In a highly contested vote on Thursday night, Manatee County commissioners advanced a proposal to modify the county’s growth plan, potentially opening the door for the developer of Lakewood Ranch to build 7,000 homes directly east of the master-planned community, across a county boundary meant to constrain urban sprawl.
The commission voted 4-3 to allow the development proposal to proceed by transmitting the growth plan change to the state. The vote is not a final approval of the project but allows it to keep advancing in the face of community opposition.
Commission Chair Vanessa Baugh and Commissioners George Kruse and James Satcher voted against the motion to send the proposal to the state. They cited concerns about letting the development gather momentum before the commission has a chance to fully evaluate the larger question at play – whether they should honor the existing urban service boundary line, known as the Future Development Area Boundary, or mod
1 month ago Share Vanessa Baugh’s handling of the pop-up vaccine clinic might just be what the Manatee County commissioners needed to get on track.
Disruption is hard. Often messy. Full of strife and stress.
Especially in politics.
The metaphorical daggers, snippy barbs and disrespect come out. And the new gang in charge is prone to rookie mistakes, mistakes that make the Old Guard say to voters, “See, we told you those people weren’t up to the job.”
This is what Manatee County citizens have been watching ever since the November elections. A new majority took control of the Manatee County Commission, with three of the four in the group being elected for the first time Commissioners George Kruse, Kevin Ostenbridge and James Satcher.