Manatee postpones development vote, delaying showdown with Florida officials
Worried commissioners could be removed from office, Manatee County Commission Chairman George Kruse postponed two votes that would have prompted a showdown with state officials.
Kruse announced the schedule change at the end of Tuesday’s public meeting, stating the risk of commissioners being removed from office was too high to proceed with the potential restoration of wetlands protections. State leaders have suggested that voting to restore wetland buffers and reverse an ordinance allowing for development beyond the Future Development Area Boundary would be a violation of state laws.
“As terrible as it is that there’s a dystopian scenario where people can just remove people from office for disagreements over vague, burdensome language, it’s still the fact,” Kruse said.
Manatee County received letters from FloridaCommerce on Friday stating the board’s proposed amendment would be classified as more “restrictive or burdensome” and the board would violate two state laws — Senate Bills 250 and 180 — if they adopted the amendments.
“If the Commission pursues this path; this could form the basis for a challenge to the validity of the amendment,” the letter from Secretary of FloridaCommerce J. Alex Kelly states.
According to Manatee County spokesperson Bill Logan, Thursday’s Land Use Meeting will go on as scheduled, but the board will not consider approving the two ordinances. Members of the public can still attend the meeting and provide public comment.
Manatee postpones controversial vote
Kruse added that if the board voted to approve the amendments, he anticipated a lawsuit would be filed the following day, thus prohibiting the ordinances from taking effect.
“The frequent flyer developer attorneys are going to run across the street and file a lawsuit,” Kruse said.
Kruse expanded on the potential fallout by saying the state could suspend commissioners for voting to approve the amendments.
“All Tallahassee has to do is have the implication of believing they’re correct and they can suspend us,” Kruse said.
Then, he said the Florida Senate would have the right to hear the case and potentially remove the commissioners. He said the state could then replace commissioners with whoever they choose, suggesting the reinstatement of former Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge and James Satcher as examples.
Kruse said he did not want to run the risk of losing the board’s solid representation.
“This board is the most thoughtful board that Manatee County has had for a long time,” Kruse said. “I’m not going to have anyone on this board suspended over a token vote that has no actual implications on Manatee County.”
Kruse used chair discretion to postpone the vote, and other board members had the opportunity to appeal the decision. Commissioner Tal Siddique moved to appeal the decision.
“We can’t just cancel a meeting over fear,” said Siddique, who eventually rescinded his appeal. “I understand your fear and all the points you made ... but people deserve to have their voices heard.”
Despite pushback from several state agencies, Kruse and other commissioners have vowed to restore wetland buffers and end the rule that allows development beyond the FDAB. Commissioners have proposed joining a lawsuit challenging the legal basis of the state laws that would prevent them from making these Comprehensive Plan amendments.
In a recent post to his Substack newsletter, Kruse wrote, “Manatee County’s new Board of County Commissioners promised changes in how we manage our growth and our environment during the 2024 elections. We are going to honor those promises and continue moving forward with our plans — your plans — to reinstitute our wetlands buffers, rescind Policy 2.1.2.8, update our comprehensive plan and increase our impact fees to the maximum extend allowable.
“If some developer wants to force us to spend your hard-earned tax dollars on legal fees to defend your rights against their frivolous lawsuits just so they can try to retain control and squeeze a few more dollars of profit out of another poorly-planned development, then that’s just what we’ll do.”
Board planned to vote on development rules
The Land Use Meeting would have focused on two text amendments to the county’s Comprehensive Plan. One of those amendments would have restored the intent of the county’s Future Development Area boundary, which prohibits higher densities and managing urban sprawl to the east.
The other amendment addressed wetlands protections and, if passed, would have restored more generous wetland buffers, which county officials voted to remove in 2023. The wetlands buffers were originally part of the county’s Comprehensive Plan in 1989.
The buffers required a setback of 30 to 50 feet and required builders to take extra precautions to mitigate the environmental effects.
In May, the county contemplated restoring these protections but received letters of opposition from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Southwest Florida Water Management District, Florida Department of Transportation and Florida Department of Commerce.
The Board of County Commissioners faced opposition from the state and state agencies, arguing the county’s intent to move on these amendments would violate Senate Bill 250 and Senate Bill 180.
The bills prohibit local governments from placing more restrictive or burdensome land-use policies on areas impacted by Hurricanes Ian, Debby, Helene and Milton.
While SB 250’s development code restriction has an expiration date of October 2026, SB 180 is a new piece of legislation with staying power. Its ban on “more burdensome or restrictive” local development rules expires in late 2027, but could be reactivated by new hurricanes.
This story was originally published August 19, 2025 at 4:30 PM.
