BRADENTON, Fla. — With more people moving to Manatee County, more changes are expected to keep up with the growth in downtown Bradenton.

Donna Mathias has spent a lot of time researching.

“I really had no idea I was going to be this involved,” she said.

She’s been invested in what’s going on in her community since 2022 when she started the group Bradenton Concerned Citizens.

“It’s a site that we have because we have citizens that are concerned about everything that is happening,” she said.

Recently, the Bradenton City Council passed a new ordinance allowing new height allowances for buildings downtown. Buildings can now reach 20 stories high with no restrictions, and T5 zoning can now go to 20 stories high where before it was only allowed up to 12.

City officials say, depending on the situation, buildings could be allowed to go over 20 stories.

“What concerns me is parking and traffic; traffic down here is horrible now,” Mathias said. “Imagine if they get several 20-25 stories down here.”

She says she’s not opposed to development or change, but she wants it done in a way that complements the city.

“I like that it is a hometown downtown,” she said. “You come here, the low profile, that’s what draws a lot of people to Bradenton.”

Councilwoman Marianne Barnebey voted in favor of Ordinance 4017. She says it’s a necessity to keep up with how many people are moving to the area.

“I don’t think that 20 stories is a massive building,” she said. “It depends on how you use it, how you buffer it. We are talking about using a lot of the trees and appropriate landscaping to make it warm and friendly.” 

Barnebey says there are some buildings that need revamping, but in this process, as a Bradenton native, she says it’s a priority to maintain the feel of downtown.

“I understand that the only thing that likes change is a wet baby,” she said. “However, if you have properties that are just laying fallow and have done that for 10, 15, 20, 30, 35 years, we need to do something to try and spur redevelopment in those areas.”

But for Mathias, she’s most concerned about one building, the Central Library that’s zoned in T5.

“The libraries provide so much,” she said. “There are children I think wouldn’t even know what a book is if they didn’t have a library.”

She’s worried because of its location and zoning it will be torn down and rebuilt into a 20-story building.

“I’m worried this library is going to be destroyed,” she said.

She’s doing everything she can to save it, even collecting more than 13,000 signatures for a petition.

“It’s waterfront, and of course, waterfront is valuable property there is right now, and the county and the city see this as a tax space they can get a lot of tax revenue from it, but you have to realize citizens deserve a good public space to come to,” she said.

Barnebey understands she might have to adapt to change as long as the charm of downtown stays the same.

Before any building is allowed to be rezoned, it must be approved by the city.