Manatee commissioners deny ‘The Point’ mixed-use plan amid floodplain, access and neighborhood concerns

The Manatee County Board of County Commissioners on Sept. 4 denied a preliminary site plan called The Point, a proposed mixed-use development of 36 multifamily units and a 100,000-square-foot mini-warehouse on a 9.09-acre parcel west of the intersection of State Road 70 East and 60th Street East in Bradenton.

The denial came after staff presentations, technical testimony from the applicant’s engineers and environmental consultants, and public comment from the Girl Scouts of Gulf Coast Florida and other neighbors who warned that the parcel sits within FEMA’s 1% annual-chance floodplain and in coastal hazard zones. Commissioner Bob McCann made the motion to deny; Commissioner Phelps seconded it and the board voted to deny and directed county attorneys and staff to prepare written findings and return the item to the Oct. 9 land-use meeting.

Staff and the applicant described the site as a 9.09-acre infill parcel in the PDMU zoning district that is already designated for mixed use. The applicant said the project would place a three‑story, 36-unit building over parking on the northern portion of the site and a four‑story, 100,000‑square‑foot…