Point Pleasant residents sue to reverse Bradenton’s Westminster density increase
Nearby residents have filed a lawsuit seeking to reverse Bradenton’s decision to allow expansion of Westminster’s senior living community along the Manatee River.
The suit challenges the city’s approval of higher building density on Westminster Point Pleasant’s property. If the judge rules in favor of the petition, the city would have to invalidate their approval and restart the process.
Protect the Point Inc., along with residents Clare Ward and Jonathan Chalker, filed the suit last month against the City of Bradenton and Presbyterian Retirement Communities Inc., which manages Westminster.
Constance Frazier, part of Protect the Point Inc., said the crux of the suit is the residents’ concerns with proper infrastructure and that the city ignored due process.
“We hope that we will have a favorable ruling of the judge overturning the rezoning so that the city council, along with the neighborhood, can work on a viable solution,” Frazier said.
Mayor Gene Brown and a spokesperson for Westminster declined to comment.
Residents challenge density ordinance
The Bradenton City Council approved the zoning change in August, along with two other ordinances that included a comprehensive plan amendment and future land use map amendment. This suit only challenges the rezoning.
The plaintiffs claim that the ordinance “departs from the essential requirements of law, is unsupported by competent substantial evidence and is infected by procedural due process violations. Most notably, City staff, Applicant’s experts and City Administration told the Council to ignore the required rezoning criteria…to ensure adequate public facilities and instead instructed the Council to rely on the broad language of the development agreement.”
The suit also claims that no development agreement or draft agreement appeared on the record before the ordinance’s second hearing in August. Additionally, when the ordinance was heard by the Planning and Zoning Board in January, the board made a 2-2 vote without a recommendation.
Jane Graham with Sunshine City Law is representing the plaintiffs in the case.
“The heart of the issue is that the city council is not allowed to ignore or invalidate its required criteria that they use when they’re making determinations on rezoning,” Graham said, referring to the criteria in the city’s Land Use Regulations. “In this case, the criteria requires that they consider the impact on public facilities.”
Among the allegations, the suit states the city council failed to show that the public infrastructure would support the density increase, violated due process by making a decision outside of an official hearing and failing to evaluate the impact on the neighborhood.
The suit claims that Planning and Community Development Director Robin Singer advised the city council to dismiss concerns that the fire department raised over water supply inadequacies and other water infrastructure.
Another concern the suit points out is that Westminster representatives did not supply a traffic study or a specific plan for addressing public facilities.
There are also due process concerns, in which the suit alleges Brown closed the public hearing and proceeded to engage in further discussion with city administration about planned infrastructure improvements.
“After the Mayor closed the public hearing portion of the meeting, the public could not comment on any information provided after that point,” the suit states. “The public was not provided notice of any additional information and was afforded no opportunity to review or respond to this information.”
Historic community feels at risk with development
Point Pleasant is a historic neighborhood that is zoned as the Point Pleasant Neighborhood Conservation District, with some homes dating back to the 1890s, including the former home of past Bradenton mayor, Whitney Curry.
“They also failed to adequately consider the preservation of the historic character of the neighborhood,” Graham said.
In August, residents voiced their concerns at the city council meeting about how Westminster’s expansion would affect their neighborhood.
“My home is 127 years old with original wooden windows and door frames, it’s just beautiful,” Ward said at the August meeting. “The heavy machinery vibrations, it’s going to cause foundational cracks, costly damage…my home, like many in Bradenton, wasn’t built to withstand such intense nearby development.”
If the plaintiffs win the suit, Westminster would need to go through the Bradenton’s approval process again to get the density change approved.
“It’s my clients’ hope…that the city adequately considers this project’s impacts,” Graham said.
