Manatee County Planning Commission approves East County shopping center

A new shopping center in East County is a step closer to realization after the Manatee County Planning Commission approved the request today.

Schroeder Manatee Ranch applied to the county for rezone of a near-17 acre property at the corner of Lorraine Road and State Road 70, changing it from agricultural to planned commercial. The site is north of the newly-opened Wawa gas station and convenience store and east of another shopping plaza on Lorraine Road, which includes The Ranch Grill.

The preliminary site plan for the project is a 82,600 square-foot center that would include both retail and commercial shops, including one main store and four other stores. The plaza would have four points of access, three on Lorraine Road and one on S.R. 70.

Heather Perry, owner of Southwest Florida Therapy Animals, a facility that will open later this year just north of the proposed center, is supportive of the proposal.

“I’m thrilled with it – I like to see growth in this area,” she said. “Everything has been centered on University Parkway.”

Perry said with the growth of that area of the county—including upcoming housing developments east of Lorraine—she was glad that Schroeder Manatee Ranch was getting a leg-up on the project early.

“It will be needed, and a nice service and convenience,” she said.

The shopping center proposal will be presented to the Manatee County Commissioners for consideration at their Thursday, Dec. 3, meeting.

Perry’s only desire for the plaza? A bagel shop. Now, she has to drive to Einstein Bros. Bagels in Sarasota to get homemade, fresh bagels, she said.