No more dust? Manatee County has new construction rules, but resident concerns remain

After months of complaints, Manatee County Government officials have promised to hold developers accountable for dust storms that are caused by construction.

In Parrish, Lennar Homes is building Rye Ranch , a 1,369-acre housing development on Rye Road, across the street from the Foxbrook neighborhood. Angry residents have complained to county officials that dust from the construction site is covering homes, making traffic more dangerous and causing medical issues for some residents.

“When that dirt comes across the street, it doesn’t come as a little bit of light dust, it comes and settles as black soot,” Foxbrook homeowner Brenda Smith said. “...I have never lived in a dirty home and I don’t appreciate not being able to invite people into my home because I’m embarrassed.”

Similar complaints about construction dust have been filed in West Bradenton, where another developer is also building a large housing community, officials said.

At the Manatee County Commission meeting Tuesday, county staff said the goal of a new set of regulations is to get developers to meet land development and nuisance codes, which require them to control the dust leaving their construction sites.

The county will require developers to create a dust control plan, shut down construction if winds are higher than 15 mph and limit land clearing to 100 acres at a time unless the county gives special approval. Developers should also seed or sod cleared areas that will not be accessed for more than 21 days and put fences or trees along areas larger than one acre.

Manatee County has new dust control rules

Developers will need to submit an approved dust control plan within two weeks. If they fail to control the dust leaving their construction sites, developers will have to shut down construction for a first offense, shut down construction and pay a fine for a second offense and create a revised dust control plan for a third offense.

“We don’t want to go out there and hit people over the head and say, ‘You failed to control the dust,’ because then our residents are already suffering,” Deputy County Administrator Evan Pilachowski said. “We want to work with them on this dust control plan to make sure that we don’t have as many dust complaints as what we’ve seen out there today.”

Commissioner George Kruse, who said he visited Foxbrook residents, acknowledged that their quality of life has worsened in recent months. He said the county needs to get developers to follow the rules.

“If we were actually enforcing it, they would’ve voluntarily started clearing 100 acres or 50 acres or 25 acres because they wouldn’t want fines,” Kruse said. “They wouldn’t want the red tags. They wouldn’t want to get shut down.”

“...This is government regulations and overreach that isn’t necessary as long as we’re enforcing the code that was already on the book,” he added.

Residents push for stronger regulations

Frustrated residents have criticized the county for not doing enough to stop the dust.

“We have been overwhelmed with constant dust and dirt from across the street,” Foxbrook homeowner Carolyn Alvarez said. “...Lennar Homes and these other building sites will continue to do what you are allowing them to do.”

The Bradenton Herald previously reported on a letter that a Lennar Homes executive sent to at least one Foxbrook resident that defended the company’s construction practices and declined to reimburse neighbors for the expenses they made to clean their homes.

Mark Vanderee, who lives in Manatee County, supported the new rules but said residents need more help from county officials.

“It’s a good direction to go, but it’s not going to be enough,” Vanderee said. “What you need is a will to enforce the laws and rules that you have in place and that’s not being done.”

Elizabeth Arnold, who lives about five miles from Rye Ranch, questioned what is in the dust and how it will affect the health of residents.

“I have one friend whose child is having terrible asthma attacks and has had to take him to the doctor a bunch of times,” Arnold said. “We need more people to get out there and do something.”

Commissioners defend new development rules

Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge said the county issued stop work orders for dust problems at Lake Flores , a nearly 1,300-acre housing development south of Cortez Road near 75th Street West.

“If we put in a fine of $5,000 a day, that’s really nothing in the grand scheme of things,” Van Ostenbridge said. “A Lake Flores guy, in the screaming matches that we had on the phone, told me that it’s $75,000 a day in equipment rental. When the equipment is not moving, he’s burning through cash with that just sitting there. That’s the punitive action that can be taken is to red tag them.”

Commissioner Ray Turner said it is important to limit land clearing to 100 acres at a time. He compared the dust clouds hanging above homes to a scene from “Dune,” a sci-fi story set on a desert planet.

“I think the big thing that was lacking in our rules was some kind of cap on how much land that they could clear,” Turner said. “... That rule, in my mind, will make the biggest difference.”

Commissioner Mike Rahn pointed out that dry weather conditions are part of the problem. In 2023, Manatee County received 34.75 inches of rain, which is about 18 inches below normal, said Scott May, an engineer for the county’s Public Works Department. The last time it was about that low was in 2000, May said.

“No one’s experienced this before, so it’s been kind of a shocker to all of us that this is happening,” Rahn said. “But we have to make sure that we protect our citizens that are around these developments.”

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