Manatee County pays $11.2 million for 68-acre riverfront property

Manatee County is buying a 68-acre parcel of riverfront land in Parrish in order to preserve it.

Manatee County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to buy Crooked River Ranch along the Manatee River for $11.2 million. In a statement, the county says the property “will provide for coastal resiliency, water quality protection/improvement and native habitat protection/improvement.”

The piece of land is between Interstate 75 and Fort Hamer Road and gives the county rights to one of the last remaining sizable, privately owned parcels along the river, according to the statement.