Bradenton has shot down plans for a new apartment building. It was all about traffic
Bradenton leaders have rejected outright the plans for a three-story apartment building on a two-lane road that has had issues with traffic.
In a rare move, the City Council denied a chance for the developer to return with amended plans. The 3-2 vote on Wednesday morning effectively kills the proposed project on a 12.4-acre site in the 1200 block of 27th Street East.
Citing the traffic concerns that could come from a large development built just off a narrow two-lane road, the council denied the request that would have paved the way for the apartments.
Councilwoman Marianne Barnebey and Councilman Gene Gallo voted against the denial and took issue with the decision to deny the development without a second chance to hear from the developer. The vote came after Rachel Layton, a planner with the project, asked to come back to the board in October with a revised plan meant to decrease traffic impacts and give city leaders a better idea of what would be developed on the site.
“I’ve been on the council for 29 years. I can never remember denying a continuance when there’s a problem that can be resolved. To say ‘no’ is wrong,” Gallo said.
Barnebey explained that she would rather grant Layton’s request to go back to the drawing board before coming back before the council at a later date.
“They may be able at that time to give us their plans,” Barnebey added. “It’s important to have as much information as possible. “Having this continued would give us the chance to see the plans the neighbors have seen or a new plan.”
But their fellow council members said they couldn’t envision a situation where an apartment complex is compatible with an area surrounded by single-family homes and duplexes.
With traffic issues already plaguing 27th Street East — a two-lane road with little room for potential widening — council members said they didn’t believe expanding the development rights on that land would help the situation. Without the rezone approval, the developer is already allowed to build single-family housing on that parcel without council approval.
“They do have a right to develop and they’ll leave here with a right to develop,” Councilman Patrick Roff said.
Because the council could only determine whether the rezone would be suitable for the neighborhood, Layton was not allowed to describe the site plan for the proposed apartment complex that would be built there. She explained, however, that the owner was willing to build turn lanes into the project, cap the building height at two stories and place the structures away from the road so that vegetation and parking could serve as a neighborhood buffer.
“There are many ways that the Land Development Code can help the staff design the site in a way that it has less impact on the neighbors,” Layton said.
Several residents spoke to the traffic issues that an apartment complex would bring to 27th Street East.
“27th Street is a race track, and we all know it. It’s too narrow,” said Tom Thanas, an attorney representing the nearby Tropical Shores neighborhood. “I think you’re changing the neighborhood and I wouldn’t want to be in the position of doing that.”
Susie Copeland, who lives on 27th Street, said she didn’t believe the rezoning is compatible with the neighborhood, where traffic has only gotten worse.
“As property owners on 27th, we just need some relief,” she said. “We’ve experienced it over the years and it’s constantly increased.”
The City Council noted that 27th Street that the road is maintained by Manatee County. The county is planning to spend more than $16 million in its capital improvement plan to widen 27th Street to four lanes.
While city officials voted to deny the rezone, Councilman Bill Sanders urged his colleagues to speed up the traffic improvement process.
“I think we’ve got to make this is a priority from a traffic standpoint, otherwise that’s not fair” to the developers,” Sanders said.
The City Council agreed to meet with the county and the Sarasota/Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization to discuss options for improving the road.
