Commissioners vowed to restore wetland buffers. So what happened?

In 2023, when the board of Manatee County commissioners voted to reduce wetland buffers to the state minimum of 15 to 25 feet, several citizens vowed to vote then chair, Kevin Van Ostenbridge, out of office when it came time for him to run for office. 

Van Ostenbridge did, indeed, lose to George Kruse in the August 2024 primary, but the newly formed board, even with Carol Ann Felts, Tal Siddique, and Robert McCann taking seats for the first time, has struggled to restore wetland buffers to the county's prior requirement of between 30 and 50 feet. 

The commissioners were scheduled to vote Aug. 21 to restore those prior buffers, but on Aug. 19, Commissioner George Kruse used his discretion as the chair to cancel that meeting. 

Why? Because he doesn’t want members of the commission, including himself, to potentially be suspended from office.

As it stands, Senate Bill 250 and Senate Bill 180 prohibit local governments from making development regulations that are “more restrictive or burdensome.” 

After so much talk by commissioners about restoring the buffers, the public’s reaction has been mixed over the sudden change in direction. 

Myakka City’s David Dean called the continuance a “wise move.” While Parrish’s Dalton Nelson agreed that it might be wise, he also noted that the last minute cancelation left some residents feeling “betrayed.” 

Kruse told his fellow commissioners that since he wasn’t asking them to vote on the continuance, they could blame him for any backlash that might come from not following through with a final vote to restore bigger buffers.

So it began. 

Bradenton’s David Daniels went to Manatee County's Facebook post of the Aug. 19 meeting and started quoting Kruse leading up to the election. On his own page, he posted compilations of Kruse's quotes. 

These are a few examples from Facebook of the general message Kruse was sending to the public prior to what was supposed to be the final vote to reinstate the buffers: 

July 31: The Manatee County BOCC will be standing up for our constituents on August 21. 

Aug. 10: Thursday, August 21, the Manatee County BOCC will vote to restore your wetland buffers and remove Policy 2.1.2.8 to protect our rural development boundary. A reminder about what we're fighting and why I believe we have every right to do so in spite of SB 180.

Aug. 12: I had a great conversation with 1000 Friends of Florida recently about what we’re dealing with in Manatee County and why we need to move forward with sensible growth management plans like protecting our wetlands.

Daniels called Kruse's action to cancel the meeting a “spineless capitulation to developers.” 

Kruse said he did what was best for Manatee County and laid out several worst case scenarios. He said it could be possible for four members of the commission to be replaced, for example, by Van Ostenbridge, former commissioner James Satcher, unsuccessful commission candidate April Culbreath, and Jennings DePriest, a self-described “professional propagandist." 

“Now, they can pick their chair and start unwinding everything,” Kruse warned. 

DePriest already has taken over one elected office. He is currently serving as the state committeeman for the Republican Party of Florida, a seat Trent Wayman was elected to during the 2024 Republican primary election. 

By March, the RPOF replaced Wayman with DePriest as part of a "Turnaround Plan."

Photo by Lesley Dwyer

In addition to unwinding efforts to restore wetland protections and the development boundary, Kruse said a new board could abandon lawsuits in favor of approvals. 

In June, commissioners denied a rezoning application for Pope Ranch, 217 acres in Parrish where SimplyDwell Homes, a subsidiary of Neal Communities, wants to build 440 homes. 

The developers, SimplyDwell and Manor National Properties LLC, and property owners, Daniel and Rebecca Pope, are now suing Manatee County with a claim that the Popes’ property rights have been violated. 

The lawsuit requests the application’s denial be quashed and states that damages to SimplyDwell and Manor National are anticipated to be “many millions of dollars.” 

Residents in Parrish rallied for that denial because of how severely the area flooded during Hurricane Debby in August 2024. 

The governor only has the power to suspend commissioners. The Senate would have to vote to remove them. Kruse cautioned that a lot of damage could be done in just that 60- to 90-day timeframe in between.

But not every commissioner was ready to cancel the meeting so quickly. 

Commissioner Jason Bearden wasn’t present during the discussion, but he told the East County Observer afterward that he was ready to vote but had a feeling it wouldn’t happen based on a recent letter commissioners received from the Florida Department of Commerce. 

