E A ST COUNTY

Observer
Lakewood Ranchs weekly newspaper since 1998

YOU. YOUR NEIGHBORS. YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.

VOLUME 18, NO. 4

On course to a
brighter future

FREE THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2015

YOUR TOWN

Gullett Principal Dr. Shirin

Gibson catches up on some
emails with her protege,
Sunny Dwizinski.

New owners of the

Legacy Golf Club, its
fourth set since 2009,
say personal attention
will lead to success.

Recess for
everyone
Walkie talkie in hand and a
smile on her face, fifth-grader Sunny Dwizinski proudly
walked through the hallway
of her school, B.D. Gullett
Elementary.
Dwizinski was principal
for a day Monday, and she
quickly adjusted to her temporary role.
Its pretty awesome,
Dwizinski said, smiling. I
have a walkie talkie and
keys. My friends think its
pretty cool, too.
Principal Dr. Shirin Gibson
coached Dwizinski through
an administrators daily
routine of checking classes,
helping in the cafeteria and
giving out Gator Bait, tickets
for students who exhibit
good behavior.
Her mother won the position for her by bidding the
most money, $250, at an
annual fundraiser for the
school in September.

JAY HEATER
MANAGING EDITOR

SEE PAGE 8A

BLACK
Christmas in
Candyland
INSIDE

TIE

Jay Heater

New owner Jon Whittemore reads a plaque dedicated to course designer Arnold Palmer at Legacy Golf Club
of Lakewood Ranch.

Cow kissin

Whole Foods project

may get bogged down
Sarasota County
staff recommends
preserving the
wetlands at the
proposed site for
University Station.

JACK SHORT

U NIVERSIT Y PK W Y.

STAFF WRITER

planned development
that would bring a Whole
Foods Market and a Wawa
to the corner of University Parkway and Honore Avenue
faces a challenge: 4.5 acres of land
needed for the development sit on
protected wetlands.
A report prepared by Sarasota County noted the resulting
impact to wetlands would violate the countys comprehensive

Proposed
development

HONORE

s Jon Whittemore drove

along one of the fairways of the Legacy
Golf Club at Lakewood
Ranch, he noticed that
somebody had used
that particular spot as a personal
driving range, perhaps by sneaking on just before darkness.
Whittemore pulled up his golf
cart and dug into a bucket that
contained a mixture of dirt, fertilizer and grass seed used to
repair divots. He started filling
the craters one by one.
The day before, Whittemore
borrowed an F-150 pickup and
collected some dryers from the
appliance store. He delivered
them, and hooked them up at the
golf course, his bashed knuckles
proving that the process involved
a bit of aggravation.
If Whittemore was a golf course
superintendent, his actions
wouldnt raise an eyebrow.
But he owns the place.

Scared of snakes?
Call Frank Gamsky.
PAGE 10A

Target

Mall
at UTC

75

plan, which guides land use and

development in Sarasota County.
The county report recommended
SEE PAGE 5A

Scot Boice, the Nolan

Middle School principal, has
a new girlfriend.
On Monday, Boice planted
a smooch on Cammie, a
4-month-old calf, because
his students collected 2,882
cans of food in November
for the Salvation Army.
Boices kiss was the grand
finale as a different faculty
member kissed a cow or
pig housed at the school
for each 250-can milestone
reached.
Students giggled as Boice
kissed Cammie three times.
His secret to overlooking
Cammies bad breath? Two
peppermints before the kiss.
I cant recall ever kissing
a cow before, Boice said.

EAST COUNTY OBSERVER

YourObserver.com

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2015

5A

Developer proposes land swap

FROM PAGE 1A

its planning commission, which

meets Thursday, Dec. 17, require
preservation of those areas.
The planning commission is
scheduled to consider a request
from University Honore LLC, to
remove protected wetlands on the
eight-acre parcel to make way for
University Station, which would
include a 41,000-square-foot
grocery store, a 6,100-squarefoot convenience store and
approximately 11,800 square feet
of retail, including an unnamed
restaurant.
According to the county report,
the majority of the impact would
be located in a 3.3-acre native
habitat preserve area, created
as part of the 2004 site plan for
the University Parkway Business
Park. Those site plans are considered binding and require Sarasota
County commissioners approval
to change.
Jeff Garrison, a partner at
Atlanta-based SJ Collins, said that
in return for the right to develop
the parcel, University Honore has
purchased an estimated $1.5 million worth of property surrounded by the 145-acre Rye Preserve in
Manatee County that will be protected in perpetuity. That property is approximately six miles from
the proposed development site,
though water collected at both
sites drains into the same body of
water, Cooper Creek.
The county report said the wetlands removal is inconsistent
with parts of the comprehensive
plan that require wetlands be
preserved except in cases where

HISTORY
In addition to numerous
rezones, all of which maintained the preserved wetlands area, the parcel has
been the subject of a lawsuit
in the past.
In 1999, a former owner,
State Sen. John McKay, sued
the county over the right to
develop the property, but
the 12th Circuit Court ruled
in favor of the county and
its determination that the
wetlands there should be
maintained as a preserve.

they no longer fulfill their ecological functions or no reasonable

alternative exists. The report also
states isolated habitats such as
this one, within urban environments, are becoming increasingly
important to wildlife. According
to the staff report, the applicant
and county staff both agree the
wetlands exhibit good functionality.
According to the staff report,
the applicant stated there is no
reasonable alternative that would
avoid or sustainably preserve any
portion of the on-site wetlands
while accommodating a much
needed grocery anchor for (this
site).
Garrison said wetlands on the
parcel are degenerating quickly
because of how development
and the expansion of University
Parkway and Honore Avenue have
encroached on them.

Courtesy rendering

Every time development happens, the ecological benefits of

(those) wetlands (are) degraded,
Garrison said. The ecological
benefit is near zero.
Matt Osterhoudt, senior manager for Development Services
and Environmental Protection in
the countys Planning and Development Services, deferred questions about developments effects
on wetlands to the report until
Thursdays meeting.
We anticipate that the planning commission and county
commissioners will have questions about wetlands and the

mitigation proposal, and staff

will be prepared to answer those
questions during hearings.
Garrison said the project has
the support of Southwest Florida
Water Management District and
the United States Army Corps of
Engineers, and that he expects
those agencies will issue permits
soon.
They agree this is an environmental positive, he said. This is
in the same watershed. Functionally its the same.
Garrison also noted what he
said was overwhelming community support.

Weve been working with the

community for year and a half, he
said. A lot of the people whove
had trouble with the project, we
met with them probably a dozen
times. They are vocal supporters
now.
Brightwork principal Henry
Hilsman, who is listed as the
applicant on the rezone petition and who Garrison said is his
companys contact for Wawas
project, declined to comment.
The item is scheduled to go
before county commissioners
Jan. 26.