Bee Ridge Road residents sue Sarasota County over school's special zoning exception
When Brenda Stocks’ husband retired, they were ready to move out of the chilly Connecticut winters and onto sunnier skies. They sought the best of both worlds: the convenience of waterfront access without the commotion of downtown living.
They moved into Heritage Oaks in 2015, a gated golf and country club on Lorraine Road.
“It’s always been very peaceful, and we’re surrounded by nature,” she said. “We purchased our home with the expectation that it would be our forever home.”
Save for Sunday services at the nearby Grace Community Church, Stocks and her neighbors lived in quiet bliss.
A decision from Sarasota County commissioners could change that.
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The board approved a special zoning exception to the private K-12 school The Classical Academy Sarasota in July. The school aims to bring more than 1,300 students across the 41-acre campus at 8000 Bee Ridge Road, and nearby residents fear excessive noise, traffic, and construction will come with them.
Stocks, who lives 750 feet away from the proposed campus, first learned of the school’s application in January, when she received notice of an upcoming neighborhood workshop.
The proposal caught her neighbors by surprise, and many protested the school’s construction at subsequent meetings and in writing.
“When we realized what was actually happening, it was like, ‘Wait a minute, we didn’t sign up for this one,’” Stocks said.
Commissioners approved the application unanimously after almost three hours of presentation and comments. It’s a move Stocks and other opponents say ignored due process for granting a special exception to a zoning applicant.
Opposition to the decision from Sarasota East Enders for Responsible Development — an advocacy group comprised of residents on Sarasota’s east side — was so strong that Stocks and other members filed a lawsuit against Sarasota County and The Classical Academy in August. It’s now in the 12th Judicial Circuit Court awaiting a judge to order the involved parties to show cause, allowing a response time and kickstarting litigation.
Lawsuit alleges Sarasota County unlawfully granted special exception, neglected resident concerns
The lawsuit alleges Sarasota County "departed from the essential requirements of the law” in granting the exception — approving the application despite its failure to demonstrate the school “would promote the public health, safety, welfare, morals, order, comfort, convenience, prosperity or the general welfare” of the area, as county code requires of a special exception applicant.
Sarasota County declined to comment, citing the pending legislation.
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Between a neighborhood workshop Feb. 6., a Sarasota County Planning Commission meeting June 15, and the board of commissioners meeting that saw the plan approved, the county heard upwards of 100 comments in opposition to the school. Members of SEERD and other opponents feel their protest fell on deaf ears.
Miles Toder, vice president of SEERD, has more than 35 years of experience in urban planning, and he’s seen counties grapple with land use applications before. The Sarasota County commission's was the most cavalier about the approval of any he’d experienced.
“I’ve never seen where a public body isn’t interested in mitigating the negative impacts of land use,” Toder said. "The county commission just wasn’t interested in any of that.”
What is The Classical Academy?
The Classical Academy operates at 8751 Fruitville Road and serves around 750 students. The school is part of a network of private and charter schools across the country that have modeled curriculums after the conservative, Christian Hillsdale College.
Founder and headmaster Josh Longenecker opened The Classical Academy of Sarasota in 2014 with 187 students, and the school has since grown and received accreditation. It plans to relocate to the Bee Ridge Road location in hopes of expanding its student body to 1,310 by 2027, according to its development application.
The special exception allows the school to operate in an area zoned as an open-use estate district: a designation reserved primarily for agricultural and residential areas. The site currently houses Grace Community Church and Lakeside Academy and Preschool, and the school will move students to the new campus in phases, per the application.
This year, 300 high school students will attend the first phase. In its second, the school will install another gated access point in addition to the one-off Bee Ridge Road, per the site plan. A potential roundabout at the Bee Ridge entrance is also included in the construction plans.
The complete site plan includes six two-story classroom buildings, athletic fields, and parking lots across the 41 acres.
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It is unknown how many students currently attend, though around 40 modular buildings are scattered across the property to accommodate them, and construction on the second gated access point has not begun. Students currently attend classes in these modular buildings and in the existing buildings on the site.
The Classical Academy declined to share attendance, citing security concerns.
Residents argue school doesn't fit in the area
Many parents and students — about as many as those in opposition — spoke in support of it at county meetings. With its high-caliber education and thriving parent and student network, supporters said the school would add value to the area.
“Schools have always been an integral part of neighborhoods,” Longenecker (did I miss the first reference?) wrote in an email. “We appreciate that the commissioners agree.”
Commissioners cited the quality of the school in their decision, commending its exemplary students and tight-knit community. They agreed The Classical Academy would add value to the area.
The school itself isn’t the issue, residents argue. It's noise, lights, activity, they say — football games, school dismissal, children in their backyards.
“I have nothing against the school or education,” Stocks said. “What I am against is the way they went about just barging into our neighborhood with no regard, and the commissioners just rubber-stamped each other.”
The application material includes a traffic study from Stantec Consulting Services, an environmental study from Kimley-Horn and Associates, and other corresponding documents. It concludes the school is consistent with the goals and standards of the area and that the potential impacts aren’t excessive.
To mitigate noise and light impacts, the school will not include an outdoor announcement or bell system and will conclude all athletic events by 10 p.m.
But the impact analysis failed to provide proper evidence that the school would produce minimal effects on traffic, noise, and activity, said Jane Graham, the attorney representing SEERD. The studies, she believes, lacked competent substantial evidence: a legal baseline that says the evidence provided is adequate in supporting a conclusion
“In this case, they really only provided conclusory discussion,” Graham said. “Case law says if you have an expert and they say something conclusory or unsupported by actual evidence, well that’s not competent substantial evidence.”
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County code requires special exception applicants to prove that noise from the proposed development “will not be injurious to the neighborhood.” But noise from school grounds during curricular and extracurricular activities is exempt from noise provisions in county guidelines, per the code.
The noise ordinance exempts many school events like those at TCA from being enforced by the county, Graham said. And, she said, it renders residents powerless to protest potential excessive noise from the school via the county’s code enforcement process.
“Noise impacts to the community should’ve been analyzed and fully discussed before it was ever voted on,” Graham said.
With students already attending and construction on the horizon, nearby residents are doubtful that an appeals court will scrap the school entirely. But they hope the court will order the commission to take another look at The Classical Academy’s application, possibly spurring further meetings and another vote down the line.
Stocks understands development is a sign of the times, she said, but the case is a matter of principle.
“If you honestly think you have been wronged, and we do, then you stand up and fight for what you believe is right,” Stocks said. “I believe that The Classical Academy does not belong where it is.”
Contact Herald-Tribune Growth and Development Reporter Heather Bushman at hbushman@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @hmb_1013.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Lawsuit argues school zoning exception was unlawful
