MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. — Customers who visit a shopping plaza in Manatee County are frustrated they have to navigate around large holes in the parking lot.
Those holes have been blocked off by fences. County officials call it a public safety issue. They said the property owner of Cortez Plaza East has been cited.
According to the county, the property owner claimed they do not have the money to fix the repairs after stormwater pipes collapsed under a parking lot — creating a large hole.
Customers said there are three areas that have become a major problem for them in that parking lot.
“I think it’s ridiculous,” Sara Mazzoni, who visits the shopping plaza, said.
Another customer, Venecia Nadeau, said she noticed the first hole about two to three years ago. Then it appeared as if two more areas opened up in the parking lot at different locations.
“You don’t even want to be here ‘cause you don’t want your car to disappear when you come out,” Nadeau said.
According to the county, the Public Works Department will give county commissioners an option to review next month regarding the problem at the shopping plaza. The county did not disclose any details about the proposal and whether it was a solution.
Customers said they want something done about it soon.
“It should have been done years ago (when) the first one happened,” Nadeau said.
The County Commissioners meeting is June 12.
