The Florida House of Representatives unanimously approved a scaled-back bill Wednesday to create a special district around the booming University Town Center area — a proposal that would still give one of the region’s largest developers significant influence over the new entity spanning more than 1,400 acres across Sarasota and Manatee counties.
If the bill becomes law, Manatee County-headquartered Benderson Development Co., which owns much of the land inside the proposed district, would hold a majority voting interest in the new government entity, according to the developer’s Tallahassee lobbyist.
Initially, the bill, which was introduced by state Rep. Bill Conerly, R-Lakewood Ranch, in January, would have allowed the district to levy property taxes and exercise broader government powers across the area…