Latest plan for East Manatee dealership is still ‘fundamentally flawed,’ residents say
An amended plan to build a car dealership in a residential part of East Manatee hasn’t been enough to convince residents that it’s a good idea.
More than 1,800 residents have signed a petition against the proposal to rezone an 18-acre site at the corner of 117th Street East and State Road 64, paving the way for a new Cox Auto dealership. Developers pitched the idea to the Manatee Board of County Commissioners earlier this year but opted to postpone the hearing in order to modify the plan.
Those tweaks, neighbors say, don’t adjust the biggest problems with the proposed development — flooding, traffic and neighborhood compatibility. The board is set to consider the updated plan during Thursday’s Land Use Meeting, starting at 9 a.m.
“They didn’t change anything of significance, just a few plants and a fence,” said Jim Hengel, a Greyhawk Landing resident and organizer with the Say No to Cox group. “It was all cosmetic.”
In a pair of public hearings in January and February, the group organized to fend off the development, arguing that it just wouldn’t fit in the plot of land that’s adjacent to existing single-family homes.
The updated plan also changed the dealership’s points of entry, including a dedicated right turn lane on the north side of State Road 64 to alleviate congestion issues. Despite the updates, several issues remain, concerned neighbors said in an interview with the Bradenton Herald.
“It’s fundamentally flawed in terms of compatibility,” said John Rhodes, a civil engineer and Greyhawk Landing resident.
“Traffic and flooding and all of those issues just don’t go away,” Hengel added.
Developers have contested those claims, noting that the site is technically a thoroughfare intersection, which is where the Comprehensive Plan typically allows heavy commercial uses like car dealerships. Cox is planning a 150,000-square-foot store in the area.
The Cox Auto Group already operates two dealerships on Cortez Road in Bradenton.
In August, residents met with the developer to discuss changes to the plan. According to a letter from Scott Rudacille, the attorney representing Cox, the neighbors were more concerned with having the dealership built elsewhere than discussing a modified proposal.
“Much of the discussion at the meeting centered on a desire for the project to be relocated to another site, but the substantive comments and concerns were considered and changes to the plan were incorporated,” Rudacille wrote in the letter sent Wednesday morning to Commission Chairwoman Betsy Benac. “We were not aware of any desire to hold additional meetings, nor did it appear that such meetings would be productive.”
While lines of trees, a 10-foot wall and 2.25-acre stormwater pond are expected to serve as buffers between the development and the neighboring homes, Rex Cowden, another Say No to Cox organizer, says Manatee County has to consider how a dealership is used.
“We see a car dealership as a commercial heavy, regionally serving business that’s not compatible with the surrounding neighborhoods,” Cowden explained. “We don’t have anything against Cox. It’s the fact that this is an operation that doesn’t fit.”
“If you look at Cortez Road and U.S. 41, all the dealerships are there because that’s where they make sense. This is a piece of land that’s surrounded by residential uses on all sides,” he added.
The Cox rezone is the only item to be discussed during Thursday’s meeting. More than 100 affected neighbors from Greyhawk Landing, Eagle Trace, Copperleaf and other subdivisions, are expected to speak out against the development.
“They really have to listen and hear what we have to say,” Hengel said, describing the group’s effort to encourage commissioners to deny the proposal. “No one that really listens can say yes to this.”
This story was originally published October 21, 2020 at 10:57 AM.
