 miles of arterial road frontage within the county as potential “business park corridors,” including areas along Fruitville and Bee Ridge roads in the north county, Honore Road mid-county and River Road in south county.

In light of these “ample” alternatives for commercial development, the segment of the overlay that would affect Blumenberry Farms and its neighbors seems superfluous, says resident David Fink.

“Ultimately, the benefit is negligible compared to the impact on the surrounding parcels,” says Fink, who moved just outside what was then the rural boundary of the county’s 2050 plan in 2014, before Lorraine Road even existed.

Fink adds that "there is just no need to include this stretch when, within three or four miles, there are countless other locations that could fulfill the same purpose.”

The commissioners made a wise choice when they previously eliminated the overlay segment north from Blue Lake Road to University Parkway. In doing so, the commissioners recognized the need for balance and transition between commercial and residential interests.

Now the commissioners would do well to eliminate this remaining northern section as well. They would not only serve the interest of retaining a health- and community-conscious business like Blumenberry Farms – they would also promote the serenity and harmony of hundreds of homeowners over the interests of a single individual with opportunities elsewhere.

Contact Carrie Seidman at carrie.seidman@gmail.com or 505-238-0392.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Farm life in Sarasota County should be protected, not threatened