arasota County sued over efforts to block Live Local projects
By Derek Gilliam, Suncoast Searchlight
Sarasota County's attempt to stop thousands of apartments from being built in rural communities is now facing the legal challenge the county attorney warned was likely all along.
Two developers and a church have sued the county after commissioners voted in April to block six of the seven projects proposed under Florida's controversial Live Local Act, setting up a court battle that could determine whether local governments have the power to keep the state's affordable-housing law from reshaping agricultural and open-use land.
The lawsuits come amid a rush of new Live Local applications before a July 1 deadline, after which new state restrictions will make it more difficult to build apartment complexes on rural land. The new applications — including one by D.R. Horton to build near Celery Fields — would add more than 2,300 apartments and push the number of units caught in the dispute past 5,000 rentals.
Under an amendment approved by state lawmakers this year, projects submitted before that deadline can be reviewed under the previous version of the law, creating a narrow window for developers seeking to pursue rural projects.
County Attorney Joshua Moye warned of an “uphill battle” in court when county commissioners unanimously voted to halt Live Local projects in these low-density zones.
That legal challenge has now arrived.
An attorney for the developers pointed to Moye’s interpretation in an interview with Suncoast Searchlight, accusing commissioners of “knowingly weaponizing governmental power” with the “stated intent to intimidate developers.”
“My client will not back down,” said Christopher Oprison, an attorney representing SITC Inc., a company controlled by Halfacre Construction president Jack Cox. “He will not be pushed around by this county commission.”
If Sarasota County loses, sprawling apartment complexes could move forward in areas where development historically has been limited to rural neighborhoods and farms. If it wins, the decision could become a blueprint for other local governments seeking to resist one of Florida’s most consequential growth laws.
Oprison specifically targeted commissioners Tom Knight and Joe Neunder for comments made in April.
Oprison told Suncoast Searchlight both made comments that were intended to "deter and intimidate developers from pursuing their legal rights.”
Both Knight and Neunder declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.
“I would love to comment, but I just can’t this time,” Knight told Suncoast Searchlight.
Sarasota County also would not comment on the litigation. But the county responded to the first of the suits in court this week, asking the judge to dismiss the complaint.
The county will also respond to the other suit in the coming days unless otherwise directed by commissioners, according to a county memo Suncoast Searchlight obtained through a public records request.
Deputy County Attorney David Pearce argued in the 34-page court filing the statute excludes open-use districts from Live Local because those zoning categories aren’t primarily “zoned for commercial, industrial or mixed-use” projects.
“The mere presence of certain limited, compatibility-based nonresidential uses does not transform the Open Use Estate zoning district into an area zoned for commercial industrial, or mixed use,” Pearce wrote.
Developers have argued their Live Local projects require only administrative approval — and elected officials should not interfere — if any commercial uses are allowed in the zoning district.
In Sarasota, developers point to commercial activity like veterinarian clinics and plant nurseries that are allowed in these rural neighborhoods.
If the county loses in court, the planning department would have to continue to process the projects blocked earlier this year and any additional projects that submit before the law’s deadline.
Critics fear the county will not be able to build infrastructure fast enough to keep up.
“The proposed Live Local developments would place substantial pressure on rural roads and infrastructure that were not designed to accommodate this scale of development,” said Lisa Miller, who lives next to one of the projects suing Sarasota County.
A rush of new projects
Moye warned that a strict reading of the law would appear to allow projects deep into rural areas of Sarasota County.
During the legislative session this year, lawmakers updated Live Local with language aimed to protect these neighborhoods from massive new developments that could reshape their rural character.
Those amendments are now headed to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ desk for a signature.
But it left a window open for developers who submit plans by July 1 to use the 2025 version of the law — when developers argued that rural and agricultural zones were still under consideration.
The countdown to that deadline has seen a flood of projects flow into Sarasota County’s planning and development services department — with more than 2,300 units added since the county’s decision in April, Suncoast Searchlight has learned through a public records request.
