This family business opened in 1912 to serve farms. Soon it could make way for new apartments

Manatee County's birth began with agriculture and older residents will often be quick to tell you that any number of existing roadways started as dirt roads between this farm and that farm.

"Unfortunately, agriculture has been going away," said Gary Guthrie, owner of Heartland Fertilizer at 917 11th Ave. W. "Look at what's going on out east and you'll understand why. The groves are virtually gone. Lakewood Ranch used to have a lot of tomato farms, but the agriculture community is shrinking and that was our bread and butter. Each year, we keep losing another tomato farm."

The price of progress can be tempting for struggling farm owners. Though agriculture is still the No. 2 industry in Manatee County behind tourism, the question becomes: For how long? And each time acreage of farmland is sold, the unseen trickle down effect is felt by those such as Guthrie.

Guthrie's once flourishing Heartland Fertilizer is a virtual skeleton of its former self. His property is under contract to developers who want to build a three-to-four-story, 150-unit apartment complex. NDC is the contractor should the development move forward and tentatively plans to build a complex in the style of Bradenton's Riversong Apartments, but not as high.

"I've tried to carry on the family tradition," Guthrie said. "I don't have any kids to leave the place to, but I wouldn't wish it on them because of the shrinking customer base. I still make deliveries to lawn care companies and the occasional tomato grove, but I'm a one-man show now."

The development proposal has a long way to go through the zoning process, but that's not the biggest obstacle to overcome. With more than a century of mixing fertilizers on site, an environmental study is underway and there is cause for concern.

Heavy doses of phosphates and nitrogen could be found, as well as arsenic in the back half of the 8.2 acres where there were once railroad tracks used by Ringling Bros. Circus when their entire show toured the country by train. It was used for train car maintenance and repairs and also was the launching point of the circus' annual season on the road, as well as the final stopping point when the season ended.

Palmetto Community Redevelopment Agency Director Jeff Burton said the challenges won't be known until the results of the environmental study are known. Regardless, Burton said the property will be designated as a brownfield.

"The bank will automatically ask for the study on a piece of property that has this history, but this was a fertilizer plant for a century. It's a brownfield and the results of the study will play a key role in how the developer approaches closing on this property. The good news is that the entire area is covered in concrete so hopefully that kept a lot of the phosphates and nitrogen from seeping into the ground," he said.

Burton said the second piece of good news is that the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the state of Florida have invested "all kinds of funding for brownfield cleanup. Any good developer around here knows there are good opportunities in developing a brownfield and know not to be afraid of it. There are a lot of benefits to doing a project like this."

Burton said the only worry has to do with the length of time the plant has been in operation, but the obstacles can be overcome or the still unnamed developer likely wouldn't have placed it under contract.

"It's a bittersweet moment," Guthrie said while digging through old photographs and articles about the plant's history, including a 1973 fire that destroyed two-thirds of the facility. Holding back the emotion, he said, "It's been my life."

The property is zoned for heavy commercial industrial uses. Burton is offering up to $220,000 in CRA incentives over 10 years to help pay for the down-zoning process.

Burton said down zoning from heavy commercial to residential is a costly process and the CRA is using a 2011 incentive package that has never been used before.

"The surrounding properties, especially to the south are all zoned residential," Burton said. "The state encourages all properties, especially nonconforming properties to align with the Palmetto Comprehensive Plan."

Burton said the plant has been there for so long, that it is essentially nonconforming to the surrounding properties, which triggered the incentives package.

"The funds aren't for the development itself," he said. "It's for the rezoning and the amendments to the future land use map."

The property has had a handful of owners. Started in 1912, it changed hands in the 1930s, becoming Producer's Supply. Guthrie's stepfather purchased it in 1962 and changed the name to Producers Fertilizer and has been in the family ever since.

Guthrie took ownership in 1985.

This story was originally published May 1, 2018 at 2:23 PM with the headline "This family business opened in 1912 to serve farms. Soon it could make way for new apartments."