Judge rules against Sarasota County in Live Local dispute over apartments near Celery Fields

Sarasota County commissioners plan to discuss on Nov. 17 a circuit court ruling against the county in its dispute with developers over Florida’s Live Local Act, after County Attorney Joshua Moye told the board about the decision on Wednesday, Nov. 4, Suncoast Searchlight and WSLR News reported.¹² SignalData could not open the order, so this account comes from those outlets.

Circuit Judge Hunter W. Carroll rejected the county’s argument that the law does not apply in rural zoning districts that allow limited commercial uses, and ruled that the county must let an apartment proposal near the Celery Fields proceed through county review, Suncoast Searchlight reported.¹ WSLR described the ruling as a denial of the county’s motion to dismiss the suit, brought by homebuilder D.R. Horton.² Neither outlet reported the project’s approval.

“This case is not whether building apartments next to the Celery Fields is wise,” Carroll wrote, according to Suncoast Searchlight.¹

Moye told commissioners, “We all knew it was an uphill battle going against the plain language of the Live Local Act,” Suncoast Searchlight reported. The outlet said the ruling covers only this property, and that four similar suits by other developers remain pending before Carroll.¹

The project

WSLR reported that D.R. Horton proposes 864 apartments on about 50 acres zoned Open Use Rural beside the Celery Fields on Raymond Road, on land known as Smith Farm.² Suncoast Searchlight’s Nov. 5 report gave the size of the development as “more than 600 apartments.”¹

Commissioners voted unanimously on Oct. 6 to reject a settlement allowing 126 homes on the land and, in a second unanimous vote, told county officials to open purchase talks, Sarasota Magazine reported.³

What the county did

On April 7, commissioners voted unanimously to have staff turn down Live Local proposals on rural and low-density residential land, Suncoast Searchlight reported. Moye had warned in a memo of “an uphill battle given the strict language of the Live Local Act.”⁴ D.R. Horton’s application was submitted before a July 1 deadline tied to changes in the law, the outlet reported in June.⁵

In a Sept. 16 letter described as advisory and not binding in a Suncoast Searchlight report on WWSB, the office of Attorney General James Uthmeier told the county that rural properties allowing limited commercial uses may count as mixed-use land under the act.⁶

The law

Section 125.01055(7), Florida Statutes, requires counties to allow multifamily and mixed-use residential development in “any area zoned for commercial, industrial, or mixed use” when at least 40% of the units are rentals that stay affordable for at least 30 years. Qualifying projects must be approved administratively, and a court must award reasonable attorney fees and costs to the prevailing party, up to $250,000.⁷

The 2026 version of the statute excludes from that subsection areas under land development regulations meant to keep land open, including “open use rural districts,” if the regulations existed before July 1, 2026.⁷ Applicants with submissions received before July 1 could choose to proceed under the version in effect when they applied, law firm Holland & Knight wrote on July 29.⁸

What the records do not show

• SignalData could not open Carroll’s order, the case docket or a case number. Its terms are known here only through news reports.
• Suncoast Searchlight wrote that the decision was issued Tuesday and that the order is dated Nov. 4, which was a Wednesday; WSLR reported the ruling came Wednesday.¹²
• Suncoast Searchlight’s report does not name the developer; WSLR’s does.¹²
• The reports do not say which version of the statute the order applied, or whether the proposal meets the law’s other requirements.
• The county attorney’s memo and commission records on the case could not be opened. The county’s Live Local page does not name this project.⁹
• Suncoast Searchlight wrote that the county could appeal; neither report says whether it will.¹²