- June 15, 2025
Loading
Residents living in the Tara community have been battling developers for so long, they’ve developed a routine that includes putting on red shirts and taking a tour bus to the Manatee County Administration Building.
That bus pulled up May 8 to a land use meeting as the Tara residents let commissioners know that they oppose a proposed apartment complex on Stone River Road.
“We got there as early as we could to make sure our block (of red shirts) was in place,” said 22-year Tara resident John Woolley. “We were pleased with the number of red shirts we were able to turn out. I think that had an impact on commissioners.”
Commissioners voted 5-2 to deny the request by Micron Investments LLC for a three-story, 72-unit apartment building.
Commissioners Mike Rahn and Tal Siddique were the dissenting votes because both felt that an apartment building was a less intense use than the currently zoned commercial uses, which include a drive-thru restaurant and a gas station.
The rest of the board deferred to the wishes of the Tara community.
“Your voices have been clear, strong, and they’ve been consistent,” Commissioner Jason Bearden said. “For me, your advocacy has made a difference, and I commend you for continuing to fight for the character and the quality of your neighborhood.”
Bearden also noted that property owners take risks on properties that require zoning changes, and they take the risk with “the full knowledge of the existing zoning regulations.”
Residents said they would prefer commercial over residential for that parcel, but they could be taking a risk.
Rahn warned the group that a Big Ed’s Car Wash would bring in 150 to 200 cars a day, but Woolley doesn’t think a commercial access for that location is realistic because he said the traffic pattern is so bad on Tara Boulevard. The site is set back from State Road 70.
Siddique said if the market supported a commercial use in that location, then a commercial use would already have been built on the site.
This same residential project went before the board in 2023 and 2024. Wooley said Robert Lincoln, the attorney who represents the Tara Master Association, will stay vigilant because the project could come back for a fourth hearing.
The Tara Master Association keeps residents informed and involved.
The association has a community activities group and several committees underneath it, one of which provides the coordination and funding of loading residents onto a tour bus when they need to be downtown for a commission meeting.
That wasn’t the first time the group traveled together. Woolley said it’s easier to rent a bus than to find so many parking spaces downtown.
He drives himself because his wife Cathy Woolley “brings so much stuff with her.”
For the most recent meeting, she brought printouts of approximately 500 emails that were sent to commissioners opposing the apartments. She stacked the papers on the podium before addressing the commission.
More than 20 residents took the bus May 8, and that was despite the fact a lot of Tara homeowners have left for the summer. Woolley said the tour bus would have been more crowded had this matter come up in February.
Over 100 homeowners attended the virtual neighborhood meeting in June 2023 when the proposal was initially made for 156 apartments on 7.5 acres, instead of 72 on 5.99 acres.
This battle began in 2023, but two years is a mere blip in time when considering the prior battle lasted 11 years.
Lake Lincoln, Tara’s developer, wanted to create a 3.3-acre sub-parcel on the northwest corner of State Road 70 and Tara Boulevard in 2010. Commissioners denied the request, and Lake Lincoln filed a lawsuit against Manatee County claiming its property rights were being denied.
Residents never backed down. They wrote emails to commissioners. They bought red shirts. They attended every public hearing.
In the end, the county bought a total of 55.33 acres, which includes 45 acres of wetlands, for $3.6 million to settle the case with Lake Lincoln.
“We’re used to this kind of thing, and the community hangs in on it,” Woolley said, “But our community activities committee is taking a breath right now.”