Aqua by the Bay project is Disneyfied

“Awkward By the Bay.”

In a phrase, Captain Kathe, in her memorable and heartfelt testimony before the County Commission, captured her feelings and of all those who oppose the Aqua by the Bay project. The developer, Cargor Partners, proposes to create a new gated community between El Conquistador Parkway and a 2.5-mile stretch of shoreline along Sarasota Bay (known as Long Bar Point). The build-out program would include 2,894 housing units, about 2,400 of which in the form of 75 to 145 foot multifamily buildings. The project also seeks to construct 78,000 square feet of commercial space in the form of up to 3,000 square foot retail store modules.

The sticking point was that no one knew the size of the armada of tall buildings that would be amassed ready to assault the visual tranquility of the existing natural shoreline. Perhaps “El Conquistador” Parkway is appropriately named. The commission prudently sent the application back to the planning commission and asked the applicant to fill in the blanks.

If and when Cargor Associates provides the information to the commission as requested, the public may be able to see more of what it will like even less. The developer is seeking to exploit or expropriate the natural beauty of Long Bar Point and remake it into a Disneyfied version of Celebration or Baldwin Park. Highly urbanized mixed use forms of development, such as being proposed, belong in downtown core areas and not on the fringe of the last natural area along Sarasota Bay. The purported economic benefits of real estate development at this location pale in comparison to the revenues harvested by the State of Florida and by Manatee County for visitors to experience the value of what nature has wrought, and not of what humankind can ruin.

Awkward indeed.

This story was originally published May 11, 2017 at 12:22 PM with the headline "Aqua by the Bay project is Disneyfied."