Council opens first reading for 345-unit downtown development; evacuation, traffic and seawall funding raised

On first reading May 13 the Bradenton City Council considered a land-development agreement (LDA) and a companion small-scale comprehensive-plan map amendment to redesignate roughly 3.95 acres at Manatee Avenue West and 15th Street West from Urban Central Business District to Urban Core. The applicant proposes a mixed-use project with 345 multifamily units (approximately 94 dwelling units per acre), ground-floor commercial space, a public park along Wares Creek and a multi-level parking garage.

Planning staff said the LDA is needed because the applicant is requesting density above the base and because the site lies in a coastal high-hazard area; the LDA includes a hurricane mitigation/evacuation plan and a binding conceptual site plan. Applicant planner Paige Estegrevia and team reported environmental and traffic analyses, a proposed public-park contribution and an anticipated roughly $12 million parking-garage investment; they said detailed evacuation timing and mitigation language will be refined before second reading.

Council members emphasized traffic chokepoints near Manatee Avenue and the importance of an evacuation plan that accounts for peak exiting conditions in the coastal high-hazard area. Councilwoman Moore asked staff and the developer to provide more definitive traffic and evacuation details before second reading. Council also discussed funding contingencies for seawall repairs: one LDA provision was made subject to mutually acceptable funding agreements with the city or the CRA, and councilors noted that absent a funding agreement the city might need to assume seawall repairs.

The item remains at first reading; the second hearing and public hearing are scheduled for May 27, when the council will consider the map amendment and finalize LDA details.