Parrish FL Locals Triumphs in Keeping the Community's Serenity

Parrish FL locals wins the battle as Manatee County officials back off their plans for Parrish Depot. End Quote

Sarasota-Bradenton, FL (1888PressRelease) September 17, 2011 - Parrish FL residents rejoiced upon hearing about the cancellation of a county project they deemed a threat to the community's long preserved serenity. In response to the petition made by concerned dwellers, Manatee county officials decided to cancel last August 31, 2011 the much-buzzed-about project to build an office, a bus depot, maintenance facility and an above-ground fuel tank between 69th Street East and Erie Road in East Manatee.

It was the upset group of individuals who were living in the residence area of 69th Street East in Parrish, who joined forces to contest the whole idea of building a 45-acre transportation depot and maintenance facility near their homes. According to them, this would surely bring more traffic, noise and disruption to the neighborhood and to the "country lifestyle" which they loved the most about the place.

The group protested the project with the leading of Evan Guido, a financial adviser who built his home on a six-acre plot in 2008. Guido wrote to more than 30 nearby residents warning them about the project. His neighbor, who had two llamas as pets, listed her concerns by email, and, the reverend of a local church got his congregation to sign a petition. Guido made sure to get their voices heard before it was too late by express-mailing the protest letters to all seven county commissioners. In the end, the protests that highlighted residents' worries (that fuel would leak into soil and ditches, and that the rumble of diesel engines would drown out bird sounds, and that trucks would clog area roads so narrow that school buses do not drive them) was heard and heeded.

Public Works Director Ron Schulhofer decided to cancel the project that was on one hand abominated by Parrish FL residents and on the other, favored by some county officials. A county commissioner by the name of Larry Bustle believed that most of the residents' concerns were illogical. "The plan was to make it neighbor-friendly with sound deadening, thick landscape border," he said. "You can't see it and you probably can't hear it very much."

The proposed depot has been on county's project list for several years. It has been regarded by the officials as an essential infrastructure that would be beneficial to the northeast part of the county, where vehicles often travel to do highway or parks maintenance. But despite all this, and the fact that almost $60,000 of the $300,000 allotment for this project has been spent, it was cancelled due to insistent public demand.

For more information, contact:

(Mail)
1741 Main St.Sarasota, FL 34236

(Email)
chris.odonnell ( @ ) heraldtribune dot com
advocate ( @ ) heraldtribune dot com
webmaster ( @ ) heraldtribune dot com

(Phone)
(941) 361-4800

(Fax)
(941) 361-4880

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