Manatee commission, Long Bar Pointe reach transportation settlement agreement

MANATEE -- Manatee County commissioners approved a settlement agreement Thursday with the owners of Long Bar Pointe.

The commission unanimously approved the settlement, which was signed by development partners Carlos Beruff and Larry Lieberman on March 24, during Thursday's land use meeting.

The settlement agreement relates to the lawsuit filed by developer Cargor Partners VIII/Long Bar Pointe LLLP in 2013, citing transportation conditions in a 2004 site plan for a portion of Long Bar Pointe.

"It represents what we view as a balanced result that eliminates any risk to the county of paying monetary damages or attorneys' fees, and it treats the developers just as they would be treated today if they came in without all this history starting from scratch," Assistant Manatee County Attorney Bill Clague said Thursday. "They still have to follow our rules. They still have to meet our policies. They still have to mitigate their transportation impacts."

But the settlement agreement does have its downsides for the county, Clague said. Under the settlement terms, the developers will not be obligated to reimburse the county for a portion of the cost for the El Conquistador Parkway construction.

"The developer no longer has to waive impact fee credits for the right of way and pond sites that they dedicate to us," he said. "They would be released from the payment of the per unit reimbursement for the cost of the roads."

While the case has been in pretrial litigation for more than two years and was scheduled to go to trial in early January, this agreement resulted from one final settlement discussion the county initiated before the trial began, Clague said.

"The settlement proposal that you have before you today reflects what we proposed the beginning of the year, and it is what I've been calling the 'clean slate approach,'" he said.

While the settlement has no bearing on the ongoing litigation relating to the environmental policies, the development of Long Bar Pointe and any transportation requirements will now have to comply with the county's current standards and practices, according to agenda materials.

"They will have to do their traffic studies and mitigate

their improvements just like any other developer would, so they would come in under today's rules and have to follow them -- just like, for example, Lake Flores across the road from them," Clague said.

With the approval of the settlement agreement, the county now must hold two public hearings, one to remove the transportation stipulations and the other to terminate a local development agreement for Long Bar Pointe.

Other details of the settlement agreement include that no monetary damages or attorneys' fees will be paid by the county and the developers will receive impact fee credits in exchange for right-of-way and easements.

"Plaintiffs will not receive any development rights or development advantages as a result of the litigation or settlement," according to agenda materials.

With Thursday's approval, the county essentially reverted back to the original 2004 approval of the development.

"The original approval of this high-rise development was not contingent on this arrangement that came in a couple years later, which created what is now a considerable lawsuit," Clague said.

Commissioner Betsy Benac, who represented Lieberman in 2004 on the preliminary site plan, said she likes "the idea about the clean slate."

"I am really glad to see this come forward," Benac said.

Commissioner Carol Whitmore expressed her appreciation that El Conquistador Parkway was built ahead of time.

"There has been nothing built on either side and we have actually been using it, the citizens of Manatee County, since it's been built," she said. "Thank goodness you have given us a thoroughfare for the west part of town and south."

The partners are involved in a separate suit against the county to invalidate rules that preclude them from developing the waterfront at Long Bar Pointe. In January, a Manatee County judge ruled that the suit and an $18 million payout the developers demanded lacked merit in the face of state law.

The developers have since filed an appeal with the Second District Court of Appeals in Lakeland.

"The County Attorney's Office remains fully committed and stands ready to defend the county's position in that case throughout the appeals process," Clague said.

Also on Thursday, the commission:

Approved a rezone to Planned Development Residential/North Central Overlay and a General Development Plan for 84-unit residential project, which is located on 29.53 acres located on the north side of Rutland Road and east of U.S. 301. The project, Khilnani Parrish, would include 34 single-family semi-detached units and 50 single-family detached units.

Approved a large scale map amendment to residential-office-retail and residential- 12 dwelling units per gross acre on 19.49 acres of land located on the south side of U.S. 301 at 5111 Oxford Road.

Claire Aronson, Manatee County reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7024. Follow her on Twitter @Claire_Aronson.

This story was originally published April 7, 2016 at 11:41 PM with the headline "Manatee commission, Long Bar Pointe reach transportation settlement agreement ."