I had the opportunity to watch the video of a recent Sarasota Planning Board meeting.
At the end of the meeting, one of the board members announced that he had not applied to be re-appointed to the board, and he then went on to make some comments to the audience.
I was appalled to hear the departing member proceed to berate the professional city staffers who were appearing before the planning board.
Among other things, the departing member accused city staffers of putting "their fingers on the scale" in the favor of developers.
He also complained that staff members provided reports that were often favorably slanted toward development projects and project applicants.
These statements were outrageous and offensive.
They also reflected the negative,
divisive attitude that continues to pervade our community dialogue.
I am a professional land planner, and I have been practicing in Sarasota since 1980.
Back then, the staff reports for major projects, which were few and far between, were maybe five pages at most.
A city commission meeting never lasted very long.
Downtown was dead at 5 p.m., mostly due to the ongoing work on U.S. 41.
Sarasota's tax base was in the doldrums.
Developers were mostly local property owners who were important people in the community at all levels.
No one ever derided developers because citizens knew the city needed an infusion of financial investment, and the community had respect for those willing to invest.
Since then, a lot has been accomplished: the city has grown significantly – and pretty much according to plan.
In fact, many of those who complain these days live in homes built by the kind of people they love to inveigh against – which shows that, at best, they are misinformed and disingenuous.
Aside from downtown redevelopment, we have seen the ripple effects of Sarasota's renewed livability.
We see it in the increase of property values in city neighborhoods.
We see it in the success of numerous projects, ranging from the development of the Rosemary District to the gradual progress of the Bay Park project.
So a lot of things are happening in Sarasota.
But they are happening in spite of us, because there has been no grand vision or leadership.
A recent panel, selected ostensibly to discuss the downtown Master Plan update process, was riddled with opinions offered by several “experts” who bemoaned Sarasota's state of affairs.
The constant refrain of needing to "address the interests of residents” seems to isolate those interests above those of Sarasota's other various constituents.
They include:
- City property owners.
- Business owners.
- Visitors.
- Developers.
- Nonprofits, social services organizations and other institutions.
- The area's homeless population.
All of these interests and many more also deserve consideration, especially in a tight-knit community like Sarasota.
Yet we have folks in the community who seem to only have an “us vs. them” mentality.
Civic relations are more divisive than ever before.
People act as if property rights are secondary.
They act as if codes and regulations aren’t good enough to “protect” them from the evils they perceive.
They rail against the city commissioners who don’t do their bidding – regardless of what the law actually allows.
And, of course, there are the elected officials who vote to appease potential voters or special interest groups.
Unfortunately, there never seems to be a "middle way" of simply focusing on making things better in our city.
It's time for our elected officials – and for all of us in this great city – to embrace the responsibility of forging a public discourse that is more respectful, understanding and honest.
Bruce E. Franklin is the president of Land Resource Strategies LLC in Sarasota.
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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Let's stop treating Sarasota developers like villains | Opinion
