Aqua by the Bay comes back to Manatee officials. Developer Beruff has a new request
The controversial Aqua by the Bay development is coming back before the Board of County Commissioners this week.
Developer Carlos Beruff is set to ask commissioners to consider a change to the plan for the 529-acre development on the west side of El Conquistador Parkway along Sarasota Bay. The topic has been added to the agenda for discussion during Thursday’s Land Use Meeting.
When Manatee County approved the project in 2017, the agreement was that Beruff could build 750 units at a time before he had to come back and get the preliminary site plan for the next set of 750 housing units approved. The project is set to include 510 single-family homes and 2,384 multi-family units, as well as 78,000 square feet of commercial retail.
A construction team worked on the first three single-family homes included in the Aqua by the Bay community on Monday afternoon. The project previously known as Long Bar Pointe has already cleared several obstacles, including lawsuits, environmental protests and contentious board hearings.
Right now, the preliminary site plan for 446 units has been approved by the county, with another 316 in the pipeline — bringing the total to 762 units.
Because that exceeds the 750-unit limit, county staff suggested Beruff attend a public meeting for the board to consider the proposal.
“While preparing for the pre-application meeting, staff found it difficult to determine what procedure the applicant was to follow, considering the threshold for issuance of the 750 units would soon be reached, no residential units are completed to date and the applicant anticipates submitting applications for more units,” county staff wrote in a report.
According to a project narrative attached to Thursday’s agenda, Beruff is prepared to argue that the county initially said approval had to be earned following the completion of those 750 units, not the preliminary plan approval.
Commissioners will consider a motion to remove the stipulation and no longer require a public hearing following the completion of 750 units at Thursday’s meeting, which is set to begin at 9 a.m. Thursday in the Manatee County Government Administration Building, 1112 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton.
This story was originally published February 4, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
