A Manatee County stop-work order on Cargor Partners VIII-Long Bar Pointe was lifted two days after it was issued.
“They passed their inspection this morning so work can continue,” John Barnott, director of Manatee County building and development, said in a Nov. 18 email.
“They are still under notice of violation for the encroachment into the conservation easement,” he added, saying a reconstruction plan is being prepared.
In addition to a Nov. 16 stop-work order, the county cited the development company headed by Carlos Beruff and Larry Lieberman for violating the county’s land-development code — bulldozing into wetland buffers and disturbing earth, trees, shrubs and plants in a conservation easement and removing at least two trees without approval.
The developers of a 529-acre proposed Aqua By the Bay mixed-use subdivision, about 5 miles southeast of Cortez on Sarasota Bay, began excavating three ponds on 19.1 acres in mid-October work under a Southwest Florida Water Management District “permanent farming” exemption.
Timothy A. Knowles, registered agent for the developers, acknowledged receipt of the Nov. 16 notices of violation, but did not respond by press time for The Islander to a request for comment.
The county’s conservation easement is in the Legends Bay subdivision, adjacent to the Cargor Partners VIII-Long Bar Pointe property off Conquistador Parkway in Bradenton.
An Oct. 31 survey of the area shows the encroachment — clearing, grubbing and earth moving — on 8,962 square feet within the 1.19-acre conservation easement.
The easement, which prohibits excavation without county consent, has been held by Manatee County since June 2007, according to county property records.
In the stop-work order, Barnott told the developer to cease work until approvals and authorizations are obtained.
He also stated that LDC erosion plan requirements were skirted and, because “the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission advised the county that a pair of bald eagles have initiated nest building activities,” coordination with the FWC was required before construction commences.
Barnott did not respond by The Islander press time about how the developer satisfied the order.
While the county is still reviewing Aqua by the Bay subdivision, on Aug. 30, Swiftmud approved excavation for three agricultural ponds of 2.7 acres, 4 acres and 12.4 acres, with spoil to be left on the site.
Swiftmud granted a permanent farming exemption, but excavation was to come “no closer than 50 feet from wetlands,” according to Swiftmud public information officer Susanna Martinez Tarokh.
Asked if the land clearing under the agricultural exemption can be used for a subdivision, Martinez Tarokh answered in a Nov. 18 email:
“The agricultural exemption approves the excavation of three ponds and does not include any other construction activities.”
“Any clearing related to this work would be within the pond footprint,” she added.
Neighboring homeowners in the Legend Bay observed the unauthorized encroachment Oct. 17-18.
The encroachment violates two sections of the land development code that protect trees and wetland buffers. To correct the violation, the developers must “initiate contact with the department director for the replacement of trees of comparable characteristics and restoration of wetland buffer to pre-alteration condition, to be determined by the director,” according to the county notice.
Arlene Dukanauskas said the destruction was reported to the FWC, then-County Commissioner John Chappie, code enforcement and the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.
She said mature pine trees, palms and vegetation for birds, including bald eagles, were carelessly destroyed.
“We want full restitution,” Dukanauskas added.
