Lawsuit over development in Tara may be ending

Despite seven years of opposition from residents of the Tara community, commercial development likely will be coming to the southwest corner of Tara Boulevard and State Road 70.

It just won’t be a gas station.

In a June 20 approval of a settlement offer that will eventually cost Manatee County an estimated $700,000 in legal and consultant fees, Tara developer Lake Lincoln LLC will be allowed to commercially develop 3.32 acres of the 10.32 acres it owns at the southwest corner of Tara Boulevard and State Road 70.

Lake Lincoln in May 2012 filed a lawsuit against Manatee County alleging it had taken away Lake Lincoln’s development rights. Manatee County commissioners had denied an application in October 2010 to put commercial or residential uses on the parcel at the southwest corner of Tara Boulevard and State Road 70.

The Manatee County Commission voted 4-2 on June 20 to accept a compromise that will allow Lake Lincoln to develop 3.32 acres of the 10.32 acre site.

Lake Lincoln representative John Agnelli said whatever is built on  the parcel will aesthetically match the other side of Tara, where a Regions Bank is located.

“We’re planning more landscaping,” he said. “It’s a commercial property just like the other three corners (of Tara Boulevard and State Road 70). As far as ultimate use, we won’t build on it, but we have some good commercial developers who have inquired about the property from time to time.

“We’re glad to see it moving ahead,” he added.

Besides a gas station, fast-food restaurants, hotels, nursing homes, car washes and motor vehicle repair facilities are  among the businesses that won’t be allowed. Among those that would be allowed are retail sales, restaurants, banks, professional offices and dry cleaners.

Longtime Tara resident Cathy Woolley, a leader in the 2010 efforts to oppose development on the parcel, said the decision was “bad form for the county” and a “breach of faith” for the neighborhood. She noted the county attorney’s office had recommended against mediation just a year ago.

“We will fight this,” Woolley said. “I think the community will organize and we’ll figure out what to do.”

Bob Dallesandro, president of the Tara Golf and Country Club Board of Directors, which represents about 1,000 homes, said residents are unhappy about the commission’s decision.

“People are concerned about the traffic,” he said. “They want to keep the green space. We’re going to see what happens and how we can influence it as it moves forward.”

They are glad, at least, there can be no gas station at the corner.

“That was probably people’s biggest concern,” he said. “At least we have that.”

The settlement agreement must be approved by a judge in the 12th Judicial Circuit Court before it becomes official. The process likely will take about 45 days.