Beyond our city's boundaries…

Although this is an Anna Maria blog, we are part of a larger community and as such I wanted to assure you are aware of several recent actions taken by the Manatee County Commissioners.

1. This past Tuesday the Board of County Commissioners, with the exception of Commissioner McClash, approved PA-10-02 Robinson Farms. This Plan Amendment would raise the current density from 1 unit per acre to 3 units per acre on property located within the Coastal High Hazard Area and the Coastal Planning area. Our Comprehensive Plan Objective 4.3.1 limits development type, density, and intensity in the Coastal Planning Area and directs population and development to areas outside of the Coastal High Hazard and Coastal Evacuation Areas. This obviously goes against our Comprehensive Plan and should have been denied.

Manatee County has a 49 hour level of evacuation. We should not be increasing density within the Hurricane Evacuation Zones we should be reducing density.

This is the second try to increase density on this parcel. The first was in 1997 and was denied by the Department of Community Affairs because density was being increased in the Coastal High Hazard Area.

If you are so inclined please contact the following to voice your concerns and call to action:

Ray Eubanks ray.eubanks@dca.state.fl.us and copy chris.wiglesworth@dca.state.fl.us

2. Also approved by the Board of County Commissioners, with the exception of Commissioner McCash, was PSPI-09-13(Z)(P) Solar Biomass Integrated Power Plant. There has not been a needs analysis done for this project. There are unanswered questions as to how much where water will come from to operate the plant and how used water will be disposed of. There are air quality issues. Currently Manatee County doesn't monitor fine particulates. How and where will the ash be disposed of?

3. The County, again with the exception of Commissioner McClash, passed PA-10-05 Evers Reservoir Watershed Amendment. This allows the reuse of reclaimed water within a specific area of the Evers Reservoir Watershed. This is where the City of Bradenton gets its drinking water. This has been prevented in the past in order to err on the side of caution. This reuse water will meet quality standards that are now in place. What isn't in place are standards for pharmaceuticals, and chemicals such as pyrethroid insecticides. We are just learning the harmful effects of these unregulated chemicals. The long term consequences of individual chemicals and combinations of chemicals are unknown. It seems prudent to continue our current policy until we know more.