Planning board supports light industrial use in CORE

A planning advisory board today unanimously endorsed plans to add light industrial uses at the corner of State Road 70 and White Eagle Boulevard, in Lakewood Ranch.

The Manatee County Planning Commission agreed that Lakewood Ranch developer Schroeder-Manatee Ranch should be able to add 250,000 square feet of light industrial use, in the area roughly east of Lakewood Ranch Boulevard, south of Rangeland Parkway, north of State Road 70 and west of White Eagle Boulevard. 

Consequently, SMR will reduce existing approvals on the property by 100,000 square feet of commercial/retail space. 

Planners said the change will have no impact on traffic projections. 

The project is part of Schroeder-Manatee Ranch’s CORE (Collaborative Opportunities for Research and Exploration) project, a 305-acre biotech business park it hopes will become a mecca for the medical industry and create high-paying jobs.

Light industrial uses cannot have offsite noise, site or sound impacts, per Manatee County’s development regulations.

The project now will go to the Manatee County Commission for final approvals in May.