Planning Commission OKs Osprey development

Some residents near the future Palms at Casey Key development in Osprey are worried about potential traffic effects the 31-home community will bring.

The single-family housing development will sit on a 9.77-acre parcel near the intersection of Old Venice Road and Blackburn Point Road. The homes will sell at around $350,000 each; Ryland Homes Inc. is the developer.

At the Nov. 6 Sarasota Planning Commission meeting, the increased density immediately got the attention of Commissioner Michael Beaumier, who lives in the Rivendell community next to the parcel. He was not reassured that the roads in the area were prepared to take on more traffic.

“It’s a congestion issue in the morning,” he said.

A traffic study completed in January stated there would be no significant impact to the traffic at the intersection. However, Beaumier disagreed.

“What the traffic study says and what we live with every day is not the same thing,” he said.

When it came to a vote, Beaumier said aye, but strongly suggested the traffic situation needed to be looked into further as the development continued.

Tony Nacinovich, a 10-year resident of Willowbend, said he first learned of the development earlier in the year, when he received a letter from Vision Planning in the mail. The letter was notice of a March neighborhood workshop about the Palms at Casey Key. Vision Planning is a private business that aids clients in proposing amendments, rezone requests and special exceptions to local government bodies.
The Palms at Casey Key’s original proposal wanted to change the parcel from open use estate to RSF-4 (5.5 units per acre). The surrounding residential neighborhoods are zoned RSF-2 (3.5 units per acre), in comparison.

Nacinovich, with the support of the Willowbend Community Association Board, collected 175 signatures to oppose the zoning of the development.

“The area is housing-saturated,” he said. “Additional housing will overtax resources and diminish our quality of life.”

Nacinovich echoed Beaumier’s misgivings about the intersection being able to accommodate a new development, saying that it is well traveled and can get backed up a quarter-mile at 7 a.m.

Nacinovich approached the planning department with the community’s concerns and the signatures — and succeeded.

The rezoning request was altered to RSF-2.

“It went from high-density to one contiguous and complementary to what is already here,” Nacinovich said.

Nacinovich was pleased that the community was able to unite and persuade the county’s planning department to modify the development to match the surrounding residential areas.

“This was a perfect example of how a community can make its voice heard in an environment prone to aggressive development,” he said.

Nacinovich still doesn’t quite understand the thinking behind the name of the development, though.

“We’re nowhere near Casey Key,” he said.

The Vote
The Sarasota County Planning Commission voted 5-1 Nov. 6 to approve a 31-home development, named the Palms at Casey Key, in Osprey. Chair Robert Morris, John Ask, Michael Beaumier, Jack Bispham and Philip Kellogg voted to approve; Michael Moran, vice chairman, was the dissenting vote.

“I’m not fully comfortable with this project. I think it could have come to us with a lot more detail,” Moran said.

Beaumier had some reservations about the development, despite voting yes.

“I know Old Venice; I highly recommend that a conversation is had that the developer look at Old Venice,” he said. “Not putting in a turn lane will affect the development.”