County Rescinds Controversial Vote on Northwest Bradenton Development

It has taken 10 months, but a northwest Bradenton neighborhood won its challenge to a 150-home development set for Robinson Farms.

The Manatee County commission voted 5-2 on Tuesday to rescind its approval of the development in a controversial vote last year in which the development was first denied and then approved late in the meeting after former County Commissioner Gwen Brown changed her vote. By the time Brown changed her vote, residents had left the public hearing.

The latest vote on Tuesday was a victory — for now, one resident said.

"They have the resources to appeal, and they don't fail to use them," said Gilbert Pierola, one of the residents who has been fighting the Neal Communities project. "I am relieved for the moment."

John Neal had proposed the development as infill, something the county encourages. But the development was proposed for an environmentally sensitive area with zoning designated for one home per acre. Neal wanted to triple the density and won approval last year, even though the county's staff did not recommend the project after data for hurricane evacuation maps showed the area was in a high hazard area and subject to storm surge in a Category 1 storm.

When the residents challenged the commissioners' decision to the state, an administrative judge said that the county erred in its decision, which was in direct conflict with its own comprehensive plan. The judge's opinion was that the issue was beyond debate and that the decision should be reversed.

But the administrative law judge did not have the final say on the matter. His decision was set to go to Gov. Rick Scott and his cabinet for a final determination. The developers had submitted arguments against the judge's determination, but the county had not joined in.

The majority of county commissioners wanted to abandon the original vote to keep the development decision local.

Now that the commissioners have repealed their ordinance allowing the decision, developers have just one option: a Circuit Court appeal.

But the residents' attorney, Thomas W. Reese, said that an appeal would be unlikely because the administrative law judge wrote such a strong opinion. He also said that the county has the authority to rescind an ordinance.

But the developers' attorney, Ed Vogler, told commissioners that they did not have the right to rescind the decision they made last fall.

"Manatee County lost its jurisdiction when it approved the ordinance and sent it on to the state of Florida," Vogler told commissioners.
"The state law is the sole process. You're in it and you have to follow it. ... No part of the process allows the county to reconsider or rescind the ordinance. There is no procedure for what you are considering today."

Commissioners Larry Bustle and Donna Hayes, who voted to approve the development in October, wanted to leave the decision to Scott and his administrative panel. But the other five commissioners voted to rescind the ordinance in an effort to give the county the final say over its own development decisions.