Suburb approved for city-owned land in Bradenton

The city intends to sell the property that is near Ward Lake, a public reservoir

MANATEE COUNTY — A proposal for a gated, 600-home subdivision on land the city of Bradenton intends to sell near its reservoir and water treatment plant received the Manatee County Commission’s approval Thursday.

Commissioners Vanessa Baugh and Robin DiSabatino dissented in the 5-2 vote. Both said they cannot justify adding more traffic to often-congested Honore Avenue.

The homebuilding firm Taylor Morrison is considering a mix of single-family homes, villas, condominiums and townhouses on the 200-acre property 1,350 feet east of Lockwood Ridge Road, north of Honore Avenue and west of Ward Lake (also known as Evers Reservoir).

The exact combination of residential types will depend on market demand, said Darenda Marvin, a land-use planner with the Grimes Goebel law firm representing Taylor Morrison.

Plans include a community pool, clubhouse and passive park.

Planners compared the project to Taylor Morrison’s Esplanade community in Lakewood Ranch, which offers single-family homes and attached townhomes.

Two entrances will have access from Honore Avenue.

Road impact fees paid for those new homes can go toward improvements on Honore Avenue, Marvin noted.

Yet Baugh expressed concerns that no such improvements are in the county’s capital improvements plan because road impact fees collected in the area are already pledged to the ongoing eastward extension of 44th Avenue East.

Stormwater runoff from the development will drain into retention ponds and then Ward Lake, the city’s reservoir on the Braden River — and not into Rattlesnake Slough or a ditch in the nearby Silver Lake neighborhood that residents say flood after heavy rains, county stormwater engineer Thomas Gerstenberger said.