Bradenton Times News Articles

In a regular meeting on Monday, the Palmetto City Commission will hold a public hearing for a proposed ordinance for regulating mobile food vendors or "food trucks". After an unannounced cancellation of its expected meeting last week, the Council of Governments will have its quarterly meeting on Tuesday, and the BOCC will meet in the morning on the same day, when it will vote on the proposed new wetland ordinance. The Bradenton City Council will hold its first regular meeting of the month on Wednesday, and the Planning Commission will convene on Thursday.

Waterline Road residents have been put on ice for a decade, waiting to see what the county's Comp Plan had in store. At Thursday's Land Use Meeting, residents got a taste of the inevitable; the life they moved to rural Manatee to get away from will soon land in their back yard. Did commissioners postpone the action to soften the blow, or was it just a pause to lick the envelope which seals their fate?

At Thursday's Land Use Meeting Commissioners voted to amend Ordinance 13-15, to allow "pet hens" to be exempt from being referred to as farm animals (chickens) only. Commissioners approved, with "special considerations," a permit for the Goodwill corporate campus at 51st Avenue and U.S. 301. And in other business, after hours of debate, Commissioners continued the Martin/Hillwood development until June.

The Council of Governments meeting that had been scheduled for Tuesday at the Bradenton Area Convention Center was abruptly canceled. No notice was given to press and no details as to why the meeting was canceled were available as of press time. As of now, it is postponed indefinitely.

It's a slow week for local governments. On Tuesday, they will convene for the quarterly Council of Governments meeting at the convention center. On Thursday, the Manatee County Commission will hold a special land use meeting.

Back in February, The Bradenton Times first reported that county officials may have violated Florida's government in the sunshine law after the county commission delegated chairman Larry Bustle to negotiate a new contract for county administrator Ed Hunzeker, failing to give public notice of those negotiations, or otherwise conduct them under public meeting laws. The county attorney's office would only respond that they had “not violated sunshine statutes,” without explaining how their actions, which stood at odds with the law, could be somehow exempt.

At Monday's MPO meeting, Whit Blanton of the Renaissance Planning Group delivered a presentation of how to plan for a new reality at the helm of the MPO. The MAP-2, a new federal transportation law that shoots to change many metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), in how they develop plans and fund them.

It was a light meeting for the Bradenton City Council on Wednesday evening. After its second reading and after giving it a public hearing, council members approved an ordinance that will amend the city's form-based code policy. Gene Brown was absent from the meeting.

At Tuesday's BOCC meeting, spectators learned about some of the value wetlands play in our everyday way of life, by both environmentally concerned citizens and the special interest heavy hitters that ringmaster the process of local government. For citizens, wetlands are the last frontier to protect, if water is to remain safe and available. For developers and mining interests, wetlands remain something very different: an obstacle to more profits. In Manatee County, it's not hard to guess which side has the most leverage.

At Tuesday's BOCC Meeting, commissioners had a full plate. County Attorney Bill Clague struggled to convince the board and citizens that there really weren't many changes in the "Wetland Ordinance" revisions, but it was nonetheless important to make them now. Cheri Coryea from Neighborhood Services shared the successes that the Rubonia Civic Center is experiencing in its second try to make things work, and the meeting also included some great citizens' comments.