Automotive YouTube star Cleetus McFarland at odds with Lakewood Ranch over eastward expansion

Developers are fighting for rights to build thousands of homes next to a motorsports complex that has operated in Manatee County since the 1970s, prompting automotive YouTube sensation Cleetus McFarland into a growing effort to stop Lakewood Ranch developers from expanding further east.

Dozens of Manatee County residents and supporters from across the country filled the county commission chambers and overflow room on Thursday afternoon in opposition to a proposal by SMR Taylor Ranch to expand Lakewood Ranch further east, up to the Freedom Factory and Bradenton Motorsports Park property line.

The racetracks have operated in the community since the 1970s, and it has come into prominence in recent years since McFarland purchased the former DeSoto Speedway in 2020.

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McFarland’s real name is Garrett Mitchell, and he was the first Manatee County resident of dozens who spoke against the Lakewood Ranch proposal on Thursday. He owns the Freedom Factory, while Victor Alvarez owns the Bradenton Motorsports Park on the property.

He pointed his finger to a map of his race track and the SMR Taylor property line, and made his case for why Lakewood Ranch should not be allowed to one day completely surround Manatee County’s famed race tracks.

Race tracks are known to die when homeowners start to complain about the noise.

“This line right here signifies the typical place that I knock the head gasket out of my engine when I’m making a pass, causing a loud explosion that every house in this community is going to hear,” McFarland said.

“We're very lucky two of the most successful race tracks right here in Manatee County, unfortunately, homes being built next to race tracks is a classic way they fail,” he said.

Lakewood Ranch creeps over urban boundary line

The Lakewood Ranch master-planned community has been the epicenter of a development boom in east Manatee County for decades, but developers need approvals by Manatee and Sarasota County officials to proceed with plans for two major expansions.

In late 2021, Manatee County commissioners approved comprehensive plan changes for a proposal by SMR Taylor Ranch representatives that could allow the developer to expand the master-planned community across Manatee County’s urban boundary line.

That approval only changed the county’s comprehensive plan, but did not give final approval for the Lakewood Ranch project.

On Thursday, SMR Taylor Ranch representatives made a request to change zoning on 2,308 acres of the property from agricultural land to Urban Fringe 3, which allows three single family homes to be built on the property per acre. The zoning change would establish a maximum density of 4,500 homes on the entire property.

Commissioners voted five to two in favor of transmitting those plans, but will consider the matter directly at a future meeting where developers are expected to reveal plans for the property.

“Taylor Ranch will fit beautifully into the fabric of the broader context of Lakewood Ranch, the key elements that shape the community are in place, they are planned for, they will come, and they will be wonderful,” said Katie LaBarr, a certified planner representing SMR Taylor Ranch.

“There is a fire station planned at the southwest corner of Bournside Boulevard and State Road 64, for example,” she said. “A future elementary school site will be provided within Taylor Ranch on the north side of 44th Avenue. A middle school site is planned just south of S.R. 64. Then a new high school is also planned just north of S.R. 70, near the east county facilities (like) Premiere Park, in that general vicinity."

The proposal never changed the county’s urban boundary line, but carved a path for SMR Taylor Ranch to develop across the boundary because it met certain strict criteria crafted by the developer.

But the proposal has drawn opposition from concerned Manatee County residents who seek to preserve the county’s agricultural lands, and to prevent development from crossing the urban boundary regardless of the nuances.

The urban boundary line was first drawn into Manatee County’s comprehensive plans in 1989 as a way to mark the furthest points to the east that the county would provide utility services, as a means to curb urban sprawl and development encroachment on agricultural lands.

District 5 Commissioner Vanessa Baugh expressed her consternation about implications the project has on the county's urban boundary, in addition to the racetrack.

“Obviously, that hurts me,” Baugh said. “OK. I have made promises that we would not allow such a thing to take place. I realize I've looked at this, and I know in my heart that the urban service boundary, in my opinion, some people aren't going to like what I'm about to say, but I think it needs to move to (S.R.) 675 and stop… But we need to be very careful about what we are doing here.”

Manatee County commissioners seek compromise

McFarland made a YouTube video requesting support from the community to protect the Freedom Factory from encroaching development this week, and dozens of motorheads packed the Manatee County meeting chambers on Thursday afternoon to voice displeasure with the proposal.

Thousands more tuned in to the meeting’s live stream, reaching over 15,000 viewers at the peak of the land use meeting.

Dan Metsinger, a Maricopa County, AZ, resident that traveled to Manatee County to speak at Thursday’s land use meeting was among dozens of racetrack supporters that showed up to oppose the Lakewood Ranch expansion.

Michael Scott, a Polk County resident, also cautioned of future plans by SMR Taylor Ranch to develop additional land that will eventually surround the motorsports complex on three sides.

"This is far reaching, this goes well beyond the county,” Metsinger said. “The YouTube channel that promotes the content out of this racetrack reaches 20 million people a month... That is bringing people from outside of Manatee County to this community on a daily basis... You're not just affecting local residents, you’re affecting people not even just across the country. It’s worldwide at this point.”

Manatee County commissioners vowed to find a way to protect the racetrack and its operations by requiring residents to sign disclosure forms acknowledging the motorsport complex upon purchase of a home in the development.

“There is going to be a race track at that location for all of our lives, and we are going to make sure of it," at-Large Commissioner George Kruse said.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Automotive YouTube star Cleetus McFarland at odds with Lakewood Ranch