Manatee County officials move to restore wetland protections after election shakeup

The Manatee County Commission could roll back controversial changes to wetland protections that were approved last year.

In a surprise announcement during a recent meeting, Commissioner Jason Bearden proposed reversing course on the changes he voted in favor of after a series of contentious hearings. The move follows a primary election that saw two sitting commissioners lose races to maintain their seats on the board.

“I want to make a motion reversing the policy. Go back to the 50-foot buffer,” Bearden said.

Last October, the Manatee County Commission voted 6-1 to shrink the wetland buffer that Manatee County Government requires for development along environmentally sensitive lands. The change was suggested to county leaders by a building and development interest group.

The updated policy matches the state standards, but environmental experts urged county officials to maintain the larger buffers, pointing to research that shows how it benefits water quality, flooding reduction and local wildlife.

“Larger buffers do more than smaller buffers. That is written in every textbook,” said Abbey Tyrna, executive director of Suncoast Waterkeeper.

But the county hired a private consultant, Daniel DeLisi, to argue the opposite position. DeLisi, a former member of the South Florida Water Management District, argued that the county’s larger buffer rules were not a meaningful improvement over the state standard.

“I do want to say unequivocally that these changes do not cause impacts to wetlands,” DeLisi told commissioners in a public hearing.

At the time, most commissioners also argued that they could not support keeping the larger buffers because they believed it infringed on private property rights, preventing residents from taking advantage of the land they own.

“I don’t believe in more government regulation,” Bearden said during those hearings. “I never have and never will.”

Commissioners ultimately voted for the change over the protest of hundreds of residents who submitted comments, attended public meetings and signed petitions opposing it.

Manatee officials may restore wetland protections

Bearden’s reversal drew criticism from some fellow board members who also voted in favor of the changes.

Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge questioned whether going back would open the county to lawsuits.

“This isn’t like it was before where we’re awarding people entitlements,” Van Ostenbridge said. Now the government is coming and taking property rights and taking entitlements away from property owners.”

“This is a very sensitive matter throughout Manatee County, not only for citizens but with the development industry and land owners too, so I think this would be my recommendation to workshop this,” said Commissioner Mike Rahn.

But Commissioner George Kruse, the only board member who voted against the wetland changes, quickly supported Bearden’s idea. He argued that a workshop would only cause further delay in a lengthy process.

“This isn’t like we’re voting on it next meeting. This is the kind of thing that has to go through all the hearings, the Planning Commission again,” Kruse said, noting that November’s election will see three new commissioners elected to the board. “Even best-case scenario, this isn’t coming before the people sitting up here now, so why have a workshop with people who aren’t going to be here to vote for it?”

Local residents, environment advocates react

During public comment, several residents applauded the board’s decision to restore the buffers.

Mark Van De Ree, an East Manatee County resident and spokesperson for the Waterline Road Preservation Group, blamed wetland destruction for some of the area’s flooding issues.

“We are 100% in favor of going back to the original buffers,” Van De Ree said.

Water quality advocates who fought the county’s campaign to remove the wetland protections were also happy with the reversal.

Rusty Chinnis, chairman of Suncoast Waterkeeper, said he thinks voters sent a clear message about their concern for wetlands and other issues in the primary election.

“I always thought that the voters of Manatee County cared about the wetlands. I want to commend the board for listening to that,” Chinnis said. “It was the right thing to do.”

“I think this is just a first step,” Chinnis added. “We need to do more, not less, to protect our wetlands.”

“I was delighted by the decision,” said 16-year-old Brice Claypoole in an email. “I think this is a very important issue. Our wetlands are wonderful places. They’re a home for our wildlife and serve many essential services such as filtering our water, housing economically important species, and buffering our community from flooding. I think Hurricane Debby really drove home the danger of destroying our wetlands.”

Last year, Claypoole helped organize a campaign of dozens of students who wrote to commissioners and asked them to reconsider removing the wetland protections.

“I think it’s pretty obvious that they saw the results of August’s primary elections and realized that voters will hold them accountable for their decisions,” Claypoole said.

What happens next?

The county attorney’s office advised commissioners that a public hearing process will be required to revert the changes previously made to the county’s Comprehensive Plan.

Commissioners voted unanimously to begin the process. Their motion instructed county staff to bring back the necessary amendments to the Comprehensive Plan to restore the county’s former wetland protections.

The changes will require another set of public hearings, but a timeline for those meetings has not been determined.

Commissioners discuss wetlands lawsuit

The board’s decision to begin rolling back the updated wetland buffer rules followed a debate over whether Manatee County Government should seek nearly $250,000 in attorney’s fees from a former commissioner who filed a lawsuit against the decision.

Joe McClash, a Republican commissioner who served from 1990 to 2012, filed a legal challenge earlier this year, but he voluntarily dismissed his case after a judge said he would not be allowed to depose commissioners.

Despite the lawsuit being dismissed, a new Florida law means that McClash could be on the hook to cover the costs of the lawyers Manatee County hired to defend against his lawsuit.

According to public records reviewed by the Bradenton Herald, those fees exceed $247,000.

“Just because the state gave us the right to manipulate the laws and go after people for exorbitant fees doesn’t mean we have the obligation to do so,” Kruse said. “I personally have no intention of collecting that money from former Commissioner Joe McClash.”

Commissioner Bearden made a motion to drop the county’s claim for attorney fees and received support from Commissioner Kruse. But when put to a vote, it failed 4-2.

Commissioner Van Ostenbridge argued that the board should allow the case to proceed with the option to refuse to accept McClash’s money if he loses.

“We can let the process run its course and then decline or accept a settlement at a later date,” Van Ostenbridge said.

The next hearing in the case is set for 9 a.m. on Oct. 15 in Tampa.

This story was originally published September 18, 2024 at 5:50 AM.