Local Government For Neal Communities It's a Go in Parrish

BRADENTON -- Neal Communities went home from Tuesday's BOCC meeting with an approval for their Silverleaf project in Parrish, which had met with some resistance over safety concerns. The caveat: they either provide a turn-around 800 feet down the cul-de-sac, or put in a emergency access. Plans added 19 more sites, while reducing the size of a buffer.

Pat Neal started out complementing staff for all of the help and the speed in which they performed. He said, "Just a couple of minor tweaks. Since June 2010, the market has changed." Now there is 732 homesites proposed, up 19 from the last time he went before the BOCC. Density went up a bit to 2.78 per acre.

Neal just cruised right through the idea that he could add three and a half acres of uplands and that would compensate for the request, and said he would find a way to deal with the cul-de-sac issue. The street in the question on the cul-de-sac was extended to 1,200 ft. with no turn-around. This would have been a code violation, not to mention unsatisfactory to staff, EMS and the fire department. 

Most of the commissioners felt a few acres of wetlands could not mitigate public safety. Commissioner Bustle was the only commissioner that thought that the trade could have been a possibility. It would be virtually impossible to turn a big fire rig around anywhere along that 1,200 ft. stretch according to officials, and could end-up being a fatal mistake. Neal equated the extra time for a rig to go to the end of what equals the length of four football fields, as being 10.91 seconds. It could actually take a few minutes.

Misty Servia, from King Engineering, representing Neal, said, "It's hard to design a master plan without flexibility." Commissioner McClash replied, "Rules are Rules." Neal took the deal, which was then approved unanimously.