Foundation sets $1 million goal for Bradenton preserve

The Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast has committed to raise at least $1 million toward the creation of the Braden River Preserve.

Manatee County Commissioners on March 6 delayed a vote to March 20 on whether to create a Municipal Services Taxing Unit, which would assess about 1,400 homeowners within the Braden Woods and River Club communities for 30 years. Assessments would fund the $3 million needed to buy 32 acres at the western end of Clubhouse Drive and set it aside from development. 

The property then would be turned into a public preserve with walking trails and access to the Braden River.

Homeowners within the proposed MSTU boundaries are divided about paying $3 million for land that will be accessed by the public at large, not just residents of their respective communities. And following the March 6 meeting, representatives of the Conservation Foundation say they are working to defray costs as much as possible.

“We are just about at $700,000,” said Suzanne Gregory, the foundation’s director of program and marketing. “We want to come to the table on the 20th with at least $1 million.”

The $700,000 raised by March 9 came from a $500,000 challenge grant from The Floyd C. Johnson and Flo Singer Johnson Foundation and pledges that came in following the challenge.

“This is a rare opportunity to save 34 acres of old Florida on the Braden River from development,” Foundation president Christine Johnson said in a statement. “We are asking for community support now to raise at least $1 million to defray taxpayers’ expense. It’s not very often that citizens have the chance to save significant land from development.”

Individuals who wish to contribute  can do so at conservationfoundation.com/bradenriver or contact Andria Piekarz at [email protected].