Manatee County denies release of University Park conservation easements

Manatee County commissioners denied a request by Benderson Development to release 14 conservation easements on Oct. 17, but the issue isn’t settled just yet.

Director of Development Todd Mathes said the company’s “window is short” before the next hurricane season, so Benderson will be making a request for the board’s reconsideration “within days.”

“We consider this the most urgent, pressing priority we have as a company,” Mathes said.

The easements add up to 54.22 acres. Three are located within University Park Center, and 11 are within the Cooper Creek area.

The easements protect wetlands, wetland buffers, wetland mitigation areas and upland preservation areas. However, Benderson contends that the easements are making it difficult to solve flooding issues in the surrounding area.

Had the request been approved, part of the developer’s plan was to mechanically engineer a portion of the wetlands into a stormwater pond and transform some of the forested wetlands into herbaceous wetlands that can better handle water fluctuations.

“The flooding that we’re seeing is because we’re not designed for 12 and 14 inches (of rain) in 24 hours,” said Clint Cuffle, engineer of record for University Town Center, Nathan Benderson Park and the Cooper Creek area.