Tara Bridge Alternative Could Follow Comp Plan Amendment

MANATEE COUNTY – At Thursday's land use meeting, Manatee County Commissioners will revisit the City of Bradenton's request for a comp plan amendment to allow residential zoning for 289 acres on the north side of Honore Avenue, west of the Evers Reservoir on the Braden River.

The item is continued from an Oct. 5 meeting. That meeting ran late, and city officials were not present when the item finally came up, leading to the continuance. The city wants to sell surplus property outside city limits in unincorporated Manatee County and near its reservoir (also known as Ward Lake) to developer Taylor Morris, who plans to build a subdivision.

In 2016, the Bradenton City Council accepted a $10.5 million bid from the developer, intending to use the proceeds for infrastructure needs. The sale, however, is contingent on a series of approvals from the county, starting with the comp plan amendment.

The proceedings have led to speculation as to whether the development could be used to facilitate a new north-south thoroughfare that would act as a replacement for the controversial Tara Bridge, though such a plan would require a parcel of city-owned land that is not included in the sale.

Natalie Way runs south from State Road 70, where it passes entrances to the Harborage subdivision and the West Winds and Windmill Manor mobile home parks, but public access ends at a gated entrance to the city reservoir and water treatment plant. If Natalie Way were extended through the new development, it could connect with Honore Avenue, which would facilitate travel to University Parkway in Sarasota, the primary reason advocates of the bridge want it built.

Though the Tara Bridge is currently in the comp plan, a host of safety and logistical challenges, not to mention fierce public opposition in Tara and an unfunded $30 million price tag, make it unlikely to be built or even added to the capital improvement plan anytime in the foreseeable future.

At the October 4 meeting, Tara resident Cathy Woolley suggested that the county use the city's comp plan amendment request to leverage the acquisition of the parcel needed to extend Natalie Way, noting that even if the county had to give the city fair market value for the additional land, it would be but a fraction of the cost of the bridge. Woolley reasoned that adding all of those homes near the reservoir without the accompanying addition of a nearby north-south artery wouldn’t be practical anyway.

Several commissioners were intrigued by the notion of extending Natalie Way and seemed open to the idea of examining the idea within the context of the approval. Thursday's meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. in the BOCC chambers of the County Administration Building in downtown Bradenton. Click here to email your commissioner and let them know what you think about this issue.