Manatee County District 5 commissioner pushes for building moratorium

Commissioner Bob McCann made it clear during his campaign for a District 5 seat on the Manatee County Commission that he would be representing those who wanted to slow development.

“If there’s a blade of grass, (developers) want to build on it,” McCann said. “I got 42,000 votes that said, ‘Hey, stop the building.’” 

Since being elected in November, McCann has cast votes against final plats, rezoning requests, commercial proposals and an affordable housing land use restriction agreement because the project will add cars to Lorraine Road. 

He also made a successful motion to revert the prior board’s decision to change wetland buffer requirements. 

Now, he would like to see a residential building moratorium on District 5, which includes the Lakewood Ranch area, for one year while he said steps could be taken to prevent any future flooding and to catch up on infrastructure.

While he hasn’t made a motion yet, McCann started the conversation during the Manatee County Commission’s first meeting of the new year Jan. 7. 

“My district wants a moratorium on building,” he said. “Edgewater voted for a one-year moratorium on building. It can be done.”

Whether he gets any support on his idea remains to be seen.

Commissioner Mike Rahn is “100% against” it. 

“Building moratoriums have proven not to be effective,” Rahn said. “They hurt employment in the county within the building industry. There are other things that the county can do, with the board’s approval, to slow down growth if they want to.”

But McCann said Manatee could follow the example set by the city of Edgewater in Volusia County, which is located in Central Florida on the east coast, passed a citywide building moratorium Jan. 6, so its staff could get a handle on the city’s stormwater issues. 

Edgewater has a detailed plan of what will be accomplished during the next year, including the creation of a stormwater master plan and updates to its Land Development Code and Comprehensive Plan.

McCann said Manatee County could follow Edgewater’s model. The moratorium includes exceptions for industrial and commercial uses in certain areas. 

Extreme action? 

District 1 Commissioner Carol Felts said citizens in her district want a moratorium, too, but what might happen is that a districtwide moratorium idea gets whittled down to something extremely specific, such as “until Moccasin Wallow Road is completed, we’re not going to approve any more development on it.” 

“You have to take a little militant action when the pendulum has swung so far to one side to bring it back to plum,” she said. 

Commissioner Jason Bearden said he wants more information first but is willing to consider the idea.

Commissioner George Kruse said moratoriums are too broad of a stroke. With a moratorium, the board would have to deny everything from housing developments to homeless veterans projects. 

Rex Jensen, president and CEO of Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, weighed in from a developer’s perspective. 

“I’m elated that the county commission is finally looking seriously at drainage concerns and that Lakewood Ranch’s Commissioner McCann shares that priority,” Jensen wrote in an email. “I appreciate his participation in the quest for solutions. This is the first time in 35 years that I’ve heard anything from anyone in the county willing to address the problem. I’m dismayed that one of the tools being considered is a moratorium, which I view to be nothing but political, irrelevant, counterproductive, ineffective, and for that matter, illegal.” 

Jensen is correct. Senate Bill 250, currently prohibits construction moratoriums in any county within 100 miles of where Hurricane Ian or Hurricane Nicole made landfall.

McCann said the bill contains “questionable language.” He’s looking into what was actually damaged in District 5 because of Hurricane Ian. If there was no major damage in the area, then the bill shouldn’t apply to the area. 

“We just received a big grant for disaster management,” McCann said. “We should be building and mitigating the last disaster. We should be making sure that we’re not going to flood again.” 

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Specifically, McCann wants to see trash and debris removed from the Braden River and retention ponds dredged. 

He said his plan wouldn’t stop commercial development or parks from being built. The moratorium would only apply to residential projects. 

Kruse is hoping the board considers alternative actions, such as setting clear criteria for building and taking away incentives in places where commissioners would like to limit density and growth. 

“Stop allowing up-zoning of properties in those areas,” he said. “Stop allowing all the extra stipulations for less setbacks and less buffers. Just keep saying ‘no.’”

Saying “no” to Kruse also means keeping the Future Development Area Boundary where it is and removing Policy 2.1.2.8 from the Comprehensive Plan, which allows the board to approve projects beyond the FDAB. 

“Here’s the thing,” Felts said. “I’m here to represent the citizens. I know my citizens want a building moratorium.” 

Ever since Hurricane Debby caused flooding in Lakewood Ranch and Parrish, there have been two specific requests made by some citizens at commission meetings — the findings from the Hurricane Debby independent investigation the county promised and a building moratorium. 

The findings are due to be released during a special work session scheduled for Feb. 19. 

“Rather than forcing a useless legal contest that makes lawyers rich, I offer today a partnership which should begin with a face-to-face meeting in which we share the facts, leaving the politics aside.” Jensen said. 

“Some of these facts we have already gathered, and some facts the county should already have at its fingertips. By sharing these facts, we can quickly figure out an action plan with defined timetables where we (SMR) deal with Lakewood Ranch, and the county deals with anything off-site, which we don’t have the authority to touch. I look forward to that meeting, which can happen yesterday as far as I am concerned, if anyone is serious about actually doing something about the problem.”

McCann agreed during the Jan. 7 meeting that the first step is to sit down with the builders. However, during the land use meeting on Jan. 14, he also made it clear he intends to continue his pursuit. 

“I heard the argument that if we try to do anything to stop the building, then people are going to lose their jobs and take food off the table,” McCann said. “At least they’ve got a table. Those tables, those countertops, those walls, those floors (of flood victims) ended up in the street.”