County landfill to increase to 200 feet

Despite protests from neighbors, the County Commission voted 4-1 to double the height of the county landfill.

The landfill has already reached its maximum of 100 feet on portions of the 549-acre facility. With the rule change, portions can rise to 200 feet.

The landfill, which sits about 3 miles east of Oscar Scherer State Park, is broken into five phases of fill space. Phase one has reached its maximum height, and phase two is nearly complete.

County staff estimates that at its current height, the landfill has about 35 years left in its life span.

By allowing the increase in height, the life span of the landfill is expanded by 15 years. Additionally, it could save the county $150 million in horizontal expansion costs.

“This would help conserve the county’s resources and for the future generation and demonstrates good stewardship on behalf of the taxpayers and future residents,” petitioner from Genesis Planning Bo Medred said during a planning meeting. 

However, neighbor Carol Hawkins, who was represented by attorney Dan Bailey, was against the increase. She said she fears that the increase in height will negatively affect the property value of her 3,200-acre ranch next to the landfill.

“Visually, it would be an impairment, and it would probably affect us down the road,” Hawkins said. “We are designated as a hamlet in the 2050 plan, and under that plan, we’re limited to structures of 35 feet. If there’s 200-foot mounds around our border, it would dwarf anything on the ranch.”

The Hawkins family has owned the land adjacent to the landfill for generations. In 1986, the county bought 6,000 acres and in 1998 opened a portion of it as the current landfill.

When it created the landfill, the county said the mounds would not exceed 100 feet, which the Hawkins family supported.

Currently, the landfill can just be seen poking over the treetops from the Hawkins ranch, but at 200 feet, the landfill would be the tallest hill in the county. For reference, Celery Fields is about 75 feet tall at its highest point, and there are only six buildings in Sarasota’s urban core that exceed the landfill’s new height.

Because of past designs, Solid Waste Engineer Jason Timmons said the county wouldn’t be able to increase the height of the entire landfill to 200 feet.

Phase one, which sits on about 60 acres, reached completion in 2012. It uses a single composite liner, which means it can’t handle the weight of 200 feet of garbage. Phase two, which sits on nearly 62 acres, is expected to reach capacity at the end of 2022 or early 2023.

Phase four, which abuts Hawkins’ property,  would be able to reach about 125 feet before the slope becomes too steep.

Asked how much higher the landfill could go in the future if the need should arise, Timmons said portions of it could reach 270 feet, but because of the slope, the 70 feet “wouldn’t give room for a lot of additional volume.”

Commissioner Charles Hines cast the no vote. He feared the increase would create a “trash mountain” that would be visible from Myakka River State Park.

“The Myakka River State Park is unique, and it needs to be protected,” Hines said. “When you’re in that park, you should see nothing other than nature.”