Council OKs special-use permit for Manatee Avenue reception center, caps hours at 10 p.m.

Bradenton City Council on Wednesday approved a special-use permit to allow a reception center (sometimes described as a "club") at 1720 Manatee Avenue West, a waterfront property along Weyers Creek, subject to several conditions intended to limit traffic and late-night impacts.

The council voted 4–1 to adopt the staff-and-Planning-Commission stipulations but to shorten the allowed end time for events from midnight to 10 p.m. daily. Vice Mayor Kramer moved approval with the hours modified; Councilmember Moore seconded. The motion carried 4 to 1.

Staff and the applicants said the owners want to formalize a use that has been operating on the site and to allow primarily outdoor, waterfront events with limited interior space. Assistant planning director Greg DeLong told council the site currently has nine on-site parking spaces and that code allows a planning director to approve off-site parking within 400 feet for nonresidential uses. The applicants presented a signed agreement with First Presbyterian Church to provide overflow parking roughly 700–750 feet away;…