Manatee planners to outline development goals

Manatee County Planning Department officials Tuesday will deliver a set of recommendations on the future of the development review process and the face of the community in unincorporated Manatee County.

The meeting will begin at 9 a.m., Nov. 10, on the fifth floor meeting room of Manatee County Administrative Center, 1112 Manatee Ave. W. Interim Planning Department Director John Osborne will begin the meeting with a review of the department’s progress, emphasizing a departmental focus on customer service and improved communication among departments and the private sector to create sound efficiencies throughout the review process.

“This meeting will start the overview for next year’s goals along with the things the board wants to accomplish over the next 60 days,” said County Administrator Ed Hunzeker. “The purpose of the discussion is to keep the Board and the public fully informed on the steps taking place to make the development review process smoother and more efficient.”

Osborne also will detail mprovements to come, including an automated plans tracking system, land development code improvements and a Development Review Committee that helps provide a more efficient development review process. Site plan reviews that once took two years can now take as little as three months.

“Predictability is the big thing,” Osborne said. “We want to offer estimated timetables for project review process so customers know how long things will take. We will commit to certain standardized time frames.”

Planning officials will outline a set of proposals for future improvements to the review process, along with a set of ideas for the development and redevelopment of the community. Public input comes from landowners, consultants and customers who take part in a planning task force. The task force discusses improvements recommended by the Matrix study during meetings are noticed and open to the public.

“These are recommendations I think everyone has wanted for years,” Osborne said. “Now that development has slowed, we’ve had an opportunity to fix things, to make them right and to plan for the future of Manatee County.”

For more information on the discussion, call (941) 748-4501, Ext. 6825. To learn more about Manatee County Government, visit www.mymanatee.org.