Sarasota County halts massive Hi Hat Ranch land deal

The Sarasota County Commission voted unanimously Tuesday morning to stop work on a proposed agreement with Hi Hat Ranch, directing staff to cease further drafts of any agreement. The project will not move forward until a public workshop is scheduled within six months.

The decision follows a Florida Trident investigative report published just a day earlier, which raised concerns about the deal’s financial impact—requiring taxpayers to cover half of a $28 million road-widening project for a segment of Bee Ridge Road between Bent Tree Boulevard to Lorraine Road. The report also revealed that county staff initially opposed multiple proposals from the Hi Hat developer during more than a year of negotiations. The developer did agree to fully fund extending Bee Ridge Road to the entrance of the project and improving the roundabout at Lorraine Road.

Citing new information and concerns about the agreement, Commission Chair Joe Neunder passed the gavel to Commissioner Ron Cutsinger before making the motion at the start of Tuesday’s regular commission meeting. Neunder noted that Hi Hat Ranch is the largest development project in Sarasota County. “We want to get it right for the citizens, for our future, and for our kids,” he said.

Commissioners emphasized the need for a workshop to facilitate open dialogue and address questions regarding the massive development—the largest in Sarasota County’s history—which is expected to add more than 13,000 new homes in phases east of I-75 between Clark and Fruitville Roads. Hi Hat Ranch has not yet been approved for a rezone of the master development. Sarasota County would not advance the project further until there was a formal agreement on the widening of Bee Ridge Road.

As reported earlier by the Florida Trident, county staff met privately with the Hi Hat development team on December 11th, where former County Commissioner Al Maio drafted a “land deal” on a whiteboard. The deal did not include any valuation for 24 acres of county-owned property needed for the construction of the road to the entrance of the Hi Hat Ranch, as no appraisal had been done.

The proposed deal deviated from six key items that commissioners had previously insisted upon during an October 2024 public meeting. At that meeting, commissioners had firmly stated they would not negotiate with themselves on those six conditions, which had stalled prior negotiations.

Despite this, on January 28, 2025, the commission voted 4-1 to advance Maio’s drafted deal. Commissioner Tom Knight was the sole dissenting vote, citing concerns over the project’s impact on traffic. Residents have consistently voiced frustrations to commissioners about worsening congestion on major roads, including Fruitville, Clark, and Bee Ridge.

Commissioner Knight emphasized the millions of taxpayer dollars the project would entail and said it was important that citizens see the county working in their best interest.

This story will be updated with further details.