Residents want center ... if the price is right

LAKEWOOD RANCH — Lakewood Ranch residents want to retain the Summerfield Information Center, but they want to know how the purchase is going to affect their bottom lines in the form of rising community development district bills before they make a decision.

At an information center acquisition workshop Monday night at Lakewood Ranch Town Hall, about 15 residents weighed in and provided Lakewood Ranch Town Hall Executive Director Eva Rey with input on a possible purchase.

Summerfield resident and Community Development District 1 Supervisor June Stroup and others believe the community lacks a community center, like facilities seen in each section of The Villages, a retiree-only development located an hour north of Orlando.

Located near the southwest corner of State Road 70 and Lakewood Ranch Boulevard at 6310 Lakewood Ranch Blvd., the green-roofed information center with a wrap-around porch has served as an information center for Lakewood Ranch developer Schroeder-Manatee Ranch for nearly two decades. The center also houses Lakewood Ranch Community Activities Corp., an organization that organizes events for Lakewood Ranch residents.

Lisa Barnott, spokeswoman for SMR, said the company eventually will sell the property once the area is built out and an information center is no longer useful, but there is no timeline for doing so or any predetermined asking price.

Individuals in attendance Monday night said they need more information — mainly what it’s going to cost them if the district buys the property one day.

“We need a ballpark number here before we can weigh in,” said Summerfield resident Phyllis Troy.

Rey couldn’t provide one for residents Monday, though.

“There’s a fear of what will happen if the community doesn’t take it over when SMR is ready to release it, but there’s also a hesitance for expenditures and CDD funds to take it over and we understand that,” Rey said. “If it stays within the community, your assessments go up.”

The Manatee County Property Appraiser’s website shows the 2.31-acre property appraised at $463,800 in 2014.

The one-level office building, which was built in 1995, has 3,964 square feet under roof, but only 2,740 square feet of usable business space.

The property must be used for community supporting uses, such as a recreation center, information center or community meeting rooms, per its zoning.

Another underlying issue is whether CDD 1 alone agrees to purchase the building or all of the CDDs in Lakewood Ranch agree to pitch in to pay for it.

The underlying sentiment Monday was if all Lakewood Ranch residents get to use the building, all of the CDDs should help pay for it. Residents in attendance agreed they would like the building retained by the community as a recreation facility or an extension of Town Hall rather than as a retail or restaurant spot.

“We would all like to see the building retained by the community,” said Summerfield resident Dolores Whitham. “But it depends on how many districts agree to pitch in.”

Rey said there will be opportunities for the public to weigh in at future public meetings once SMR can divulge more about when it no longer needs the building and shifts its informational center purpose to a new building north of State Road 70 East.

SMR also has two other information centers: 6220 University Parkway, Sarasota; and 8307 Lake Club Blvd., Lakewood Ranch, in The Lake Club.

Rey also plans to reach out to Manatee County District 5 Commissioner Vanessa Baugh to see if the county has any interest in the facility, even as a potential library site for East County.

Stroup, who said she could see the building used as a small arts center, asked those in attendance not to be deterred by the low turnout at the meeting.

“It’s a beginning and we need more information,” Stroup said. “But we have to take the lead on this if we want to keep it as part of our community.”

BY THE NUMBERS
2.31 - Number of acres on which the information center sits.

3,964 - Total square footage of the Summerfield Information Center.

1995 - Year the information center opened.

3 - Number of information centers Schroeder-Manatee Ranch currently has in Lakewood Ranch.