Commissioners approve PDC rezoning for Bourneside/State Road 64 despite strong wetland and traffic concerns
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Summary
The board voted 4–3 to approve a PDC rezoning of roughly 18.6 acres at SR‑64/Bourneside, limiting some uses and capping commercial square footage in places; neighbors warned of wetland impacts and traffic problems, while developers said infrastructure was mitigated under a prior local development agreement.
The Board of County Commissioners approved a request on Jan. 28 to rezone about 18.6 acres at the southwest corner of State Road 64 and Bourneside Boulevard to a Plan Development Commercial district, allowing a general development plan with up to 180,000 square feet of commercial space under specific conditions.
Developers told commissioners the site sits inside the Northeast Quadrant master plan and earlier local development agreements (LDAs) included transportation mitigation and construction of roads to support future build‑out. The applicant said it reduced its originally requested entitlement and proffered a permitted schedule of uses, a three‑story height limit, and a plan to mitigate roughly 2.72 acres of on‑site wetlands through bank credits or other measures.
Residents and conservation advocates said the site contains wetlands and lies near the Lake Manatee reservoir overlay; they argued that filling wetlands and increasing truck and vehicle volumes on SR‑64 would worsen flooding, damage wildlife habitat and create unacceptable safety problems. Multiple speakers pressed the board to wait for state FDOT improvements or to require more on‑site mitigation and stronger safeguards for buffers and wildlife.
Staff said the proposal can be found consistent with the county comprehensive plan, noting available public facilities and prior mitigation commitments under the LDA; staff required operational analyses at preliminary and final site plan stages and stipulated an FAR reduction tied to specific uses (e.g., a higher cap only if self‑storage is included). The planning commission had recommended approval 3–2.
After more than two hours of public testimony and commissioner deliberations, the board approved the rezoning 4–3. Commissioners who opposed the measure said the road network is already stressed and that significant wetland impacts and uncertainty over SR‑64 improvements made approval premature.
What to expect next: The approved PDC includes numerous stipulations and will be subject to preliminary and final site plan reviews and required operational analyses, including any additional conditions or mitigation identified at those reviews.
