Planning Commission Rejects Recommending Approval of Neal Project
Posted
John Rehill
BRADENTON – Neal Property's Attorney Ed Vogler said, "It is all in how you interpret it," in his quest to argue support from the Manatee County Planning Commission to recommend approval to the BOCC to rezone the property at the Myara Subdivison on Linger Lodge Road. That requested recommendation was denied 6-1 by the commission, with Bill Conerly dissenting.
The 32.68± acre vacant site is located west of 99th Street East (Pine Meadow Way) and Clubhouse Drive at 6804 99th Street East, Bradenton. The site is within the RES-1 (Residential–one dwelling units per acre). Dozens of local residents showed up to oppose the project with hopes to save the wildlife, wetlands uplands and quality of life they originally moved to Manatee County for.
The applicant's list of special approvals and specific approvals is long, but the asnswer to the question as to whether the project could be within the rules was clear: not without a Comp Plan Amendment.
Staff discovered the proposed Preliminary Site Plan included an alternative roadway alignment for the Clubhouse Drive/Linger Lodge Road connection that was required by the 2035 Future Traffic Circulation Right of Way Protection and Reservation Map in the Comprehensive Plan, to be inconsistent with: Florida Statutes 163.3194 – Legal status of comprehensive plan [163.3194(1)(a) and 163.3194(3)(a)].
To correct this would require a Comp Plan Amendment; a much longer and problematic process. It would involve future traffic plans, defining the definition of "compatible" and right-of-ways. Vogler told the commission, "If you want you can interpret it (the application) as being within your current comp plan."
But the applicant was also asking for special approval for being adjacent to a perennial stream (Braden River), located within the Watershed Protection and Special Treatment Overlay Districts, and exceeding a net density of 1.0 dwelling unit per acre in the RES-1 FLUC.
The applicant was also asking for Specific Approval for an alternative of Land Development Code Section 1001.4.D.1 since the project design includes a cul-de-sac that exceeds the maximum allowable length (800 feet).
But hitting hard ball harder then the law was the testimony from those who came to speak.
Brenda Russell, speaking to the commission, "It violates the Comp Plan, it's not compatible, it strains the water and sewer system, threatens the water shed and it will contribute to increased flooding, for the rest of us by raising the ground at the project up four feet."
Joe Mullery from Braden Woods said, "This development will rip everything that gets in its way."
Retired city planner Larry Grossman said, "Everything they're doing is illegal."
Gary Herbert said, "50,000 residents in the City of Bradenton get their water from the Braden River." Herbert added, "It will change the architecture of the land, it is inconsistent with surroundings and will cause irreversible damage."
Diane Bergstresser said her family dates back 100 years, says she has wildlife right out her back door.
The list of complaints went on and on for an hour, all in defense of the quality of life and the environmental damage that comes with each development. Accommodating those who came to object was a petition request that the project be denied. The one I saw had over 500 names on it, and I was told there were hundreds more on another petition.
Vogler couldn't resist calling out insults to everyone that didn't agree with him. He questioned County Attorney Bill Clague's ability to read the law, and acted as if he had been only tolerating the whole process. Vogler all but pleaded with the commission to just recommend the project to the Board of County Commissioners, then he said, "They'll know what to do."
Clague stepped up to the podium–took the high road–and clarified the county's position, telling the applicant's team, he (Clague) clearly understood the law, and that they (Neal and company) were on their own.
Vogler, and his boss Neal, were trying to get around the current law that requires them to apply for a Comp Plan Amendment if they want what is on the preliminary site plan they submitted. Planning Commissioner Matt Bower said, "It's putting the cart before the horse."
The next stop will be at the BOCC where Neal and Vogler will try and get those they are more familiar with to navigate the project through the process. The next hearing will most likely be in late November or early December.
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