Why Manasota Beach Road is a major issue for Englewood residents

 Mary Burke shared this on Facebook:

 

To those who question why we are protesting the MBR extension, let me enlighten you.

Yes, MBR Rd and Keyway Rd have been on the counties thoroughfare plan for years, that is the only truthful fact.

What some of you may have missed was that Keyway Rd. had long been slated to go in first as a 4 lane road. What changed you ask? Pat Neal built Boca Royale and then worked with the commissioners behind closed doors via memos and emails (all FOIA’d and truthful) to push MBR through at a discounted price as long as the county removed Keyway Rd from its thoroughfare plan.

He built homes in Boca Royale, very close to the the counties planned Keyway Rd, got FPL to put in power lines right through the Keyway Rd planed road. All while knowing Keyway Rd. was planned. Why? Bc he could and the county either wasn’t paying attention or allowed it specifically for Neal. The county does whatever benefits Neal and dos not consider its constituents.

Fast forward to April 23,2025 county meeting where Neal brings forth a public private proposal to the board to build MBR extension on one condition, the county removes the Keyway RD plan and just build MBR. He brought forth reasons why MBR was a better choice and cheaper to build. He worked secretly with Boca Royale residents and brought them to the county meeting to object to Keyway bc of all the same reasons we don’t want MBR. Most blatant lie - Neal claimed there was no opposition to MBR, but guess what? None of us were notified or consulted. We didn’t have a year to plan as Boca Royale did. Similar to insider trading but in real estate. How could we oppose something we were not aware of?

I ask why are we allowing developers to plan which roads our tax dollars pay for?

Neal either lied in his presentation or misspoke so many times, I can’t list them all. The proposal can be watched on the county website, where all recorded meetings are available to view. He lied about an elementary school going in on River RD and the young kids needed a safer route to ride their bikes to school. That school was not planned to go in, it was not approved bc the county is broke! Yes, a new high school was built on a River Rd but most of those students will be traveling from the south and do not need MBR.

Btw, Neal sued the county at least twice and won a settlement for over $1.6 million against Venice and now, and forever, he does not have to pay for any permits in Venice. He is allowed special treatment that no other developers get, to my knowledge, bc he sues the county so often.

Neal’s end game is to sell all of his unsold new homes in Wellen Park and Boca Royale by advertising a faster route to the beach. Obviously, I could go on and on but if you research, you’ll find this information to be truthful and accurate.