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MYAKKA CITY RESIDENTS ALARMED BY CREEPING DEVELOPMENT GETTING ‘OUT OF HAND’
FROM BRADENTON HERALD
Residents and officials who oversee the Myakka River are worried about the impacts of development inching closer to one of the region’s final frontiers. Some Myakka City residents are worried about growth threatening the rural way of life that many moved there to pursue, and the Myakka River Management Coordinating Council said increased buffers are warranted. However, with Senate Bill 180’s restrictive language, there isn’t much county officials can do to limit nearby development. Those who live closest to the Myakka River and the state park say it’s crucial that the county preserves the area from development impacts.
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HOW THE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN AFFECTS FLORIDA NATIONAL PARKS
FROM TAMPA BAY TIMES
The last time the government shut down, most national parks remained open. With the government officially shuttered starting Wednesday amid congressional squabbling over health care spending, President Donald Trump’s National Park Service is running back the same game plan. That means Florida’s 11 national parks, preserves, seashores, memorials and monuments will largely remain open, according to a National Park Service contingency plan published in September. “Staffing will be held to the amount needed for the protection of life, property, and public health and safety, and will be based on the assumption that the NPS (National Park Service) is conducting no park operations and providing no visitor services,” the memo reads. It stresses that “Park roads, lookouts, trails, and open-air memorials will generally remain accessible to visitors.”
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25 CITIES AND COUNTIES, INCLUDING MANATEE, ARE SUING THE STATE OVER A NEW GROWTH LAW
FROM WUSF
Twenty-five cities and counties filed a lawsuit Monday challenging a new state law that blocks local governments from approving "more restrictive or burdensome" changes to growth plans for the next two years. The challenge, filed in Leon County circuit court, contends that the law (SB 180) effectively freezes all local land-development regulations and comprehensive plans through Oct. 1, 2027, violates home-rule authority and, using “ambiguous and vague” preemption language, strips the ability of cities and counties to manage their growth. The changes took effect June 26, when Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the law, and are retroactive to Aug. 1, 2024.
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EROSION OF HOME RULE: 'WE CRY A LOT'
FROM VENICE GONDOLIER
As the state Legislature continues to take power away from local government, it’s having a negative impact on Venice and Sarasota County, according to the two day-to-day leaders of those municipalities. Venice City Manager James Clinch and Sarasota County Administrator Jonathan Lewis spoke Friday morning to attendees at Friday’s Coffee & Conversation at the Venice Area Chamber of Commerce. Asked how local governments react to the erosion of home rule power by the state Legislature, Lewis said, “We cry a lot.” Authority that cities and counties had as recently as 15 years ago has been taken away, he said. Just this year, Senate Bill 180 was passed and signed, extending a restriction on local governments that precludes them from adopting stricter land-use rules. Because of it, Lewis said, he delayed a county study of impact fees. That might not be what the Legislature intended, he said, “but it is the ramification.”
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SARASOTA COUNTY APPROVES $2.52B BUDGET, WITH BOOSTS FOR STORMWATER AND SHERIFF
FROM SARASOTA HERALD-TRIBUNE
Sarasota County Commissioners have approved a $2.52 billion total budget, a 73% increase in spending from just three years ago, as property tax revenues have soared. Commissioner Tom Knight was the only commissioner to oppose the budget in a roll call vote. County Commission Chair Joe Neunder and Commissioners Teresa Mark and Mark Smith voted in favor. Commissioner Ron Cutsinger was not in attendance. “The budget, to me, is increasing rapidly, and it has my concern,” Knight said. “The sheriff's office budget is increasing rapidly – again." The commissioner said his most important gripe was the $23 million being drawn from county reserves to supplement the annual budget.
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FLORIDA'S MID-CYCLE REDISTRICTING, EXPLAINED
FROM SARASOTA MAGAZINE
Sarasota Magazine sat down with New College political scientist Frank Alcock to discuss Florida’s unusual mid-decade redistricting effort, led by Governor Ron DeSantis and legislative allies, which he warns could erode public confidence in elections by allowing the party in power to redraw congressional boundaries whenever it chooses. Normally reserved for once-a-decade adjustments after the census, this round of redistricting lacks new population data and appears to conflict with the state’s 2010 Fair Districts amendments designed to prevent partisan gerrymandering. Alcock emphasized the broader risks to constitutional norms and voter trust, while groups such as the League of Women Voters of Sarasota County are already preparing legal opposition ahead of the next legislative session.
