Planned Cox Chevrolet lot challenged by appeal from east Bradenton residents

The drama involving the future of an 18-acre parcel of land in East County at the northwest corner of State Road 64 and 117th Street East is headed to a new stage — a court of law.

A group of residents who live near the site have formed a nonprofit, Save Gates Creek and its Neighborhoods, and filed an appeal against Manatee County on the grounds that commissioners’ Oct. 22 decision to rezone the property to planned development commercial and pave the way for a Cox Chevrolet dealership is not consistent with the county’s Comprehensive Plan dictating what can go in a residential area.

The appeal was filed through the nonprofit’s attorney, Robert Lincoln, and will be heard by Circuit Court Judge Charles Sniffen. A hearing date has not been set.

“In this particular case, I looked at it closely to determine whether there were valid claims that can be brought, whether the county really had made a mistake,” Lincoln said. “And I think we’ve identified truly legitimate claims.”

In addition to seeking an order determining the commissioners’ decision was not consistent with the Comprehensive Plan, the appeal asks for an injunction to prevent the county or anyone else from acting in accordance with the rezone.

The primary basis for the appeal rests on the argument that the rezoning to planned development commercial “creates a prohibited intrusion into the existing residential area by proposing and approving a commercial site and use located between two residential sites, with neither residential site separated from the commercial site by an arterial or collector roadway,” according to the complaint filed Nov. 19.

The two residential sites in question are Missionary Village to the east and the 19-acre Lush family homestead to the west. Arterial roads are high capacity, while collector roads connect arterial roads with local streets. The appeal states that 117th Street is a local road.

“The only issues that we can bring in a lawsuit are claims that not only is the decision inconsistent with the plan, but that the aspect that is an issue involves the use density or intensity,” Lincoln said. “While there are, I think, several aspects of this decision that didn't properly comply with the plan, the decision to allow commercial use at that location I think is particularly problematic.”

The complaint states that 117th Street East currently serves only residential uses for communities such as Missionary Village, Osprey Landings, Greyhawk Landings and Copperleaf. But if a car dealership is installed, the complaint says the road will experience an influx of commercial traffic to use the proposed dealership’s 117th Street entrance, including trucks making deliveries that will not be able to U-turn at State Road 64 and vehicles leaving the property to drive east on State Road 64.

The complaint also notes the effect a dealership would have on Gates Creek and on-site wetlands. First, it said an application for dealership permits to the Army Corps of Engineers displayed 2.18 acres of wetland impacts on the site even though the general development plan does not permit such impacts.

Second, the complaint claims that the commissioners did not find “overriding public interest for impacting the 25-year floodplain” located on the site, which is required by the Comprehensive Plan. It also states that the interests of Save Gates Creek and its members are more protected than the interests of the broader community because of their proximity to the site, their use of 117th Street for strictly residential purposes and the possibility for increased flooding at their properties.