Meanwhile, the City of Sarasota calls the plant’s operator a ‘bad faith actor’ and prepares to sue.
Air date: March 11, 2026
By Jackson Rothman
Host: Lots of news around a controversial concrete crushing plant near downtown Sarasota: The effort to replace the dust-emitting operation with affordable housing was declared dead at a Sarasota County Commission meeting on Tuesday last week. The day before that, after more than four years of violations and complaints, the City of Sarasota decided to sue the operators of the crushing plant as a “public nuisance” – just days after US Recycling filed for corporate dissolution. That, in turn, raises more questions. WSLR News reporter Jackson Rothman is trying to find answers.
The Ekos Cocoanut project died after US Recycling walked back on a sale of its land. Rendering of a McDowell housing project in North Port | Courtesy McDowell
Jackson Rothman: In January, the Sarasota County Commission granted McDowell Partners – the Miami-based developer behind the affordable housing project – only $3 million of the $15 million in federal disaster recovery grants they asked for. And when they followed up on Tuesday last week, Chris Shear, president of McDowell, told the county commissioners the project is dead because they could not come to terms with US Recycling over the purchase of the land.
Chris Shear: So I want to be very clear. We have no desire to move forward with the project at this point. We were not able to come to terms with the seller.
JR: In a deal that had the enthusiastic support of neighbors, McDowell reportedly offered US Recycling more than the asking price, and in January they agreed in principle on the land transfer . But then, in February, after McDowell received the federal grant, US Recycling demanded that a lawsuit filed in December by an environmental group be dropped. The developer, arguing it has no influence over Suncoast Waterkeeper, stopped negotiations.
View of the concrete crushing plant | Google Maps
Meanwhile, at their Monday meeting last week, the Sarasota City Commission explored options to file a civil “public nuisance” suit against US Recycling. The plant at the south end of the Central-Cocoanut neighborhood has drawn ire from residents, over health concerns and noise.
McDowell President Chris Shear, testifying before the Sarasota County Commission.
The US Recycling plant sits next to Mary Dean Park and The Pines assisted living facility. Dust and fumes from the concrete crushing process has neighbors concerned for potential health risks. The ZIP code just north of the plant has the worst rate of asthma in all of Florida. Early morning industrial noise has also been cited by residents as disruptive to their daily lives.
In December, Suncoast Waterkeeper filed suit against US Recycling over waste runoff and water contamination.
But it’s not clear who the defendant in any future lawsuit would be. US Recycling Company filed for “voluntary dissolution” of its corporate registration with the State of Florida on Feb. 25, the week before the city commission meeting. The filing, signed by company President Christopher Williams, says there is no debt, and that the company’s assets have been distributed after winding up. But according to City Commissioner Liz Alpert, the concrete crushing continues, under a different corporate entity. Another corporation connected to Williams – Freedom Estates – is listed as active with the state.
Map depicting the reach of dust emissions from the US Recycling plant. | Courtesy CCNA
Efforts to reach representatives for US Recycling for comment were unsuccessful. The attorney listed as registered agent in the company’s corporate filing told WSLR they no longer represent US Recycling, and have resigned as registered agent for the company.
Ron Kashden, the community organizer who played a key role in the effort to bring affordable housing to the site, also says that despite the dissolution of the company, the concrete crushing plant continues to operate.
Discussion about suing US Recycling has been pushed forward by City Commissioner Jen Ahearn-Koch. At the city commission meeting last week, Ahearn-Koch presented data showing that the zip code including Newtown and Central-Coconut have the highest rate of hospital admission for asthma in the State of Florida. A report compiled by the city cites air, stormwater and groundwater contamination.
Laurel Quarberg, president of the Central-Cocoanut Neighborhood Association, said “public nuisance” was the “understatement of the year”.
Laurel Quarberg: To say this is a nuisance is the understatement of the year. But to stop this ridiculousness, if that’s what we need to call it, let’s do it.
“Nuisance is the understatement of the year”: Cocoanut-Central residents, testifying before the Sarasota City Commission Monday, March 3.
JR: US Recycling was given until November last year to prepare a remedial action plan for groundwater contamination, which the company apparently has not filed. Nor has the company produced sustained remedies to repeated violations of air contamination limits. The city report calls US Recycling a “bad faith actor”.
For now, the city has taken actions to improve conditions around the plant, including building a protective wall near the facility and enforcing zoning compliance by maintaining distance of equipment from the edge of the US Recycling site.
For WSLR, Jackson Rothman. Johannes Werner contributed to this report.
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