County leaders rejected a developer’s appeal to build thousands of new homes in East Manatee, well beyond the county’s development boundary line.
The Future Area Development Boundary is intended to prevent urban sprawl from straying beyond where county infrastructure can support high-intensity development, as well as protect some of Manatee County’s remaining rural and natural areas.
The request to build came from companies tied to developer Pat Neal of Neal Communities and landowner John Hales. A development plan described a community called Pomelo Bluff with around 3,600 homes on 1,204 acres of farm land at the northeast edge of Lake Manatee…