Lakewood Ranch-area residents protest possible gas station

The currently grassy lot on the southwest corner of 44th Avenue East and White Eagle Boulevard could be developed into a gas station, but some nearby residents say a gas station is incompatible with the residential area. 

Residents from surrounding communities, which include Central Park, Mallory Park, Indigo, Harmony and the Esplanade Golf and Country Club, have joined together to form the Lakewood Ranch Community Action Group. 

About 30 members of the group gathered at the intersection to protest a possible gas station Nov. 1. They dressed in red and waved signs that read, “No gas station,” and directed passing pedestrians and motorists to the group’s website, NoGasStation44th.com. 

The group also started a petition on Change.org that has accumulated over 2,000 signatures.

An application for a gas station has not been submitted to Manatee County. However, a pre-application meeting was held Sept. 26 and a request for a “zoning verification letter” was submitted by Katie LaBarr with Stantec Consulting Services Inc., on behalf of RKM Development on Oct. 6. 

Equitable National Property Company LLC is the current owner of the 3.25-acre parcel. The company’s registered agent is Pamela Curran, the vice president of finance for Neal Communities of Southwest Florida, Inc. 

LaBarr’s letter asks the county to confirm that “the current zoning allows for a convenience store, fueling station, 24-hour use and beer/wine sales.”

Morgan Sanchez with Manatee County Planning and Zoning Tech Development Services responded Oct. 28 with confirmation that retail sales, neighborhood convenience stores and gas pumps are permitted uses for the property. 

Sanchez also noted that the Zoning Department does not regulate hours of operation and the business would need to obtain a beverage license from the state. 

Photo by Lesley Dwyer

Residents’ concerns largely stem from the proximity of that location to B.D. Gullett Elementary School and Dr. Mona Jain Middle School because so many students walk and bike to and from school. 

Mallory Park’s Maryann Goetsch is particularly concerned about children coming to and from Harmony at Lakewood Ranch because she sees so many of them on scooters. 

“They put a gas station here, and all the kids that go to Harmony have to watch out for this random driveway off White Eagle,” she said. 

That’s not to say the group is completely against the lot being developed. Goetsch said a daycare would see less traffic and is a needed service in the area, whereas gas stations are aplenty on State Road 64 and State Road 70. 

Other suggestions from the group included medical services, a yoga studio or realty office — in general, uses that won’t further congest an already congested area. 

Indigo’s Suzanne Henke said a gas station will also cause drivers to make frequent u-turns. 

Henke researched the Manatee County Land Development Code and other gas stations located near middle schools around the county. 

“From what I found, there are two (gas stations) less than 1,000 feet from middle school sites in Manatee County,” she said. “And both abut U.S. 41 and a commercial district. All the rest are 1,000 feet or more.”

The group deems 500 feet from Mona Jain Middle too close for a gas station, but the LDC doesn't state an exact measurement. 

The code states that a service station should "provide sufficient distance" from a school or similar facility "to minimize hazards to pedestrians or vehicles, minimize congestion and to protect the attractiveness of the immediate area of such facilities."

Residents in Central Park worry that a gas station is also too close to their 29 interconnected ponds. 

"We're concerned that if a big rain comes and washes gas or diesel into our ponds, it'll just go from one to the other to the other," said Xavier Berkness, the secretary for the Central Park Homeowners Association. "We spend well into five digits a year to maintain our ponds."

But the overlying complaint across neighborhoods is that a gas station simply doesn't fit with the area. 

The group complained that Schroeder-Manatee Ranch is failing to protect the corridor’s character in the same way it protected the character of Lakewood Ranch Boulevard.

SMR noted that it has not had control of the property for more than two decades. The entire parcel, from Lakewood Ranch Boulevard to White Eagle and 44th Avenue East to Malachite Drive, was sold to Neal Communities in 2004.

Attempts by the East County Observer to reach Pat Neal were unsuccessful.

“We love capitalism, but you’ve got to find the right mix,” Esplanade’s Dan Creek said. “This isn’t an industrial type area for heavy commercial uses.”