County planning department to outline goals

MANATEE COUNTY – The county hopes to do development right, an official said.

On Tuesday, Manatee County Planning Department officials will deliver recommendations on the future of the development review process and the community in unincorporated Manatee County.

”This meeting will start the overview for next year’s goals along with the things the Board wants to accomplish over the next 60 days,“ said County Administrator Ed Hunzeker. ”The purpose of the discussion is to keep the board and the public fully informed on the steps taking place to make the development review process smoother and more efficient.“

John Osborne, the interim director of the Planning Department, will show improvements to come, including an automated plans tracking system, land development code improvements and a Development Review Committee to help provide a more efficient development review process. Site plan reviews that once took two years can now take as little as three months.

”Predictability is the big thing,“ Osborne said. ”We want to offer estimated timetables for project review process so customers know how long things will take. We will commit to certain standardized time frames.“

Planning officials will also outline a set of proposals for future improvements to the review process, along with a set of ideas for the development and redevelopment of the community. Public input comes from landowners, consultants and customers who take part in a planning task force.

”These are recommendations I think everyone has wanted for years,“ Osborne said. ”Now that development has slowed, we’ve had an opportunity to fix things, to make them right and to plan for the future of Manatee County.“