Right mix for rezone request in Bradenton?

Some Mill Creek residents say they know commercial development will occur near their homes, but they hope Manatee County can offer protection against how the development impacts them.

Property owner Entrust Freedom LLC is seeking to rezone a 10-acre parcel near the northeast corner of State Road 64 and Lorraine Road/145th Street East from agriculture to general commercial, a move that was approved by the Planning Commission. Per Manatee County’s land development codes, general commercial zoning is meant “to provide a variety of retail uses and services in free-standing parcels or shopping centers to serve the community’s general commercial needs.”

Uses allowed include a gas station and a shopping center.

Mill Creek resident Barbara Duval, whose property backs up to the Entrust site, said she hopes a large buffer will be provided.

She also said 145th Street East serves as a primary entrance from S.R. 64 into that section of Mill Creek and can be used as a cut through to Rye Road. She hopes the county could consider modifications to the road to limit outside traffic through the neighborhood.

Mill Creek’s Scott Buttari said he opposed the general commercial zoning instead of planned development commercial, which is on neighboring commercial properties. The PD-C zoning would require a site plan to come back before the board, while the general zoning would not. He hoped the county could put more restrictions on the type of commercial development that could occur on the site.

“The applicant doesn’t have the ability to proffer any types of uses here,” Buttari said. 

Manatee County Principal Planner Margaret Tusing said  the general commercial district would require any developer to meet the county’s buffer, setback and lighting requirements. 

The project now will go to the Manatee County Commission in December for consideration.

In other business, the Planning Commission:

° Recommended a proposed map amendment for a 50-acre site off Lorraine Road be transmitted to the state for evaluation. The change would allow up to 150 units per acre, compared with 50 on the property, which is located on the east side of Lorraine Road, about 500 feet south of the future Rangeland Parkway.

° Recommended approval of Rye Crossing, a proposed 118-single-family-home community on roughly a 40-acre site on the east side of Rye Road, north of its intersection with Upper Manatee River Road.