The quick, surprise vote at the end of the Commissioners’
Citizens still held out hope that the City Commissioners would make an enlightened decision, voting for the future of Sarasota and its Green Space but the speed of the vote made it obvious that the only goal was to make a decision as quickly and easily as possible and be done with it.
The irony of this situation is that the disheartening vote came close on the heels of Sarasota earning the esteemed designation as a "Preserve America Community”.
What a great opportunity this would have been to demonstrate how the city's governing bodies, the City Commissioners and the School Board could work together for the best long term interests of Sarasota and yet we believe, that it was the blatant disconnect between these very agencies that was behind such an environmentally caustic vote.
We believe that it is improper for government to use city lands for any purpose other than what was intended and yet the Commissioners deliberately ignored an ordinance stating that Luke Wood Park was to be used as a park and was not to house buildings of any kind on the land.
The New Urbanism, which Sarasota embraces, seeks to limit the human footprint. The vote by City Commissioners to put the Lift Station in the middle of open park space does just the opposite. It is expanding our human impact, rather than diminishing it!
This was a chance to demonstrate what a progressive, environmentally savvy city looks like.
Instead, representatives of Sarasota “traded Green Space for sewage space” choosing to ruin valuable park land at the very gateway to our beautiful city.
It is a very devastating decision that will have long term consequences. If the City Council is not willing to protect our parks and Green Space, then who will!
