Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/297477
There are some people who think it has gone too far, but I don't think staff believes that. The [final] issue that will move forward is fiscal neutrality. I suspect they'll make some changes. They need a definitive model and rules with some certainty and predictability and a formula that people can look at. You know what disturbs me the most? I don't think it's productive; I don't think it's well mannered. I think it's frankly exactly what we shouldn't be doing: When you stand there and call county commissioners liars, thieves, cheats and crooks, that's not the way citizens are supposed to treat each other. Lost in all the volume and intensity is that a lot of stuff — these developers do pay a lot of impact fees. You hear a lot of people saying, "Well, you know, the people who are already living here bear the burden of bringing that here." Not so. These impact fees on water and wastewater and the user fees are what pay all the bonds that build the sewer plants and water plants. SNL: What would you like to see happen at Warm Mineral Springs? AM: I had a client that owns a big chunk of land, I think 18 acres in total, to the west of it and across the street to the south, and I thought his plan was a good one. What we put forward was: We're not going to touch the [81] acres of the Springs. We're going to take your historic building, clean it up, update it to historical standards. We'll put in a new park- ing lot, just generally upgrade the site. The difficulty was that there are five city commis- sioners and five county commissioners. I was pretty sad when they ended up closing it. My former client is no longer involved. I think they need to keep the [81] acres because it provides a trailhead to the giant county ownership to the north. I never was a fan of building more on the [81] acres. SNL: Suncoast Aquatic Nature Center Associates has been in the news because it briefly lost its ability to solicit donations. Do you still have faith that the organization can effectively manage the new rowing facility? AM: I don't know that much about it, but I know [Suncoast Aquatic President] Paul Blackketter and that's a very, very honorable guy. I think they're absolutely up to managing it, and quite frankly, this whole dust-up about the forms not being filed was an accounting "Oops." It fell through the cracks of getting everything built and up and running. SNL: As someone who's actually worked with the county, how do you respond to complaints that Sarasota County is hostile to new busi- nesses when compared to other counties? AM: I started pulling permits for my restau- rants 30 years ago — I have never come across someone who absolutely had some ideological bent that they did not want what I was doing to go through. It was a process. You need to be ready for the process. You'll never see me be anything but cordial to county employees. Sarasota News Leader April 18, 2014 Page 37