County staff raises doubts about Aqua by the Bay’s tall buildings — now at 16

Developer Carlos Beruff’s proposed Aqua by the Bay project would have 16 buildings exceeding the county’s maximum height of 35 feet allowed.

“Per our meeting with staff on June 2, 2017, the applicant has committed to a maximum of four 145’ tall buildings and twelve 95’ tall buildings,” according to a June 7 document from the development team to Manatee County. “The number of buildings with a height between 36’ and 95’ will be determined by the market.”

The county planning staff received the additional information this week in documents from the developers, even as the proposed development was already in jeopardy of losing the staff’s support.

“We haven’t reviewed them yet,” Nicole Knapp, the county’s planning section manager, told the Herald late Thursday. The goal, she added, is to still have the proposal back before the planning commission again in July.

Slightly more than a week after county staff asked for additional information, the development team responded to each of the county’s 14 comments providing more details, which contrasted the project with nearby Lake Flores, approved by the county commission in August 2015.

At the heart of the debate: how many tall buildings the project includes, and where they would be built.

Beruff and the project team have refused the Herald’s requests for comment outside of public hearings.

“Unlike ‘Lake Flores,’ which committed to a maximum number of stories, our application denotes a maximum building height,” the applicant’s June 7 report states at least twice. “The height of building stories has varied over time, based on where the floor is vertically located in the building, the architecture, the uses in the building, and most importantly, the market. We respectfully request that the information provided is more transparent than offering a maximum number of stories, and ample for the staff and Board to properly analyze the height of the proposed buildings.”

Aqua by the Bay, Beruff’s latest proposal to develop 529 acres between El Conquistador Parkway and Sarasota Bay, just to the south of 53rd Avenue West, is scheduled to go back before the planning commission on July 13 and the county commission on Aug. 16.

Transparency at issue?

Before the commissioners’ May hearing, both staff and planning commission had recommended approval. That was before the building height conflict surfaced.

On May 4, county commissioners referred the controversial development back to the planning commission because they wanted more information about how many buildings would exceed the maximum height of 35 feet allowed.

The developers commissioned an engineering report, dated May 16, stating that a maximum of four 145-foot-tall buildings are planned. But that did not satisfactorily address the commissioners’ requests, according to a county staff document dated May 30.

“Please note that upon further review of Land Development Code 402.7.D.9, staff is of the opinion that the revised submittal does not satisfactorily address the Commissioners’ requests, nor the LDC, thereby placing the project in jeopardy of not meeting the necessary deadlines for the July Planning Commission agenda, as well as a recommendation of denial from staff,” the document states.

The staff’s May 30 document, which includes 14 detailed comments from county staff, asks the Aqua by the Bay development team to address a number of topics, including specifics in regard to the building heights.

“It is not possible to identify if the proposed development creates any external impacts that would adversely affect surrounding development, existing or proposed, waterfront vistas or entranceway areas when the proposed location is so broad,” the document states.

Two sentences in the original staff report were misinterpreted from the applicant’s proposal: “Two multi-story buildings, with heights greater than 35 feet, for multi-family residents are proposed,” page 7 of the staff report reads. “One building is 75 feet tall and five stories; the other building is 145 feet tall and thirteen stories (10 stories over parking).”

“We have two building types,” Ed Vogler, the attorney representing developer Carlos Beruff, clarified during the May 4 meeting. “I’ve not read it to be two buildings, and I thought that would be a wrong impression. ... We do not know how many buildings. That is subject to later designs.”

This story was originally published June 8, 2017 at 9:33 AM with the headline "County staff raises doubts about Aqua by the Bay’s tall buildings — now at 16."