Whiting Preston's Manatee County development plans will harm community

Well, good gosh and golly gee, Ned! Whiting Preston has another plan to shed his munificence on the poor peons of Manatee County. His proposals for new developments in southwest Bradenton (Cortez) will contribute mightily to the 11,000 residences planned for Lake Flores and Peninsula Bay. Kind-hearted Preston guarantees that this explosion of new homes will magnificently improve the quality of life ... for himself.

At a time when Holmes Beach has already drawn up plans to exclude non-residents from accessing the beaches adjacent to their fair city because of excessive traffic, Preston is going to improve things by adding thousands of vehicles to the one roadway leading from his development to Anna Maria.

He claims his development is about the environment and providing people "access to the water." He blithely admits that his projects would add thousands of daily trips along Cortez Road, but he cynically dismisses the problem by asserting that his project would "only be part of a problem that already exists."

Cortez is already subject to gridlock during "season." If Preston has his way, his developments (which he likes to call "walking communities") will turn southwest Bradenton into a vast parking lot with no access to Anna Maria Island. There will be no option but to walk anywhere, including the beaches.

Preston's greed failed to materialize the Arvida/St. Joe's plan to build 13-story apartment buildings on Perico Island. His current developments are another example of his total disregard for the community from which he plans to suck even more wealth.

Do you think Manatee County commissioners will sit idly by as Preston fills his pockets while he destroys the quality of life for the rest of Manatee's residents?

Ed Siemaszko

Perico Island

This story was originally published October 22, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Whiting Preston's Manatee County development plans will harm community ."