The letter, dated Aug. 15, stated that if commissioners vote to adopt the amendment, they will be in violation of two separate state laws. The letter ends by saying, “Please govern yourself accordingly.”

The Florida Department of Commerce is the state's agency for economic development, business recruitment, and workforce development.

Commissioner Carol Felts suggested changing the scope of the meeting so alternative solutions could be discussed and citizens would still have a chance to be heard.

Commissioner Tal Siddique initially made a motion to appeal Kruse’s decision to cancel the meeting. 

“At the end of the day, we’re seven independent board members who deserve a vote,” Siddique said. “For all this talk about people having their voices heard and all this stuff by some commissioners, we can’t just cancel a meeting over fear.”

But following the discussion, Siddique withdrew his motion. 

Commissioner Bob McCann had seconded Siddique’s motion for discussion, but he told the East County Observer that canceling the meeting was a “sensible decision.” 

“I fully intend to put the wetlands and the development boundary back,” McCann said, “But I’m going to do it lawfully.” 

Now what?

The Aug. 21 meeting was canceled, but commissioners have until Nov. 3 to vote on the comprehensive plan amendments that would restore bigger wetland buffers and stop development past the Future Development Area Boundary. 

If another meeting isn’t held by Nov. 3, the process has to start from the beginning, and it took nearly a year to get to this point. 

Bearden first proposed restoring wetland buffers Sept. 10, 2024. Staff was directed to bring back the amendment that was to be voted on Aug. 21. 

McCann made another motion in January to simply void the ordinance and restore the language as it was originally written. 

McCann's motion passed 6-1 with Commissioner Mike Rahn opposed because of possible litigation, but the county attorney’s office recommended bringing back an amendment as originally motioned by Bearden in order to comply with state statutes.

“We got bad advice from council that delayed this,” McCann said. “We could’ve rescinded it right there (in January).” 

Photo by Lesley Dwyer

When former commissioner Joe McClash sued Manatee County for reducing its wetland protections, his argument was that the ordinance failed to meet the county's requirements to amend the comprehensive plan because the “finding of facts” did not comply. 

The finding of facts is meant to justify why the amendment is clearly in the best interest of the public. 

McClash dropped his suit because he could have been ordered to pay the county's legal fees under Senate Bill 540 if he lost the case, but he said the process clarified at least one point.

"I tried to get a ruling, but the closest I came was an order (from an administrative law judge)," McClash said, "And it clearly states that the county's local requirements have nothing to do with the Chapter 163 requirements."

Chapter 163 is the Florida statute that lays out the procedural requirements to amend a comprehensive plan, which includes proper notice to citizens and a series of public hearings.

However, Manatee County's requirements state that the comprehensive plan can be amended "upon finding that the goal, objective, policy or map sought to be amended is no longer in the best interest of the public."

By that reasoning, the current board could have determined that the amendment was not in the best interest of the public and rescinded what the prior board put in place.

McCann said that the original language that provided for bigger buffers was in effect when SB 250 was signed into law in July 2023, so putting the language back in place would not have been more burdensome in January because the language had already existed under SB 250. 

Now, because SB 180 was signed into law in June and is retroactive to August 2024, the original language is considered more burdensome. 

McCann said now it will take lobbying or a lawsuit to move forward on restoring wetland buffers. 

On July 29, commissioners unanimously approved a motion by Siddique that directed Johnston and Stewart Government Strategies to lobby on behalf of Manatee County to repeal current legislation and oppose any proposed legislation that preempts the county from updating its comprehensive plan or land development regulations.

On Aug. 5, commissioners unanimously agreed to sign a proposal by Pasco County to fix SB 180 by limiting the “more restrictive or burdensome” preemption to only properties that were damaged by a hurricane.

There’s also the possibility that Manatee County will join a lawsuit. Attorney Jamie Cole with the Fort Lauderdale law firm Weiss Serota Helfman Cole and Bierman is asking municipalities to join forces and each contribute $10,000 to seek relief from SB 180’s restrictions. 

If Cole can get at least 10 municipalities to agree, the lawsuit will proceed. Kruse said he spoke with the county attorney about putting the matter on the agenda for the Sept. 2 commission meeting.