BRADENTON – After a lengthy and contentious land use meeting in which environmentalists, scientists and citizens spoke against a comprehensive plan amendment that would diminish county wetland regulations, Manatee County commissioners voted 6-1 to adopt the state’s less restrictive wetland regulations.
The changes to county wetland regulations would reduce the 30-foot wetland buffer for development and remove the 50-foot buffer for environmentally sensitive coastal wetlands to the state’s 25-foot minimum. The changes will require amendments to the county’s comprehensive plan and land development code.
Dan DeLisi, of DeLisi Inc., a land planner and former chief of staff for the South Florida Water Management District, spoke at the Aug. 17 meeting.
“I was asked to look at where there are overlapping regulations where the state is already providing regulations and is redundant,” he said. “There is a proposed amendment in your comprehensive plan.”
Part of that amendment is the removal of state and local regulatory overlap, DeLisi said.
“Essentially what these amendments would do is defer permitting to the state of Florida,” he said. “These amendments do not cause impacts to wetlands.”
The statement provoked laughter and jeers from the audience.
“We’ve got our regulations and you’re saying we should defer to the state. Let’s get to the heart of the request,” Commissioner George Kruse said to DeLisi. “We’re not doubling up regulations. The state doesn’t have regulations per se, the state has set minimums.”
Kruse spoke out against the amendment.
“The state’s trying to take control of this and now we’re trying to give it to them voluntarily before they take it,” Kruse said. “We’re supposed to keep it here, because you all vote for us and we control local and the state controls state. The state is trying to gut wetland and water quality protection. Why are we going to facilitate that?”
Kruse noted that two developers and a developer’s attorney were at the meeting but none of them came up to speak in favor of reducing wetland buffers.
“There’s no way they’re going to go on the record supporting this,” he said. “There’s no way they’re going to put their name and face together with gutting our wetland protection.
“We’re taking everything from the exact same consultant who was against us on the exact same policy twice,” Kruse said, referring to DeLisi and his involvement in previous litigation with the county. “It’s like we won the Super Bowl and hired the quarterback for the losing team to run our team next year.”
Public comment
Suncoast Waterkeeper Executive Director Dr. Abbey Tyrna was one of many speakers who spoke against the amendment to the county’s comprehensive plan during the public comment session of the meeting.
“I represent today the 1,704 people who signed our petition to save our wetlands,” Tyrna said. “Wetlands are tied to our human wellbeing, and they’re tied to our human wellbeing because of the ecosystem services they provide, which is plentiful.”
Tyrna said wetland benefits are tied not only to water quality but to flood regulation, climate regulation, recreation, tourism and local fisheries.
“Let’s talk about policy 3.3.1.5 (of the county’s comprehensive plan) here,” Tyrna said. “It states all wetlands and watercourses will be protected from land development activities by requiring the establishment of natural area buffers adjacent to all post-development wetlands and watercourses within a watershed overlay.”
Based on that policy, buffers are required to be a minimum of 50 feet wide adjacent to all non-isolated wetlands, and a minimum of 30 feet adjacent to all isolated wetlands, she said.
Following public comment during the five-hour-long meeting, Commissioner Jason Bearden made a motion to approve the text amendment, with a second by Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge.
Other commissioners who voted in favor of approval were James Satcher, Amanda Ballard, Mike Rahn and Ray Turner.
Kruse cast the lone dissenting vote.
As the vote was announced, someone from the audience shouted, “Shame!” as others stood up and walked out.
A statement from the county was released following the meeting that said:
“Today the Manatee County Board of County Commissioners voted in favor of transmitting a comprehensive plan amendment to the state of Florida concerning wetland protection policies.
This proposed amendment, if approved would eliminate redundancy and duplication in the permitting of wetland impacts, and development near or around wetlands and surface waters, which are already protected under existing state and federal regulations.
By aligning with numerous other counties and municipalities in Florida, the board’s primary objective is to gain efficiency while still achieving the same environmental results, ultimately benefiting the taxpayers of Manatee County.”
