CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

ENGLEWOOD AREA PLANNING ADVISORY BOARD

Board Members

Sarasota County:
John J. Fellin,
Chariman
Kenneth R. Kleinlein, Sr.
Georgia Bledsoe
(September 1995-June 1996)
MaryAnn Wills
(July 1996-)

Charlotte County:
David M. Dignam,
Vice-Chariman
Willard A. Coy, DMD
Janice (Jan) Updegraff

City of North Port:
L. Edward Schuler

Support Staff

Sarasota County:
Rick Drummond,
Division Manager
Brian Lichterman,Senior Planner
Vivian Roe,Planner
Susan Marcelini,Secretary

Charlotte County:
Sandy Christopher,
Planner III

Kristy Mazal
Vivian Ziegler,Clerk Typist III

This introduction is provided to present background information regarding the history and geography of the Englewood area as well as to give some insight as to the operation of the Englewood Area Planning Advisory Board (EAPAB) and the role of its reports and recommendations.

The information contained in these documents is principally empirical in nature. These reports and recommendations are based largely upon the first-hand knowledge and experiences of the Board members who live and work in the Englewood area. While reports of this nature are no substitute for formal scientific studies, the true needs of the community are often lost in the myriad of tabulations that characterize such statistical evaluations.

These recommendations were not, however, developed in a void. The EAPAB met with a variety of experts in virtually every field which the Board addressed. These were individuals from within State, County, and City governmental agencies as well as from the private sector.

Prior to final adoption of this report, draft copies were provided for public inspection at the Englewood-Charlotte Library, the North Port Library, and Elsie Quirk Library. The entire text of the report along with most of the graphic images were also posted on the Internet. The availability at the libraries as well as the Internet site address were well publicized in local newspapers.

After the draft report had been available for ten days, the EAPAB held a special evening meeting devoted to public input and comment on the Board's proposed recommendations. Public input was also welcomed and encouraged at every regular meeting of the EAPAB. The standard agenda provided for public comments near the beginning, and again before the end, of every meeting.

Throughout this process--from selecting the issues to address through the development of this final report--the Board utilized a method of consensus building rather than adopting individual aspects by majority vote. The EAPAB believes that this approach has yielded a well-balanced report, and recommendations which are truly representative of the citizens of this community.

One of the underlying objectives of the EAPAB has been to subtly erase the concept of the County line which divides Englewood. Throughout these documents, a conscious effort was made to refrain from identifying specific local governmental bodies. The attempt was to address these issues from the standpoint of the Englewood area as a whole. The omission of political boundary designations from essentially all of the graphics was intentional. The success of this effort relies almost entirely upon a cooperative effort by all concerned governments. The last thing that EAPAB wants to do is to pit county against county in this process.

History

Twenty-five years before Sarasota and Charlotte Counties were carved from Manatee County, the Community of Englewood was incorporated. The city was not long-lived, however, and in 1929 the charter was dissolved. The city went bankrupt as one of many casualties of the Great Depression. The name Englewood, nevertheless, remained for this general area which would become divided, not only by the Sarasota-Charlotte County line, but by many other political boundaries as well.

In spite of these divisions, the Englewood community has retained an underlying sense of unity and communality of purpose. There are two important governmental agencies--The Englewood Water District (EWD) and The Englewood Area Fire Control District (EAFCD)--unique to this community and whose boundaries overlap the Englewood area without regard to the county line. Over the years, organizations have evolved which attempted to, and continue to work towards, unifying the community and to coordinate the efforts of the two counties. Primary among these entities have been the Englewood Area Chamber of Commerce, and the now defunct Englewood Civic Council. This year, 1996, the community of Englewood is celebrating its 100th anniversary.

Geography

The Englewood community has no specific delineated boundaries. For the purpose of this advisory board, the service area varies, depending upon the nature of the service which is being evaluated. Generally speaking, the greater Englewood area overlays the entire Cape Haze Peninsula. This is an area bounded on north by an east-west line extended from Manasota Beach Road; on the west by the Gulf of Mexico; and on the east and south by the Myakka River and Charlotte Harbor. For some services, such as transportation, the area of interest extends northerly to Interstate 75.

Englewood's territory encompasses over 100 square miles of land area. Of this area, nearly 35 square miles have been set aside for preservation or are in public ownership.

There are a number of communities within the greater Englewood area which carry their own individual identities. Among them are Cape Haze, Englewood East, Gardens of Gulf Cove, Grove City, New Point Comfort, Placida, and Rotonda.

For the purpose of the EAPAB and this report, the terms Englewood and Cape Haze Peninsula are used interchangeably to identify the greater Englewood area as defined in this section.

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Purpose

The primary purpose of the EAPAB, as indicated by its mission statement, is "to advise the governing bodies of Sarasota County, Charlotte County, and the City of North Port concerning the coordinated provision of services to the entire Englewood community."

Strategy

By the terms of the enabling resolution, the EAPAB has a lifetime of two years. Within this period, the Board has been directed to have its recommendations completed by the end of the first year.

The first task of the EAPAB was to identify those issues which were appropriate to the Board's assigned task. The Board recognized eight distinct areas of service to the community. The first five of these were prioritized as follows:

* Transportation / Evacuation
* Drainage
* Public Safety
* Utilities
* Education

Three other issues--Tourism, Beaches and Shores, and Parks and Recreation--were identified but not included in the initial scope of work. The Board recognized that time constraints would not permit addressing all of the issues affecting the Englewood community.

The Board decided to meet every other week and to allocate a three-month period for each of these five major issues. The one-year deadline for submission of initial recommendations allowed adequate time to address only the first four issues.

It seems reasonable to expect that there will be a substantial delay between the Board's submission of this first report and any action or further direction. It is during this period that the EAPAB will address the fifth issue--Education.

The EAPAB expects that, early in its second year, it will receive direction from the governing bodies to further address and to refine those recommendations which those various bodies agree merit implementation. It is also possible that, time permitting, the Board may address the other issues which have already been identified or other additional topics.

Some of the recommendations contained in this report are already being implemented or are scheduled to begin in the very near future. In some cases, the EAPAB was fully aware of these existing or pending implementations. There are other situations where the recommendation was formulated before any final decision had been made on a particular course of action.

Regardless of the response to the recommendations contained in this report, an undeniable benefit of this process has been the regular gathering of key players from various agencies or departments in both counties, in a public forum, to address issues of concern to the Englewood community. In some cases, simply recognizing or identifying a deficiency or anomaly in inter-governmental coordination has led to corrective action before the EAPAB could formulate, let alone submit, any formal recommendation.

Send Email to jfellin@ewol.com.

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