SARASOTA COUNTY, Fla. (SNN TV) – An East Sarasota County couple is suing to stop a plan to build a new five-thousand home Lakewood Ranch community.
Eileen Fitzgerald and her husband Mike Hutchinson are residents of the Ranches at Bern Creek neighborhood in rural, northeastern Sarasota County.
Last October, Sarasota County commissioners approved two ordinances that will allow Lakewood Ranch to build a new community of up to 5,000 homes on a property reaching about 1,300 feet from Fitzgerald’s.
According to the Herald Tribune, a hearing was held before an administrative law judge in July, but it wasn’t completed in the scheduled four days.
The parties will reconvene on Aug. 21-22 for the conclusion.
the Sarasota County Commission held two public hearings about the 4,120-acre east county property last year.
Despite strong opposition from residents, the county commissioners approved the plan unanimously.
Fitzgerald and Hutchinson challenged the comprehensive plan amendment by filed a petition for an administrative hearing with the state.
This fall, each party in the lawsuit will submit closing arguments to the judge. Their attorney estimated that the judge’s ruling would come out around December.
