Jason Bearden says he is taking a stand against unsupported development

Manatee County At-Large Commissioner Jason Bearden said he has no aspiration to be a “polished politician.”

Instead, the Lakewood Ranch resident said he wants to “do what’s right.” 

In the case of Bearden’s decision making for Manatee County in 2025, he said doing what’s right entails regularly voting “no” to developments when the existing roads surrounding the site can’t handle the added capacity. 

“I want to take a hard stance on that to send the message that I want my roads built,” Bearden said. “I’m at the point where I’m not even going to approve affordable housing. I want my roads built first.” 

Bearden notes that he voted against an affordable housing project in April and voted against executing its Land Use Restriction Agreement on Dec. 12. A LURA designates a certain percentage of the units as affordable for a set number of years. 

The project, Lorraine Crossings, would add 66 residential units on Lorraine Road near Savanna at Lakewood Ranch.

“I don’t want to add any more cars to Lorraine Road because I used to drive on that road every single day,” Bearden told commissioners during the Dec. 12 Land Use meeting. 

Both times, the motion passed, but there was one difference between the two votes. Bearden was the lone nay vote in April; the vote was 4-3 in December because new commissioners Carol Felts and Bob McCann also voted against the LURA. 

The three commissioners voted against approving four final plats on the same day, one of which was for Neal Communities’ Palm Grove development on State Road 64. 

The land was rezoned in March 2022, before Bearden was elected to the commission. The final site plan for 706 units was approved in September 2023. 

Although the commissioners could not change the fate of the Palm Grove project that already had been approved, they took a vote anyway to show the new commission doesn't support it.

“It’s time to take a stand,” Bearden said. “I promise you right now that I’ll vote “no” on every project (that isn't supported by proper road infrastructure) for the next 24 months while I’m in office just to prove a point.” 

While the votes were symbolic gestures, Bearden made motions during the commission meeting on Dec. 10 that resulted in two unanimous votes in favor of his directives to staff. 

The first motion directed staff to develop and present a plan to reinstate traffic concurrency requirements. The second motion directed staff to update the impact fee study to “100% of present day calculated value.” 

Bearden said he sees the problems with Manatee County’s “D-rated” roads as having begun in 2011 when House Bill 7207 was passed. The bill eliminated the state concurrency mandate relating to transportation, schools and parks.

“We’ve been doing things backward,” he said. “Everywhere else in the United States, they put the infrastructure, the roads and everything else first. And we’re here building development before the roads.” 

“Concurrency,” prior to 2011, required infrastructure to be in place prior to development. 

In August, Bearden voted not to increase impact fees to the maximum amount the current study recommended because he said there wasn’t enough time to conduct a new study. 

Impact fees are paid by developers according to the impact their development will have on the surrounding area.

Bearden’s recent motion to conduct a new study was in response to residents having asked for a moratorium on building during recent meetings. Bearden said raising impact fees is a better way to solve the problem of the county’s overloaded infrastructure.

It’s not the first time Bearden has taken a second look at an issue and made a motion in a new direction. 

In September, he made a motion to restore wetland buffers to 50 feet after the board cut them down to the state standard of 30 feet a year earlier. 

“If you make a mistake, it’s okay to say, ‘I made a mistake,’” Bearden said. “None of us are perfect.”