Manatee County School Board approves Parrish purchase

Manatee County School Board members stamped approval to purchase 48 acres for the Parrish high school site, but a few school board members were left with reservations.

Vice chairman Charlie Kennedy, speaking at the May 24 meeting, said he felt the whole process had been rushed.

He said the district should look at the other district-owned site in Parrish, located within the Buffalo Creek Watershed, which is 60 acres.

Executive Planner Mike Pendley told the board the second site is not ideal for a high school. A main problem is the presence of a wetland on the site. Those two problems would have to be mitigated, cutting down the number of buildable acres.

The site also is located near a railroad track.

“Our buses are required by law to stop, and it’s going to be a problem,” Pendley said.

The site was purchased with the plan to make it an elementary or middle school.

The site of the future high school, at 11601 Erie Road, will be purchased for $2.3 million. It shares a property line with another 48 acres the district purchased in 2005, giving a new high school a 96-acre lot.

“Ninety-six is great,” Pendley said. “We prefer to have between 82 and 100.”

Unlike elementary schools and middle schools, Pendley said a high school needs the space for student parking lots, sports fields, agricultural programs and large buildings, usually about 250,000 to 300,000 square feet. A footprint that large also has to have space for stormwater retention ponds.

One parent, Tami Vaughan of Parrish, spoke during the public hearing. Her concern was the state of the main roadways, Martha and Erie Road, and their narrow size. She didn’t believe the streets could handle high school capacity traffic, or school buses.

Pendley said Erie Road was sufficient for a new high school, but that the county would probably have to consider improvements to the street once development starts filling in the surrounding area.

“What you’re not seeing when you drive there is the development that’s been approved,” he said. “They haven’t started building, but it’s coming very soon. Erie will need to be upgraded with more development.”

Erie Road will be the main access point for the school.