Manatee planning board agrees to end boundary-line exceptions

A Manatee County boundary line established in 1989 to keep development to the west and a rural lifestyle to the east could become a more formidable barrier if county commissioners follow Thursday’s lead of their advisory Planning Commission.

The Planning Commission voted 5-1 to eliminate a 2021 provision that allowed certain conditions for development of suburban-style projects east of the Future Development Area Boundary:

• If the land under consideration east of the line actually touched the boundary;
• And if the land under consideration actually touched land that actually touched the boundary.

• In both cases, the projects had to managed by a master developer who is responsible for all of the infrastructure.

With the change, those conditions would be swept away.

Planning Commission member Jeff Eslinger cast the no vote.

“Manatee County is a destination,’’ he said. “People are going to continue to come, so I think the conversation needs to be generated to plan for this growth, and the way I look at this is you are more or less shutting it down. I don’t think this is the right way to go.’’

Eslinger added more conversations need to take place about growth and infrastructure, so “at this time, I’m just not agreeable to it.’’

 The change doesn’t cut off the possibility of any development east of the line's current location, but rather adds more thresholds to cross – such as changes to the county’s comprehensive planning documents that would ultimately alter the line as a whole, said board member Lorraine Prosser.

“Through the comprehensive planning process, the FDAB might move, it’s already moved in its history and that can happen again,’’ she said. “I think planning for that is fine, but I think at this time . . . it is where it is and I don’t think it restricts it from changing down the road.’’

Following a conversation in January about a building moratorium in Manatee County,  commissioners asked county staffers to formulate a proposal to eliminate the conditions that allowed for development east of the line. Thursday’s item before the Planning Commission was the result of that request.

Two projects have successfully crossed the line into the region governed by more sparsely inhabited acreage. In 2023, Taylor Ranch and East River Ranch were both approved east of the line. At maximum build out, each would add 4,500 homes or more.

Senior Planner Elizabeth Shulman said the intention of the boundary is several-fold — it marks the edge of county-provided utilities, acts as a brake on urban sprawl, and protects the watershed of Lake Manatee, which provides drinking water to Manatee County and parts of Sarasota County.

Lots east of the boundary are generally 5 acres or more.

“Urban sprawl is a development pattern characterized by low density residential housing, car-dependent transportation, single-use zoning – so not mixed use – increases in impervious surfaces, which lead to flooding and increases in infrastructure costs,” she said.

She said roads in the eastern areas of the county were not designed or built to accept the burdens of such development. “Higher intensity development would deteriorate level of service, add congestion and delays and create a higher risk of crashes.’’

Residents of eastern Manatee County have through the years been adamant about holding the position of the boundary between their way of life and the more urbanized areas to the west. 

Miami-Dade County was the first region in Florida to employ a similar dividing line, and Lexington, Kentucky was the first in the nation, largely to protect the area’s horse farms from encroaching sprawl.

 In other action:

Expansion approved

Planning Board members voted 6-0 to permit changes in rules governing University Park Country Club’s development, advancing a proposal to expand the club’s recreational and dining facilities.

Residents in early 2024 approved bond-borrowing of up to $21 million to finance the projects that would boost recreation and dining space from 33,000 square feet to up to 65,000 square feet. Plans date back several years, and began to jell in 2023, said Mark Barneby, with the law firm of Blalock and Waters, PA

“We saw that we might need some additional square footage, we wanted to be careful, and so that’s why we’re here,’’ he told Planning Board members considering the changes to the so-called planned-development residential regulations. “Interestingly, some of the larger country club facilities in this area don’t have caps on their uses, but for some reason we do.’’

The bond vote to finance the projects, which passed with a 62% to 38% margin in January, 2024, was challenged and now an appeal rests with the Florida Supreme Court. The legal proceedings were not part of last week’s discussion.

Among the projects envisioned as part of the expansion:

• Kitchen renovation and modernization
• Fitness center renovation and modernization
• New activity space
• Administrative workspace

Rezoning approval

Planning Board members also voted 6-0 to initially approve a rezoning from agricultural uses to residential on a plot at the southeastern corner of Lorraine Road and 44th Street.

Envisioned to become the Chalets of Lakewood Ranch, developer plans propose 35 detached homes along a single street, which would run parallel to 44th Street, with cul-de-sacs on each end. The only entrance would be at 44th Street, where a cut in a 20-foot wide median already exists.

Linda Stewart of Morris Engineering said the property would include a stormwater retention pond and would be surrounded by a six-foot high fence.

Traffic estimates call for about 25 trips in and 14 trips out of the neighborhood. When asked why the proposal calls for access only via 44th Street, she told board members the threshold for an additional access point was 100 units, and the property abutted a turn lane on Lorraine Road that could make exiting and entering the neighborhood difficult.