Commissioners choose to uphold quality of life standards for East County communities

Palm Aire and Tara residents splashed the Manatee County Commission Chambers with color Tuesday, when more than 200 residents from their communities appeared in red shirts in protest of proposed changes to their roadways.

In separate ordinances, County staff proposed increasing the speed limits and removing the golf cart designations to multiple county roadways, including Whitfield Avenue and Tara Boulevard. Vishal Kakkad, county traffic design division manager, and Sage Kamiya, deputy director of traffic management, both presented the changes as a necessary part of maintaining safety standards. The traffic surveys they conducted showed that on average, most vehicles were already exceeding the speed limit on some roadways.

However, residents and commissioners disagreed that increasing the speed limit was the correct choice.

“Everybody here knows I’m about growth, smart growth, good growth, but I don’t believe right now, raising the speed limit on these particular roads I’ve mentioned will be helpful,” said Vanessa Baugh, District 5 Commissioner.

Residents held signs in the audience with messages like, “Golf carts add value to Palm Aire homes, vote NO,” and “Listen to the people who put you in office.”

 “I am strongly opposed to the increase of speed limits and banning of golf carts on Whitfield Ave. Faster is not safer,” said Bob Bennett, a Palm Aire resident and Country Club member, during public comment. “I respect work of engineers. What you can’t quantify is how people live. In our case, this is what it’s about — Palm Aire was developed as a residential golfing area.”

Commissioners decided to vote on the speed limit proposals piecemeal, and approve or deny each individual proposal. They voted to keep Whitfield Avenue and Tara Boulevard the same posted speed limit, without increase.

Commissioners also decided to take no action on the proposal that would restrict the use of golf carts on three country roads, Whitfield Avenue, Tara Boulevard and El Conquistador Parkway despite the staff’s concerns for safety.

“You’re going to upset a lot of people there (Tara) and Whitfield. Is there a history of traffic accidents with golf carts?” Commissioner Larry Bustle questioned.

Kamiya admitted there was a minimal amount of crash data in those areas.

“But do we need to have a crash to justify doing something? With the volume of vehicles on the roadway… I could not say it’s a good idea to take out your golf cart. I can’t do that in good conscience,” he said.

“If it’s not broke, why are you fixing it?” Bustle quipped back.

Commissioners took no action on the golf cart proposal and recommended — to the excitement of the residents who remained in the chamber for the almost five hours of discussions — that staff return to the drawing board and find a more compatible solution for golf carts to remain in use in the communities.

“It's been an interesting afternoon discussing golf carts. We’re all leaning the same way,” Baugh said. “We want to make sure we come up with a solution that’s safer for everyone involved, but we don’t want to take this away from you either.”