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IN MANATEE COUNTY, A WOMAN BATTLING HEALTH ISSUES PLEADS FOR HUSBAND'S RELEASE FROM ICE
FROM WUSF
Community organizers and church members gathered at the Church of the Trinity MCC in Manatee County last week to call for the release of Eddy Macario. The husband and father of two was stopped by police on May 27 and later transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to his wife, Benita Cantero. He's now being held at the Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach. Cantero said her husband has no criminal record in the U.S. and made a living painting houses. He was on his way to work in Port Charlotte when police stopped him for a minor traffic infraction, Cantero said. "They asked for bail, but they said that after paying the bail, they would call immigration to pick him up," she said in Spanish through a translator.
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FLORIDA BUYS 2,500 ACRES TO PROTECT MANATEE DRINKING WATER FROM DEVELOPMENT
FROM BRADENTON HERALD
A 2,500-acre land purchase approved by state leaders on Tuesday will help protect an important drinking water source for Manatee County and Southwest Florida, conservationists say. The ranchlands sit on over six miles of Oak Creek, a tributary of the Peace River and a major drinking water source for Southwest Florida, providing around 26 million gallons per day to nearly 1 million people, according to the Peace River Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority. The state agriculture department’s Rural and Family Lands Program will pay $9.4 million for a conservation easement on 2,559 acres of Bentley Ranch in southeastern Hardee County, according to public records. In a conservation easement, a landowner continues to live and work on the land but permanently gives up the right to develop it, leaving it in a semi-natural state. The purchase will also add a missing piece to the Florida Wildlife Corridor.
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STATE TROOPER VS HOA: TUSSLE OVER PARKING PATROL CAR OVERNIGHT TESTS STATE LAW
FROM ORLANDO SENTINEL
A heated confrontation in Orlando over an FHP patrol car’s parking space has moved beyond the usual tension between residents and homeowner associations — it’s become a test case for a state law giving first responders a sweeping exemption from HOA rules. Florida Highway Patrol trooper Eduardo Hernandez said he was told when he rented his home that he could park his cruiser in the guest parking at the Carter Glen neighborhood clubhouse. But then the homeowners association disagreed, saying the rules prohibited him from parking it there overnight. Hernandez countered that a state law signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2020 says HOAs may not prohibit first responders from parking their clearly marked vehicle wherever parking is allowed within the community. That exemption includes owners, tenants, and guests.
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MAIN STREET VISION PITS WALKABILITY AGAINST PARKING
FROM SARASOTA OBSERVER
Visioning for a reimagined Main Street is now complete, and thanks to a 4-1 vote of the Sarasota City Commission on Sept. 2, design and engineering can begin. Citing concerns expressed by downtown merchants over sacrificing perhaps upwards of 100 angle parking spaces in order to enhance the downtown pedestrian experience, Commissioner Jen Ahearn-Koch was the lone dissenting vote to send the community vision for Main Street to the planning and design phase with land use firm Kimley-Horn. The presentation of the visioning phase for the 1.2-mile project between U.S. 41 and School Avenue was the culmination of a year of public engagement to gather feedback via the project website, door-to-door canvassing of businesses, mapping, surveys, social media, tables at public events, workshops, open houses, stakeholder meetings and two surveys.
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AN UNINSURED FLORIDA MOM FELL FROM THE 4TH FLOOR. WILL SHE EVER WALK AGAIN?
FROM TAMPA BAY TIMES
A paramedic found Kristina Andrews face down on the sidewalk. The screen on the fourth floor balcony above her was torn. The fall slammed her body into the concrete at about 50 mph, cracking ribs, snapping her shoulder, hip and pelvis bones, twisting her spine and neck. The last thing Andrews recalled was standing on an end table to hang a lantern. She came to at Tampa General Hospital days later, a hospital chaplain by her bed. Your chances aren’t very good, he told her. This might be a good time to reach out to loved ones.
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