- December 4, 2025
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While Manatee County hosted a workshop Monday at the Lakewood Ranch Library to discuss three upcoming projects — baseball fields at Country Club East Park, soccer fields at Premier Park and the Cortez Marina Boat Ramp — the baseball fields were the most hotly debated project by far.
The county plans to convert the current multi-use field at Country Club East Park into three youth baseball fields. The fields will include bleachers, dugouts, backstops, perimeter fencing and expanded parking.
The estimated cost is $6.4 million.
Two factions of residents emerged. On one side, there were residents of Country Club East who want to preserve their tranquil, passive park. On the other side were parents desperate for more youth baseball fields to accommodate their children closer to home.
Lindsay Champion’s 6-year-old son Luke and 10-year-old son Jack play baseball with Lakewood Ranch Little League. She has to drive from The Isles at Lakewood Ranch to Buffalo Creek Park in Palmetto for practices twice a week.
Despite the drive, she said her boys are lucky to have spots in the league. Parents “in the know” stay up until midnight the day registration opens for a new season so their kids don’t end up on the wait list.
The county doesn’t have enough fields to accommodate all the children who want to play youth baseball in East County. Manatee County Deputy Director Bryan Parnell said about 200 kids landed on the waitlist last spring and fall.
Country Club East resident Darrel Drury used to play youth baseball. He loves the game and is not against more fields in Lakewood Ranch, just not at Country Club East Park. He said youth baseball fields are not an amenity that will serve his neighborhood well.
Some Country Club East residents said they enjoy the passive nature of the 15-acre park. They would prefer it not be further developed. But if changes have to be made, they’d like upgrades such as a bocce ball court or a walking trail with exercise stations.
Drury said even a multi-generational park with a tee ball area would work, but not three fields that he said will flood the neighborhood with lights, noise and traffic.
What especially bothers Drury about the project is that he and his neighbors weren’t asked for their input on plans for the park.
“We had no idea this was going to happen,” he said. “One gets tired of having government agencies constantly coming at you with their plans for how you’re going to live your life.”
Residents argue that the plan goes against the county’s master plan, as well.
The 2021 Manatee County Parks, Recreation and Open Space Master Plan identified Country Club East Park as a “local park,” which is defined as a park “people can walk or bicycle to without encountering heavy traffic. It serves the population of a neighborhood or community in the radius of up to one and one-half miles.”
Parnell said the park is not exclusive to that radius. He used the example of the Cortez Marina Boat Ramp.
“We want input from everybody in the county because it’s a county amenity,” he said. “It’s serving people with boats that are out east, as well, and they’re taxpayers of Manatee County.”
County Administrator Charlie Bishop noted that the park was initially purchased (in 2016) with the intent to eventually build it out with either soccer or baseball fields.
The meeting’s intent was to clear up any misinformation about the project, not to change course.
Residents were under the impression that the lights will stay on until 11 p.m. Molly White, Director of Sports and Leisure, said the county’s lighting is scheduled to operate until 11 p.m. across the board, however, the county does not schedule youth baseball past 9 p.m.
Alan Dolhi, the president of Lakewood Ranch Little League, and Nate Carr, the vice president, also attended the meeting.
Carr said the league pays for the lights, so they’re turned off when they walk off the field, which he said has been by 9 p.m.
White also noted that the county is using top-of-the-line LED lighting that shines down exclusively on the field. The lights won’t project beyond 15 to 20 feet of the field’s perimeter.
As far as potential noise, Carr said the league doesn't use a PA system.
Some Country Club East residents remain unconvinced that the fields won't be a disturbance. They also find the price tag to be exorbitant.
Drury said that since Manatee County is currently undergoing a financial audit, they’ll be presenting their concerns to Florida’s CFO Blaise Ingoglia and the DOGE Task Force, as well.
Commissioners still have to approve the final construction contract, which will likely happen by the end of this year or in early 2026. If approved, construction will start in early 2026 and take about a year to complete.
