Manatee County announces new review process

As Manatee County implements its renewed and improved development review process, it will focus on customer service, efficiency, predictability and consistency.

At a meeting Tuesday, Interim Planning Director John Osborne gave Manatee County commissioners and planning commissioners his vision for one day making Manatee County’s core a more modern, walkable corridor with U.S. 41 serving as its backbone.

Osborne also suggested restructuring the county’s land development code to make it a organized set of guidelines for development.

“We’re talking about holistic changes while keeping the public’s best interest at heart,” Osborne said. “Our current code makes it difficult to redevelop and that’s not right. We need incentives, not penalties, to develop.”

Commissioners wil hear more about the plan through a series of public workshops over the next year.

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].