All of the projects submitted over the past month are located in either open-use estate or residential estate zoning districts, which both limit development to less than one house per acre.
One of the projects would see the Bits of Paradise horse ranch on Ibis Street in east Sarasota County transform into a rental property with 259 rentals. Another would see nearly 200 units built on 15 acres located just off Honore Avenue west of Interstate 75.
National homebuilder WCI Communities LLC is proposing 708 rentals on East Venice Boulevard, and Bella Terra Land LLC plans to build 487 apartments in eastern Sarasota County.
But perhaps the most devastating to local environmental activists, D.R. Horton, which has sued the county for denying a single-family home development proposed near Celery Fields, has now submitted a plan to build 864 apartments there instead.
Celery Fields was created as the county’s primary stormwater collection zone in the 1990s to help control flooding along Phillippi Creek. The more than 400 acres of marsh is ringed by towering Oak trees and has become a popular bird sanctuary.
Since birders began keeping official counts in 2001, Celery Fields has attracted more than 240 species of birds, according to the Sarasota Audubon Society.
Environmental activists have rallied for years to save the Smith Farm from D.R. Horton’s plans to develop the property located off Raymond Road, saying it could become detrimental to both the environment and efforts to control flooding.
“There is evidence that if there is development, the birds will flee,” Sarasota Audubon Society President Sara Reisinger previously told Suncoast Searchlight.
Lawsuits filed against Sarasota County
Two of the projects now in litigation include an apartment proposed by a church east of interstate 75 on Fruitville Road and another next to a 15-acre farm on Lorraine Road. Each was independently filed in May in the 12th Judicial Circuit Court.
The first lawsuit was filed by a partnership between Yeshua’s Love Biblical Fellowship and Curco Land Holdings LLC that planned to build 352 rental units to replace a church at 8893 Fruitville Road.
Of the total units, 141 would be rented to tenants who earn up to 120% of the area median income, which in Sarasota is nearly $130,000 per year for a family of four.
According to property records, the church bought the 23-acre property in 2014 for $2 million.
The lawsuit was filed by the Grimes Galvano P.L., a firm that includes former president of the Florida Senate Bill Galvano. Lawyers with the firm declined to comment.
The Fruitville Road property is zoned open-use estate and had previously been allowed to proceed with a Live Local development application prior to the county’s April decision to reverse course.
The second lawsuit was filed May 20 by SITC Inc., the corporation controlled by Cox of Halfacre Construction. That property would be located near 2000 Lorraine Road.
The proposal calls for 500 rentals built across multiple 65-foot apartment towers on 43 acres.
Oprison, who represents the developer of the project, told Suncoast Searchlight he believes the county intentionally violated the Live Local Act, with commissioners acting as a “super legislature” to override state law.
Both suits allege the county did not properly notice the policy change, which Oprison claims effectively prevented property owners from providing input.
“This was done under the cover of darkness,” he told Suncoast Searchlight. “They did this to ensure no dissenting voices would be heard.”
Oprison also argued the issues surrounding the Live Local Act have been framed in a misleading way, pointing to the demand from average-income workers to find a place to live.
“Why are developers doing this?” Oprison said. “Affordable housing.”
The SITC lawsuit, which sued each county commissioner individually, also seeks for the judge to rule that the county cannot exclude open-use districts from Live Local projects.
A county memo about the suit told commissioners the suit improperly listed them in the legal action, possibly as an intimidation tactic. The memo notes county attorneys would move to dismiss commissioners from the lawsuit.
“Unless directed otherwise by the Board,” Moye wrote, “our office will defend the lawsuit.”
This story was produced by Suncoast Searchlight, a nonprofit newsroom of the Community News Collaborative serving Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties. Learn more at suncoastsearchlight.org. Derek Gilliam is a watchdog/investigative reporter for Suncoast Searchlight. Email him at derek@suncoastsearchlight.org.
