BRADENTON — At a land use meeting on Thursday, commissioners approved a rezone request advancing a 37.3-acre commercial project site at the intersection of State Road 64 and Uihlein Road. The board previously voted to deny the request 4-3 in December of last year.
The approved plan allows for a maximum of 195,000 square feet of commercial use, with Thursday’s rezoning request applying to 15.3 acres of the total project site—reclassifying it from general agricultural (A) to planned development commercial (PDC).
Applicants Casto Net Lease Properties, LLC, and Albatross 64 Partners first presented the rezoning request before the county’s Planning Commission in September of last year, where it received a board vote recommending approval.
During a public hearing before commissioners on December 4, 2025, Commissioners Bob McCann, Amanda Ballard, Jason Bearden, and Carol Felts voted to deny the request following presentation and deliberation, while Commissioners Mike Rahn, George Kruse, and Tal Siddique voted against denial.
At the time, the commissioners voting to deny the application primarily cited stormwater and flooding concerns as the basis for their objections, but also cited traffic and drinking water infrastructure as additional justification for the denial.
Click the meeting video below to replay the board discussion and vote to deny in December 2025. Click here to replay the applicant and staff presentation.
In the days before the resolution to affirm the application’s denial was scheduled for commissioners' final approval, the attorney for the applicants sent a letter to commissioners requesting that the board consider tabling the denial resolution to provide his clients an opportunity to clarify the project plans and to present additional evidence and testimony at a future hearing.
During a February 12 land use meeting, Commissioner Kruse—who had voted against the original vote to deny—moved to grant the applicants’ request and to provide an opportunity for them to return with a revised presentation.
Kruse argued, in part, that the board had approved a similar but separate project/rezone application after denying the Casto Net Lease Properties, LLC and Albatross 64 Partners project, noting that the more recent vote to approve a similar commercial project showed inconsistency. In addition, Kruse highlighted many of the same points he raised during the board’s initial vote to deny, including the need for amenity-type commercial development in areas where residential development projects have already been approved.
Kruse’s motion was carried by the board 5-2, with Commissioners Rahn, Ballard, Siddique, and Bearden agreeing to table the resolution denying the motion until a future date. Felts and McCann voted against the continuation.
This Thursday, the matter returned before commissioners, and representatives for the applicants provided additional testimony regarding their request. The applicants sought to provide additional information regarding stormwater and traffic planning and to clarify the types of commercial uses planned for the project, which include a grocery store of 30,000 square feet or less (such as an Aldi), a child care center, a restaurant, and self-storage.
Along with the applicants’ presentation, commissioners also received a letter supporting the project from Rex Jensen, CEO and president of Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, Inc. In the letter, he offered to waive 195,000 square feet of vested retail rights previously approved for SMR Northeast, LLC, located south of the proposed project, in favor of approving the Casto Net Lease Properties, LLC, and Albatross 64 Partners project.
Following presentations from the applicants and staff, and after hearing public comments, commissioners voted 4-1 to reverse their prior denial and approve the rezone request. Commissioners Kruse, Rahn, and Siddique were joined by Ballard in approving the item; Commissioner McCann voted against approval, and Commissioner Bearden was absent.
Ahead of the vote, Ballard stated that she appreciated the additional information and clarifications provided by the applicant, and credited those details, along with the transfer of entitlements from SMR’s Northeast Quadrant, for her change in support of the application.
“That (entitlement transfer) ensures that we are not just adding endless traffic to this area. We’re taking traffic that was already going to be there because of those entitlements and moving it to a different site,” explained Ballard.
McCann, who expressed his disappointment with the board's shift toward approval, pointed out that Thursday's vote would be held with less than a full board, whereas the initial denial last year, 4-3, was passed under a full board.
Although the board’s vote on Thursday was taken with only five commissioners present, the board's February vote, which allowed the applicants to return before commissioners this week, was approved by a full board of seven.
Click the video below to replay the presentations, board deliberation, and public comments regarding the April 23, 2026, land use meeting, agenda item 7, Casto Net Lease Properties, LLC and Albatross 64 Partners rezone.
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dreed135
The “entitlement transfer”. I love it. Overdevelopment approved for the future, probably by the pro-development commission we have now supposedly replaced, is allowing approval of this development, which is sure to bring even more congestion to this already overwhelmed area, under the guise that it was going to happen anyway. This is the same twisted and convoluted logic used over and again for the past two decades which has created the overcrowded, flood prone county we once called wonderful. It never ceases to amaze me as I watch county after county all over our state fall to the greed of all parties involved in the ongoing onslaught of overdevelopment and the destruction of our environment, quality of life and even our personal safety all in the name of riches. Apparently, we really have not done much to take back our local government which is a real shame since Tallahassee is doing all it can to bypass those boards anyway. One would think that our supposed “sustainable development” focused “new” local commission would do all it can toward that goal while they still have some remaining power to do so, but I guess I’m confusing our state and local politics with fantasyland.
Friday, April 24 Report this
GLEN GADFLY GIBELLINA
The recent approval of the commercial rezone at SR 64 and Uihlein Road—a project this board correctly denied just months ago—raises a serious question: What is the value of a board’s word?
In December, the majority of this commission stood firm on the side of common sense. You cited documented concerns regarding stormwater, flooding, and a drinking water infrastructure already stretched to its limits. These are not problems that disappear overnight, yet the board’s opposition did.
By flipping this vote, the commission has chosen to:
Accelerate Urban Sprawl: Converting 37 acres of agricultural land into nearly 200,000 square feet of commercial space ignores the "slow and steady" growth patterns that keep a community livable.
Ignore Infrastructure Warnings: If the flooding and traffic concerns were valid in December, they are just as valid today. Approving this project now suggests those initial concerns were either a performance or are now being conveniently ignored.
Erode Public Trust: Residents rely on the board to be the final line of defense against irresponsible development. When a "No" becomes a "Yes" without significant project concessions, it creates an environment of unpredictability.
Leadership requires the courage to stick to a decision when it is the right one for the community’s future. Manatee County needs a board that prioritizes long-term stability over short-term commercial interests. It is time to stop the flip-flopping, stop the sprawl, and start honoring the votes that were meant to protect our backyard.
Elect true advocates … For the Record and then
https://electglengibellina.com/
Wednesday, April 29 Report this