Manatee County commissioners approve 80 homes on 18th Avenue East

After a unanimous recommendation for denial by the planning commission, Manatee County commissioners approved an 80-home development along 18th Avenue East near its intersection with Morgan Johnson Road.

Bradenton Estates II was approved at Thursday’s land use meeting in a 4-3 vote with commissioners Bob McCann, Carol Felts and Amanda Ballard in opposition. 

Yoder Land Holdings, LLC is going to build 80 single family homes on 80 acres. However, the homes will be clustered on about 20 acres located on the north side of the property. 

Wetlands, ponds and an FPL easement account for about 53 acres of the site, so Yoder’s request was to rezone the property from Suburban Agriculture to Planned Development Residential to allow for the homes to be clustered together at a higher density than what Suburban Agriculture allows.

Ballard wanted to know how many homes could “realistically” fit on the site if sticking with the current zoning that allows for one home per acre. 

Amy McPherson, the attorney representing Yoder, estimated somewhere between 70 to 80. To which Ballard responded, “How is that possible (considering the unbuildable 53 acres)?”

“The pond can be impacted and be filled; wetlands can be impacted,” McPherson said. “You hit the nail on the head as to why this project has been brought forward. We’ve listened to this commission for the last two and a half years.” 

Yoder’s original proposal was to build three homes per acre and cause impacts to the ponds and wetlands. So McPherson’s argument was that the developer was now leaving two thirds of the property untouched.

Photo by Lesley Dwyer

Commissioner George Kruse called the revisions to a smaller, clustered community “appropriate” and “sensible.” He said requiring the developer to build one house per acre across the entire site, even though there would be less homes, would be worse for flooding and the environment. 

Residents who spoke out against the project said either plan will cause flooding and traffic issues, on top of being incompatible with the surrounding agricultural zoning.

The area isn’t farmland by any means, but several residents in the area keep horses and chickens. There’s a flock of wild peacocks that roam the neighborhood. 

Ballard described the area as filled with “amazing character and Manatee County heritage” and described 18th Avenue East as a “tiny, little road that has no hope of being improved anytime soon.”

Resident Susan Bouley noted that 18th Avenue East has no sidewalks or streetlights, and she prefers it that way. 

“It’s important to the future of our county, as we grow, to have those areas where agriculture is appreciated and is encouraged even west of the interstate,” Ballard said. “We have people who want those lifestyles.” 

Photo by Lesley Dwyer

Commissioner Tal Siddiqe asked Ballard not to conflate the area’s value and impact on the county. 

“This is not agriculture, and this is the kind of stuff that gets us preempted (by the state) because we come up with loose definitions of what is compatible and not, and then we see bills come the following session that force us to say, ‘Nope, you have to approve it — it’s an agricultural enclave.”

The committee-amended House Bill 691 proposes just that. If passed, it will allow certain parcels that border development to be certified as agricultural enclaves. The enclaves would then be treated as if they were within urban service districts and would no longer need to request a comprehensive plan amendment to build residential housing on agricultural lands.

“This is the most compatible thing you can put on this property,” Siddique said.