Manatee County School Board likes SMR land swap

Manatee County School Board members say they are generally in support of a land swap that would shift a future high school location from north of State Road 64 to farther south near Premier Sports Campus in Lakewood Ranch.

“From what I was told by (Manatee County staff members), it sounds like it’s a good deal for the school district,” school board member John Colon said. “We haven’t gotten into details, but it’s something we should move forward.”

The School Board of Manatee County purchased a 159-acre site north of S.R. 64 and west of Dam Road in fiscal year 2007-08 from Schroeder-Manatee Ranch for $1. It was for construction of a middle school, a high school and a bus depot.

SMR has proposed trading most of that land for property farther south, generally north of 59th Avenue East and west of the future Post Boulevard extension. Its long-range plan for its property between S.R. 64 and S.R. 70 and east of Lorraine Road includes nearly 11,000 homes.

A deal is far from finalized, but based on the school board’s first workshop on the proposal Jan. 23, board members say the idea could be beneficial for the district and SMR.

“This is more long-range stuff. This new high school would be coming online in seven to eight years,” school board member Charlie Kennedy said.

Overall, board members said they like the idea of the swap because the site is closer to future homes, infrastructure to the site already would be in place and access to any new school would be easier, particularly for children who would have had to cross S.R.  64 to get there.

The land swap is expected to be finalized sometime in 2019, and negotiations are ongoing.