Group organizes to oppose water park

As the 37 people who attended Sunday evening's meeting to oppose the planned Manatee Lost Lagoon water park began leaving Tom Bennett Park, Bob Walsh summed up the proceedings well.

"It's a start," said Walsh, a River Strand resident. "This project shouldn't go unchecked.

"It's a bad place to squeeze something like this."

River Strand resident Tim Petz organized the meeting because he wanted to start a push to let county commissioners know "This isn't right and we don't want it."

On June 1, the county closed a second round of soliciting project proposals for a water park project at Tom Bennett Park. Manatee Lost Lagoon, which was selected after the first round of project proposals April 24, 2015 but wanted to amend its original plan to include a hotel, was the only proposer.

Manatee Lost Lagoon is hoping upcoming negotiations with the county go quickly so it can open the park by the spring of 2018.

Petz told those who assembled at the Bennett Park pavilion on Sunday that they have time to stop the project, which is planned for 20 acres.

After going over the history of Tom Bennett Park, Petz talked to concerned local residents about what they could do to stop the water park project.

"Mobilize," Petz said. "We have to go on a letter writing campaign."

He told them to target Manatee County commissioners and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. He also suggested raising capital to hire a lawyer to represent the group.

Petz and others who attended the meeting cited several reasons to oppose the park. Included was sprawl that leads to worse traffic conditions, less open land and less-desirable living conditions. Other reasons to oppose the park were the use of county land to further private business pursuits and the fact the 20-acre site would be too small to house such a project.

Petz suggested the project would fail and Manatee County would be forced to take it over. He said Manatee County has far better options to place such a project.

Jacob Miklojcik, a River Strand resident who attended the meeting, said he didn't want to lose park space. "I like this area because of the public parks," he said. "I've looked around the country and I like the way Manatee County protects its public access to beaches and the water.

"And I don't see how this project remotely could work."

River Strand resident Paul Peyser said he would join the effort to stop the water park. "I really sought out property east of Interstate-75 because I didn't want to be swept into the congestion. There's a value on open space."

Peyser said he didn't like the idea that park land set aside for the community was going to be given away to "satisfy private interest."

Manatee Lost Lagoon's original application proposed constructing a 20,000-square foot wave pool with a simulated beach and surfing equipment, a multi-level children’s play area, a toddler play pool, a 2,667-foot-long lazy river and a variety of water slides, among other offerings. The new proposal places a 120-room hotel on what was a parking area.

The Central Economic Development Center pitched the idea for an aquatic park to the Manatee County Commission in September of 2014. Original cost estimates for the park were between $20 million and $30 million before the hotel plan was added. Bid documents become public July 1.

"The first thing we are going to do, is to let people know we are going to fight this," Petz said.