Bradenton seeks to dissolve Joint Planning Commission accord

A request from Christ Episcopal Church of Bradenton in June to annex about a half acre of property into the city has renewed discussions on the necessity of a 15-year-old accord that led to the creation of the Joint Planning Commission, a non-binding board consisting of various governmental representatives in Manatee County.

The church’s request was approved in a JPC meeting in June that lasted minutes, and it was approved by the city Wednesday. The JPC meeting lasting minutes has typically been the case. The exception was in 2015 when the new Home Depot on State Road 64 East and Morgan Johnson Road wanted to annex into the city prior to its construction.

The county objected to the annexatuib, which launched several weeks of back and forth responses between the city and the county, ultimately leading the city to annex the property anyway. County Commissioner Betsy Benac insisted the county board hear the request before the JPC voted, but the JPC is a non binding board with no real authority. Neither the county nor the JPC can prevent the city from annexing property at the owner’s request.

The accord was created in 2002 during a contentious time between the city and county over the county’s attempt to move to a charter government with decision-making authority over the city. It was also during the time when the city was being sued by multiple entities, including the county, over annexing Perico Island to make room for development. The city ultimately prevailed.

“And now you have several people who were involved with those lawsuits living on Perico Island,” said City Councilman Gene Gallo, who is now pushing to dissolve the JPC and the accord. Gallo has been the chairman of the JPC since its inception.

“Not once as chair, other than the (Home Depot) project, has anyone said, ‘No, you can’t do it,’ ” Gallo said. “It’s a waste of government time and money to have all these people come over for five minutes, smile and say, “Hey, haven’t seen you for awhile,’ and end the meeting. It’s not binding anyway, and even if we got a no vote, we can do it anyway.”

Planning and Community Development Director Catherine Hartley has another reason she would like to see it go.

“It requires some very bizarre advertising and timing,” Hartley said, noting that since the church’s request also was sent to the county commission to hear the request, but not to vote.

“They weren’t supposed to vote on it, but they did,” she said. “Myself and staff had prepared a presentation and they didn’t even let us speak.”

City attorney Bill Lisch said, “The accord has run its course. Perhaps we could informally meet with staff without this major formal process that costs us time and money.”

Mayor Wayne Poston confirmed he will hold discussions with the county and other representatives about potentially dissolving the accord.

“We’ve had this conversation already and they basically feel the same,” he said.

Benac and other county representatives did not respond to a request for comment.

This story was originally published August 3, 2017 at 4:15 PM with the headline "Bradenton seeks to dissolve Joint Planning Commission accord."