Sarasota couple fights to protect rural neighborhood from nearby development

Share
Stack of "Keep the Country...Country" signs in Sarasota // Credit: "Keep the Country Country" Facebook July 2022

Listen:

A couple is fighting a plan for thousands of new homes near their rural northeastern Sarasota County neighborhood. The couple has taken legal action and is awaiting a decision from the courts.

Michael Hutchinson lives in northeastern Sarasota County. His calm, rural neighborhood has horses, very little traffic, and an overall slow pace. But he fears new developments not far away may threaten what makes the area unique.

“We’re really nervous that when this comes in, it will change everything for us.”

Sarasota County Commissioners approved Lakewood Ranch to build a community of up to 5,000 homes on 4100 acres near the neighborhood.

So Hutchinson, and his wife, Eileen Fitzgerald, sued Sarasota County.

He says the fight has been happening since last February when Lakewood Ranch presented the idea to county commissioners.

“It’s a different lifestyle living on five-, ten-acre parcels. It’s different for a lot of different reasons. A lot of the homeowners that have that property have it for horses. They’re into horses one way or another.”

A ruling is expected this month.

Leave a Reply

  • (will not be published)

XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

You may also like

Tampa Democrat Kathy Castor, others craft bill to limit Elon Musk’s access to treasury info

Listen: Democratic Congress member Kathy Castor is raising concerns about...

Springs and natural shoreline restoration with Tom Ries

Join Anni Ellis on this week's Sustainable Living Show as...

The Scoop: Mon. Feb. 10, 2025, Tampa Bay and Florida headlines by WMNF

Roundup of WMNF news headlines including Pinellas County elections, Citizens...

Tampa celebrates Black love and Blerds

Frank Crum from the city of Tampa makes his annual...

Ways to listen

WMNF is listener-supported. That means we don't advertise like a commercial station, and we're not part of a university.

Ways to support

WMNF volunteers have fun providing a variety of needed services to keep your community radio station alive and kickin'.

Mo' Blues Monday
Player position: