MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. — A big win for residents in Manatee County who have been calling for accountability following severe flooding from recent storms.
At the county commission meeting Tuesday, commissioners voted to reverse their controversial decision to reduce wetlands buffer zone protections.
That decision brought the regulation in line with the state minimum of a 25-foot buffer zone between sensitive wetlands and construction sites. Critics of the change had argued that such a uniform measurement doesn't consider differences in regional topography.
The surprise move, which came after an extensive discussion, restored the county-wide wetlands buffer zone regulation to its original 50-foot requirement for new developments.
Many who live in Manatee County have long said the buffer zone protection in the comprehensive plan should never have been changed in the first place and have accused some commissioners of taking the side of developers and their special interests over keeping the community safe.
They said recent flooding incidents were a perfect illustration of how that decision has contributed to jeopardizing their lives and property and that the reversal is a step in the right direction.
"It's a great start and I was really happy to see the commissioners pass that. We weren't expecting it but wanted the discussion to at least begin," Parrish resident Chris Whittaker said.
While his home was spared, Whittaker said he witnessed first hand what Debby's floods did to his neighbors homes. He was also able to get a birds eye view with his drone to get a better understanding of the scope and impact.
"Just something I've never seen before since I've grown up here and all the hurricanes I've been a witness to. This one far exceeded any other one especially flooding wise and I really noticed a lot of changes over the years and really starting to question why all the water kind of did what it did," Whittaker added.
Over the past year, along with extreme changing weather, he said he's seen the impact of what he calls poor decision-making by county officials.
This was coupled with the lack of proper stormwater management capacity after the unprecedented rainfall inundated the reservoir at Lake Manatee. This forced the release of water from the dam which worsened the situation for properties downstream.
That's why Whittaker and other impacted neighbors have been pushing for answers and changes and have called the situation a wake up call.
"Development here has just gone crazy, there's construction everywhere and with the rain recently it's been washing out into the ditches and the sewers and really backing up the water and recently with the wetlands buffer that was taken back just recently I think it really took away where the water could get out," Whittaker said.
Realizing the error of that vote in August last year, the commissioners restored the 50-foot wetlands buffer with a motion from Commissioner James Bearden who was supported by Commissioner George Kruse, the lone vote against the change in the first place.
Neighbors celebrating this reversal as a result of their pressure on leaders are still calling for more changes and reviews to be made, especially when it comes to new housing developments and infrastructure.
"I'm not relieved yet. There's still some repairs and things at the dam and other things that, you know, need to be addressed and I think they're doing that too. I think we're going down the right path and we're definitely communicating well and we respect everybody here and we just want to make our community safe because our neighbors are our best friends," Whittaker said.
This issue of the wetlands buffer zone change was the subject of a lawsuit which had to be dropped by the litigant because he would have had to pay for the county's legal fees due to a recent law. Commissioners discussed dropping the legal fee but voted that down for the time being to get more legal counsel on the issue.