BRADENTON — The Florida landscape is covered with wetlands ecosystems that provide unique habitats for a variety of wildlife, as well as work as natural water purification systems.
Those two factors have been the rationale for the volumes of rules and regulations used to protect wetlands from development.
The Manatee County Commission on Tuesday listened to various ideas about how to change wetland protection policies in the comprehensive plan.
During the workshop, Joel Christian, environmental program manager in the county’s natural resources department, provided an overview of the current development policies and how other counties handle protection of wetlands.
Christian said federal state and regional agencies regulate most wetlands use and development, but where the county has oversight, on wetlands of less than one-half acre, he suggested changes that permit more flexibility.
He talked about creating a Manatee County Environmental Improvement Fund landowners can pay into when they have to destroy wetlands for development.
This would be similar to the county Tree Trust Fund, which allows developers to cut down trees and deposit money into the fund, which is used to plant trees elsewhere in the county.
With the environmental improvement fund, developers, who are now required to create new wetlands if their projects affect existing wetlands, would instead pay into the fund for the county to use to expand or improve its conservation areas, such as Robinson Preserve.
These proposed changes did not sit well with Marilyn Stasica, a member of the county planning commission.
“This amounts to a blank check to developers,” Stasica said. “The wetlands are the kidneys of the Earth.”
County Commissioner Joe McClash said he was not necessarily against the idea, but the comprehensive plan and land development codes would have to be carefully written to establish an environmental fund.
“We need to have a close look at the definitions,” McClash said. “We don’t want to be paving over (viable) wetlands.”
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