Texas-based DR Horton scaled down their initial proposal. The commission rejected them again.
By Johannes Werner
Original Air Date: October 22, 2025
Host: The Sarasota County Commission yesterday rejected a national homebuilder’s scaled-down proposal to build in the floodplain, next to a bird preserve—for the second time, unanimously, without discussion. The quick dismissal of DR Horton’s settlement proposal was preceded by 90 minutes of public comment about the homebuilder’s insistence to build across the street from the Celery Fields.
Celery Fields flooding
Lourdes Ramirez: You made the right decision when you denied intensive development at the Celery Fields, and we urge you to stand by that decision. Remember, property rights is what you have when you purchase the property, not whatever you want to build on it.
Johannes Werner: This was community organizer Lourdes Ramirez, speaking as the new president of the Council of Neighborhood Associations, praising commissioners for their previous rejection, and reminding them that property rights are not about what owners would like them to be.
Connie Nealy brought up last year’s flooding and how DR Horton says in their settlement proposal the commission’s previous rejection was not backed by “substantial evidence.” She believes more construction will exacerbate future flooding.
Map of DR Horton’s downscaled proposal
Connie Nealy: How many flooded homeowners do you need to hear from to provide competent, substantial evidence? Don’t kid yourselves. We all know this is not about evidence. It’s about money. They go on to speak about the burden of the land, which is ironic considering that people who are actually burdened with flood loss are not at this mediation table. Now we’re going to consider adding nearly 100 more homes to the floodplain? This continual fight that we all have to protect our home—that should be illegal. We’re the ones that help the county secure funding. We’re the ones who pay increasing stormwater taxes. We’re the ones who deal with increased costs of flood insurance. That is evidence of substantial abuse.
Charley Bailey III is the local lawyer of the Texas-based homebuilding giant. He only had three minutes to make the point that his client made substantial concessions. He described his DR Horton’s settlement proposal as a “win-win-win” that avoids extended and costly litigation.
Charles Bailey III
Charles Bailey III: Mediation and arbitration, we think, was a win-win-win for all parties rather than engaging in prolonged and expensive litigation.
This project that’s before you now—the refined project—what’s before you is not the same project—is a very different project than the project that was before you in February.
JW: DR Horton scaled down this project from 126 to 85 homes with more open space, only one vehicle access point, a big retention pond across the street from the bird preserve instead of homes, a planted buffer and no street lights.
To no avail. Of all the commissioners, it was Teresa Mast—herself a builder whose husband heads the local builders’ association—who made the motion to reject DR Horton’s settlement proposal.
Bailey immediately left the commission chambers after the unanimous vote. WSLR News caught up with him at the steps of the county administration building, but he declined to comment. Asked right there by an activist whether DR Horton will sue the county, Bailey said he was inclined towards that option. He did not return a phone call before the deadline of this report.
The 85 homes DR Horton wants to build are just a tiny speck among the tens of thousands of homes by local developers in different stages of Sarasota County’s approval process. Community activist Tom Matrullo used his three minutes of public comment to point out how these new homes would nearly double the county’s population if the commission were to approve all of them.
Reporting for WSLR News, Johannes Werner.
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