Many residents believe overdevelopment is the cause of the recent flooding
By Ramon Lopez
Original Air Date: August 30, 2024
Host: Residents of Calusa Lakes in Nokomis are wondering what’s in store for them, as they face the prospect of more than 4,000 new homes adjacent to their neighborhood. Ramon Lopez has the story.
Ramon Lopez: Just what — or who — is responsible for the devastating and widespread Sarasota County and City flooding in the wake of Tropical Storm Debby remains the subject of debate. Residents point to overdevelopment. Real estate developers say the “unprecedented” volume of the deluge is to blame. Local government officials cite the county’s storm water regs & control systems, saying they were simply “overwhelmed.”
Sarasota’s storm water standard is designed to withstand a “100-year” weather event, which, for our area, equals 10 inches of rain in 24 hours. Given there were three punishing rain events this summer in less than 100 days — much less 100 years apart — that met or exceeded that standard, the guideline is now being scrutinized. At issue is whether the Public Works Department’s storm water regulations are stringent enough to prevent the severe flooding seen during Debby.
The Debby deluge in early August brought up to 18 inches of water. A week later, a severe thunderstorm dumped another 8 inches overnight. A storm in June dropped around 8 inches. Given climate change, similar severe storms are likely to follow.
Calusa Lakes is a typical Gulf Coast community of 575 houses with an-18 hole golf course. It’s in Nokomis, a small town between Osprey and Venice, just off Tamiami Trail. Debby’s deluge filled several main Calusa Lakes neighborhood streets. It isolated an estimated 150 homeowners, with up to two feet of water in low spots along the roads. While those same community roads flooded in the past, they drained within 24 to 48 hours. This time the streets remained impassable for passenger vehicles for four days as water from outside the community ran into it.
The Calusa Lakes Board of Directors told residents that they will meet with county officials — including Sarasota County Commissioner Joe Neunder — to learn exactly why the community flooded. Calusa Lakes Home Owners Association President Dick Krug hopes to get the ball rolling sooner than later.
Dick Krug: I’ve been in touch with our commissioner, and him and I are going to set up a meeting. I’ve been emailing back and forth with him, and I’ve shown him some maps and stuff … I got him convinced that he’s gonna be on our board to help us get some of this stuff resolved. So that meeting was tentatively set up already, and then something came up or he had to reschedule it, so I’m hoping it’ll be as soon as next week. So I’ll keep everybody in the loop when that happens.
RL: Of concern to Calusa Lakes homeowners is the proposal for a new town center development east of I-75 at a planned interchange with State Road 681. The development includes 4,300 homes on about 2.1 acres. The developer is Hugh Culverhouse. The fear is that the current water drainage problem will get even worse with the new development. We hear from Board Member Denny Moller.
Denny Moller: The developer indicated that 65–70% of that water actually goes to the north creek somewhere, it doesn’t impact the south, and the county guy jumped in and said, “Excuse me. It’s the reverse of that. 65% of the water from this project would come south towards Cowpen Slough, towards all of our stuff.”
So, when you have that meeting, you can bring up this Palmer Ranch East. I mean, it’s not imminent. They’re not going to start. I think the approval process is going to run through most of 25 and into 26. But still, I didn’t think we need to be worried about stuff on the other side of 75.
RL: This is Ramon Lopez for WSLR News
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