Lakewood Ranch mix and match

Entitlement change means northeast quadrant will be developed similarly to the rest of Lakewood Ranch.

By Pam Eubanks
| 8:10 a.m. June 12, 2019

This map shows the area that makes up the Northeast Quadrant. File map.

East County
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Changes approved by Manatee County commissioners June 6 will allow the northeast portion of Lakewood Ranch to develop in a

IN OTHER BUSINESS

In other business at the Manatee County Commission land-use meeting June 6:

Commissioners approved land-use changes to allow for the future development of a community of single-family rental homes on 30 acres east of Lakewood Ranch Boulevard, adjacent to Wood Fern Trail. The change converted land being used as part of the Lakewood Ranch Commerce Park to residential. Specific development plans must be approved by Manatee County staff members at a later date.
Commissioners asked for an evaluation of the county’s standards for stormwater management as it relates to new development. District 1 Commissioner Priscilla Whisenant Trace said she is worried about potential flooding of land and believes the county needs to reevaluate its requirements for stormwater, for which code currently requires developers to reduce stormwater runoff by 50%. Development has been allowed recently within the 25-year floodplain — meaning a property has a 4% chance of flooding in any given year — which she does not think is OK.

similar way as the rest of the community has been developed for the past 25 years.

Manatee County commissioners allowed Lakewood Ranch developer Schroeder-Manatee Ranch to modify its entitlements for property generally east of Lorraine Road between state roads 70 and 64. The plans reduce overall retail, office and light industrial square footage and increase the amount of residential on nearly 7,000 acres, or about 20% of SMR’s total developable land.

For example, retail will be reduced from 2.67 million square feet in that area to 800,000 square feet, while light industrial will be reduced from 5.6 million square feet to 900,000 square feet.

The number of single-family detached units nearly doubles to 10,000.

SMR representative Darenda Marvin said the changes bring entitlements to a level seen elsewhere in Lakewood Ranch.

“It’s a continuation of the mix that we have,” Marvin said.

Lakewood Ranch has generally been developed at a rate of about 380 square feet of nonresidential use per one home. But the land in question, called the Northeast Quadrant, was approved for about 900 square feet per home.

“It’s really out of balance,” Marvin said.

The changes approved reduced the nonresidential square footage to 417 per dwelling unit.

Manatee County District 5 Commissioner Vanessa Baugh said the request made sense because development trends and patterns change over time.

“SMR keeps its thumb on how things are going,” Baugh said. “For me, I think it’s a good thing.”