Two more development projects recommended for East County

Traffic and tortoises were just two subjects up for debate at the July 13 Manatee County Planning Commission meeting.

“We are inundated now with traffic,” Lisa Pring said. “I represent 321 homeowners in Braden Woods. Everyone is scared to death about what is happening here.” 

Pring is the president of the Braden Woods Homeowners Association, Phases 1-4. Beyond traffic jams, Pring said her community fears D.R. Horton’s proposed residential development on Linger Lodge Road will displace wildlife, cause flooding and create safety issues.

“In Braden Woods, we have children who are picked up early in the morning, and it is pitch black," said Braden Woods' Doncy Beard  "We have very few street lights. The added traffic is a safety concern in that respect.”

Pring and Beard were two of more than 60 Braden Woods and Tara residents who sent letters to the county to object to Horton’s request to rezone 17.8 acres on the southeast corner of Interstate 75 and Linger Lodge Road for residential use. Currently, seven acres of the site is zoned for mixed use development and the remaining acreage is zoned for Agricultural Suburban. 

The plan is to build 99 townhomes and leave 75% of the parcel as green space. After listening to the public's input, the preliminary site plan was passed by the board in a 5-0 vote. 

“A lot of people are concerned with the A.M. traffic more so than the P.M. traffic,” said Michael Yates, the principal of Palm Traffic, a boutique traffic engineering firm. “The capacity of the roadway, 1,190, is based on the Level of Service tables from Manatee County. The existing traffic there (in the morning) is about 350 cars. We add about 50 cars to that, so 400 in total, you’re less than half the capacity of the roadway.”

Pring thought an estimate of 1.25 cars per home would be more accurate for the area. But the biggest complaint by Braden Woods residents is that they are already absorbing traffic from the Linger Lodge expansion and the apartment complexes built behind the Walmart on Ranch Lake Boulevard. 

Residents told the board that Braden Run is seeing more motorhomes and big trailers since the Linger Lodge reopened, and motorists living in the apartments are using it as a cut-through street to get to Interstate 75 and University Parkway.

Board member Ray Turner said traffic aside, District 5 needs affordable housing. While board member and Braden Woods resident Paul Rutledge said he would vote to add traffic to his own neighborhood because the project is a good balance between development and green space.

“When you can keep 75% of an area undeveloped, that’s a good barometer for me,” Rutledge said. “I think this 75% open area gives (the wildlife) a better chance.” 

Wildlife, and gopher tortoises in particular, were discussed in regards to another project passed unanimously by the board. Sand Branch LLC is seeking to expand the Hillwood development by 57 single family homes on 19.43 acres along Waterline Road. The original 195 homes were approved in 2013. 

The request includes a modification to the general development plan and a rezone from General Agriculture to Planned Development Residential. But residents were more focused on the past than the future when airing their objections to the project.

“(Sand Branch LLC) said, on this property that they want to have rezoned, that the clear cutting for agricultural purposes was done years ago. It was done nine to 10 months ago before Hurricane Ian came through. I know because I saw the bulldozers,” said Mark VanDeRee, a representative for the Waterline Road Preservation Group. “In the process of them doing that clear cutting, they trampled on the tortoises.”

Because gopher tortoises are listed as threatened, the tortoises and their burrows are protected under state law. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission states on its website that “Gopher tortoises must be relocated before any land clearing or development takes place.” 

Whether or not the land was cleared illegally was questioned by Dorothy Rainey, Manatee County's principal planner, who thought the land was cleared after the hurricane. Rainey said other projects were under review as well because hurricanes do not provide a “free-for-all” to clear cut without permits in anticipation of development. Under county code, “in anticipation of development” requires a permit. 

Attorneys for Sand Branch disputed the claim they were responsible, saying they don’t even own the property yet. They said the Ellis family has owned the parcel since 1925 and has clear cut the land three times in the last 100 years.

The sale is contingent on the project’s approval. 

Although both projects were approved by the Planning Commission, both projects still have to gain approval from the Board of County Commissioners.