Manatee commissioners approve East County plaza

MANATEE COUNTY — A group of developers is moving forward with plans to bring more commercial opportunities to a stretch along State Road 64.

The Manatee County Board of County Commissioners on Dec. 2 approved a preliminary site plan for Magnolia Plaza, a new 12,000-square-foot retail center slated for a nearly 1.5-acre parcel on the south side of S.R. 64 about one mile east of Lena Road and just north of the landfill.

“My client is excited to get this going as soon as possible,” said Mark Barneby, the attorney representing developer Mark Cahill Investments for the project. “He has had some interest in the site.”

Barneby said he expects final site plans to receive administrative approval within four months and for construction to take no more than nine months.

The plaza could be one large retailer or several smaller retailers with offices, depending on which tenants show interest in the site, Barneby said. The project likely will open in early 2012.

Based on discussions with commissioners about more traditional designs, Barneby said he would discuss with the developer about altering the site’s configuration, which currently shows rows of parking closest to the roadway with the building on the back part of the property.

County Commissioner Michael Gallen called the initial design “archaic,” noting that moving the building closer to the road and the parking farther back would provide safer transit on sidewalks for pedestrians while giving the plaza more visibility.

“This is the entrance to Lakewood Ranch and Lakewood Ranch is doing it right,” Gallen said.

The Manatee County Planning Department is working on rewriting the county’s land development code and intends to include such design elements in the new document, Planning Director John Osborne said.

Based on concerns raised by commissioners, Osborne said the planning department soon would hold a workshop with commissioners about the topic, particularly regarding development in the East County.

Download a PDF of the project here.

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].

In other business, the board:
• Continued to Jan. 6 discussion on a rezone for .36 acres on the north side of State Road 70 at 5315 46th Court E. The property owner is requesting to rezone the parcel from residential single-family, six units per acre to planned development commercial.

• Approved a request by the School Board of Manatee County for a small-scale amendment to the future land use map for about 5.5 acres located one mile west of the intersection of Dam Road and S.R. 64. Declared use is a transportation facility owned and operated by the School board consisting of parking for buses, service vehicles, employees, a fuel station, a vehicle wash and a maintenance facility for school buses and fleet vehicles.

• Approved changes to the Gateway North (Artisan Lakes) development of regional impact. The project is located at the intersection of Interstate 75 and Moccasin Wallow Road in North Manatee.