Final Vote on Relocating Glazier Gates Park and Developing Residential Complex Rescheduled

BRADENTON – A vote on proposed plans to develop a 521-unit residential complex on what is currently Glazier Gates Park on Manatee Avenue West was tabled for three weeks at Wednesday's Bradenton City Council meeting.

 

The meeting was expected by many in the audience to be the final deciding vote on whether to approve the residential development project. The proposal came close to receiving that final vote, as the motion to table was 3-2, with Bemis Smith, Harold Byrd and Pat Roff supporting; Gene Gallo and Gene Brown dissented.

 

NDC Construction Co. and Atlanta developer Hatfield Development Co. are wanting to replace the park with the complex, to be called Villages at Riverwalk. In return, the city would be given property on Riverside Drive East on which it would develop a new Glazier Gates Park, north of the current location at the 1000 block of Manatee Avenue East.

 

The process to request approval for the project by the city began in a council meeting last November. During its Sept. 16 meeting, the City Planning Commission had approved recommending that the property's land use designation be changed from Recreation/Open Space to Urban Village, which was on the city council's agenda for the Wednesday meeting.

 

That project, attorney Ed Vogler reminded city council members, was recommended for approval both by city planning staff as well as by the planning commission. Present to represent Hatfield, Vogler told the council that developing the property would be a benefit to the city as a whole, advising that $2 million in impact fees would be eventually be collected from the developer as a result.

 

Vogler also advised that a setback had been planned into the design to allow area between the complex and the waterfront to remain public land.

 

But many city residents attending the meeting were there to oppose removing the historical park, which has been a fixture for several decades. Some of the residents were opposed to the project's plan to remove the park's trees, many of which Vogler said would be replaced by having other trees in the complex.

 

Some residents living in proximity of the planned development maintained that they were never contacted by the developer, despite the council urging NDC to do so. NDC and Vogler have maintained that they have made attempts to contact residents neighboring the park, but that those attempts were not met with open communication from the residents.

 

Attorney Ralf Brookes, who was there to represent some of the residents neighboring the park, advised that city policy stated that "the City of Bradenton will not divert" properties such as parks "except in cases of overriding public interest." Brooks argued that people utilizing the park "is the public interest," and that an overriding interest can only apply to structures such as hospitals and churches.

 

Another resident, who said he supported the proposal, mentioned an opposing comment from a recent meeting that suggested such additional developments to the city would make it into the next Sarasota. The resident said, "Why wouldn't we want to be the next Sarasota?," adding that the city should always strive to make decisions that would invite more tourists to the area.

 

Speaking about the people that Hatfield and NDC hope to draw to the proposed rental units, Councilman Gene Gallo said, "We either raise taxes or we generate and help development build a bigger and better tax base for this city. That's the only way (the city) can survive."

 

After nearly four hours of comments and discussion, council member Bemis Smith moved to table the proposal after expressing concern about the land swap and whether the public should be given more notice about the project, saying he wanted to see if "some other arrangement can be made to better (serve the community)."

 

Another public hearing on the proposal is now set for Oct. 14.