SARASOTA COUNTY, Fla. — Neighbors are challenging rezoning and development plans going on in northeast Sarasota County.
A hearing started Monday on whether to dial back the zoning changes that allowed Lakewood Ranch to expand from Manatee County into Sarasota County.
The administrative challenge was filed in November by Michael Hutchinson and his wife Eileen Fitzgerald of Keep The Country Inc. They are leading the challenge for the neighbors who say Sarasota County's decision to amend the comprehensive plan for Lakewood Ranch Southeast was unlawful.
The two residents who live in the Bern Creek Ranch community argue that further expansion of Lakewood Ranch into rural Sarasota County will hurt the ecology of the area.
Around October, an amendment to change the development's comprehensive plan to "a village transition zone" made way for developers to expand and add more homes.
Following that was when the county commission approved the construction of 5,000 single-family homes for a development called Lakewood Ranch Southeast as part of that expansion.
Hutchinson said the Northeast corridor of the county was full of various wildlife that would be impacted.
"The amount of species I photographed there is tremendous. From bobcat families to Cara Cara and so forth and so on. I suspect when we put in 5,000 homes there, some of those animals are going to move out," said Hutchinson.
The area in question covers about 4,100 acres in northeast Sarasota County between University Parkway and Fruitville Road.
Residents say inviting such density to the area will not only affect the natural environment but their quality of life.
Hutchinson said it would increase traffic, noise and pollution in the area and change the landscape and horizon with more lights.
"Right now, Lakewood Ranch dominates the northwest sky at night. Now, they'll move it to the east as well, which is the best dark sky we have because Sarasota is to the west," he said.
At the hearing before a county administrative judge, representatives from all sides, including attorneys and planning staff, were present to discuss the issues.
A county spokesperson said no official statement could be made yet due to this being an active litigation.
The neighbors said they hope for a ruling in their favor to help stave off what they call another example of urban encroachment in the area.
"It's going to change the whole character of the area, impact us in quite a different way. I don't feel most of the rural residents feel we have been listened to," said Hutchinson.
The hearing is expected to last through the week after which the judge will take a few more days to review the case before deciding.