A new grocery and liquor store is coming to this busy Manatee County road
Manatee County commissioners approved a 57,000-square-foot commercial center — including a grocery and liquor store — along Moccasin Wallow Road.
At the commission’s land-use meeting on Thursday, commissioners voted 5-1 to approve the rezone to allow the project to progress. Commissioner Bob McCann cast the lone vote in opposition.
The project will be built on 10 acres at the intersection of Moccasin Wallow Road and Bud Rhoden Road, and will impact a little more than 3 acres of wetlands.
Representatives for the project did not specify which grocery store will be in the center, but described it as a “pretty traditional grocery store with liquor store layout.”
Planning documents show the commercial plaza will be 54,964 square feet of space for a grocery store and 2,100 square feet for the liquor store. There are also three stormwater facilities surrounding the site.
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While there is a Publix already about 2 miles east at the Gateway Commons shopping center, developers say this grocery store will help residents by providing something on the other side of Interstate 75.
“There’s a Publix, obviously, east of the interstate on Moccasin Wallow, but there’s really nothing on the west side,” said Scott Rudacille, a land use attorney representing the developer. “We think it’s a good use for this area, it’s going to help reduce trip lengths in this area and keep people from having to go through the interchange to get to the grocery store.”
Resident Elizabeth Arnold, who is also a candidate for the District 1 seat, raised concerns about the project’s impact on wetlands, and how traffic will worsen on Moccasin Wallow Road.
“I have a problem with the fact that it’s over three acres of wetlands, and we are paving over wetlands like it was our job,” Arnold said.
With Arnold being the only citizen to comment on the project at the meeting, most commissioners remained in support of the project.
“I think this is an important project. I think this is a needed project,” Commissioner George Kruse said.
Kruse added that the planning commission’s unanimous approval and fact that neighboring residents did not raise concerns helped quell his concerns about wetland impacts.
However, McCann cast the only vote against the project, citing concerns about over-development.
“We’re going to have a concrete jungle if we keep building on any more wetlands,” McCann said before his vote. “And you know we keep talking about grocery stores, but there’s a Publix within, what, less than 5 miles of that.”
