Rally calls for commissioners to deny approval for Aqua by the Bay

It was almost like déjà vü for those gathered at the roundabout at 53rd Avenue West and 75th Street West on Saturday afternoon.

More than 100 concerned citizens held signs and voiced their opposition to Aqua by the Bay, a development proposed by Carlos Beruff that he hopes to build nearby.

Signs reading “Save the Bay,” “No Aqua” and “Mangroves don’t need a haircut” were held up as cars drove by honking their horns in support of those standing inside and around the circle.

Aqua by the Bay is a proposed 2,894-home development on 529 acres between El Conquistador Parkway and Sarasota Bay. It’s expected to include multi-family building products, one of which is a proposed 10 stories with parking underneath.

Those at Saturday’s rally said they fear the developers will spoil the last stretch of untouched shoreline along Sarasota Bay.

“A lot of people here are from Cortez… They are concerned that there’s a 2-mile stretch of pristine mangroves. The mangrove fringe is essential habitat and ecosystem. Virtually every commercial and ecologically important species of fish … live and depend on the mangroves,” Andy Mele, a co-organizer of the rally, said.

Joel Christian, Manatee County’s environmental planning division manager, said in a previous meeting that mangroves and sea grasses would not be affected. And no dredging is proposed as part of Aqua by the Bay, he said.

According to the development’s website, aquabythebay.com, Aqua by the Bay would preserve 98.5 percent of the existing coastline.

Environmental concerns have dominated public comment at past commissioner’s meetings on the development. Several of the concerns touch on potential degrading effects on hundreds of acres of mangroves.

Mele said their hope is for the mangroves to stay connected to the shore, and that they will not be trimmed or relocated.

“Up until now, you could say ‘well, we’ll let this go because there’s more left.’ You can’t let this go because there isn’t any more left,” said Stuart Smith, another co-organizer of the rally.

In a 3-2 vote, Manatee County Planning Commission recommended approval earlier this month. Now, it will go before the Board of County Commissioners at 1:30 p.m. Thursday for final approval.

Mele, Smith and the hundreds of protestors are calling for the commissioners to deny the proposal for Aqua by the Bay.

“We’re trying to gather the forces. Sort of channel and marshal the opposition and start to build momentum,” Mele said.

“If there’s any place (the county’s comprehensive plans) should be applied in its full force, it’s here because it’s the most environmentally sensitive property left in Manatee County. That’s what were asking the commissioners to do. Just to use all the tools they have and all the laws they have, which are meant to protect places like this, to actually protect them,” Smith said.

But it’s not the first time people have gathered in opposition to development in this same area. They’ve said it’s like 2013 all over again, when they protested a similar project from the same developer.

The development’s previous iteration, called Long Bar Pointe, was denied in 2013. Developers filed a lawsuit against the county, but circuit and appellate court-level judges ruled in the county’s favor.

This story was originally published April 29, 2017 at 3:54 PM with the headline "Rally calls for commissioners to deny approval for Aqua by the Bay."