Despite Sarasota County’s double rejection and strong protests from area residents, it may take two for a proposed Take 5 Oil change in Osprey.
Although initially voted down by the Sarasota County Planning Commission and the Sarasota County Commission, the oil change business sought by Cougar Investment Management LLC and 8Square LLC may be back on the table after a hearing with a special judge on Tuesday. Developers and the county’s legal counsel reached an understanding that could send a modified version of the oil change proposal back to the County Commission for another vote.
The hearing resulted from the developers’ challenge to the commission’s original denial last August. The challenge, filed under the Florida Land Use and Environmental Dispute Resolution Act, argues that the commission’s denial unfairly limited how developers can use the land regardless of its zoning.
The developers originally applied to rezone the 1.4-acre site from commercial shopping center designation to general commercial, which would allow construction of a 3,600-square-foot office building and a 1,430-square-foot service center. The tract at the corner of Tamiami Trail and Habitat Boulevard is a quarter-mile from Oscar Scherer State Park, and residents of the adjacent Willowbend community argue it would endanger the preserve and its unique habitat.
About 50 of those opponents attended Tuesday’s meeting and were vocal in their frustration with county staff, who they felt failed to communicate why the oil change idea had to remain hidden. Deputy District Attorney David Pearce said it’s up to the County Commission, not staff, to decide whether the business should get the green light.
County staff, Pearce said, can only comment on the legality of the proposed project. Because of a 2004 code rewrite that absorbed the strip mall into the general commercial umbrella, Pearce said he could not dispute that the developer was legally allowed to build the oil change.
“You have to understand that this particular use is allowed in this zoning district,” Pearce said. “We don’t make decisions as district attorneys.”
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A public comment period saw three speakers echoing what has been something of a mantra since Willowbend began protesting the oil change proposal nearly a year ago: It’s not compliant. The oil change operation is an extremely intensive development for the area, which is mostly surrounded by office buildings and smaller businesses.
Willowbend residents are bound by a conservation covenant that imposes strict light, noise and activity guidelines to leave adjacent Oscar Scherer State Park as undisturbed as possible.
Larry Kaplan, a Willowbend resident, said Take 5 could cause serious damage to the park if it is not held to the same standards.
“Do you think it’s an environmental asset or a blow?” Kaplan said.
Apart from a zonal distinction that is still obscure, so is covenant jurisdiction. Willowbend’s original owner lifted the restriction on the property in 2021, but he had already sold the lot by then. The developers understood that this meant the covenant no longer applied, but residents argue that the original owner’s waiver of the covenant was not binding — that he lost the authority to dictate what happened to the land after he sold it.
The Willowbend Homeowners Association is suing Cougar and 8Square to enforce the covenant.
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Changes the developers and county staff will bring to the County Commission include provisions for limited signage and for walls surrounding the oil change facility to separate Willowbend from the business and limit potential damage to Oscar Scherer.
Residents were less pleased, protesting from the public. Jane Graham, the attorney representing Willowbend residents in several hearings, said the modifications leave the original issues unresolved.
“It’s incompatible with the existing land use pattern,” Graham said. “That won’t do it for my client.”
The County Commission will first have to weigh the legal issues related to the settlement plan before reconsidering the oil change business at that location later.
Contact Herald-Tribune Education Reporter Heather Bushman at hbushman@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @hmb_1013.
