Laura Layden
Naples Daily News USA TODAY NETWORK – FLORIDA
Plans for a new town in the eastern stretches of Collier County have cleared another regulatory hurdle.
On Thursday, the county’s Planning Commission voted unanimously in favor of the vast development, east of Golden Gate Estates.
The advisory board’s recommendation now heads to the county commission for a final decision. It requires a majority vote for approval.
The town, known as Big Cypress, would take the place of a village named Longwater.
The county greenlighted the village in 2021. It’s one of a trio of approved villages proposed by the same developer off Oil Well Road.
The new town would serve the residents of the other two villages, Rivergrass and Bellmar, as well as its own dwellers, providing more retail, commercial and recreational options, community and government services and job opportunities close to home.
Centered in and around the two villages, the town would span more than 1,544 acres. It would include:
● 2,427 to 4,432 single-family and multifamily homes
● 753,440 to 1,390,000 square feet of commercial uses
● 66,480 to 86,000 square feet of civic uses Within the town, the developer has agreed to set aside:
● More than 88 acres for affordable housing
● About 28 acres for an elementary school
● Almost 44.5 acres for a public park
● Nearly 14 acres for neighborhood parks A second school site would be provided offsite.
In addition to the more traditional community and neighborhood parks the development would offer miles of pedestrian friendly sidewalks, boardwalks, and pathways.
More than 46% – or more than 716 acres – would remain open space, exceeding the county’s requirements by 175.5 acres. The required percentage is 35%.
The town would have multiple amenity centers, which could include pools, clubhouses and fitness centers.
Town encouraged by county
Collier County’s planners encouraged Collier Enterprises, the initial applicants for the three villages, to build a new town, with the goal of putting goods, services and employment closer to its rural residents, promoting self sufficiency and reducing traffic and other impacts on nearby communities.
Since filing the application, Collier Enterprises has been acquired by The Tarpon Blue Family of Cos., which has pushed ahead with the villages, and town concept.
At the Planning Advisory Board hearing, Rich Yovanovich, a land use attorney for Tarpon Blue, emphasized that the request is not for a rezoning, but rather for the conversion of a village to a town, and for the expansion of its boundaries to allow for more commercial development.
The already approved “sending area” for Longwater – which stretched nearly 1,000 acres – would grow by nearly 545 acres to form a town.
The proposed town and villages are located in the Rural Lands Stewardship Area, or RLSA. The rules for developing the area are found in Collier’s Growth Management Plan.
In his arguments for a favorable recommendation, Yovanovich said the town met all of the restrictions and rules in the county’s Growth Mangement Plan and land development code – and even exceeded some requirements, so he saw no reason for denying it.
“This is a designation,” he said. “And not a rezone of the property.”
What is the RLSA?
The stewardship area encompasses 185,000 acres around Immokalee with the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge to the south and the Okaloacoochee Slough State Forest to the north.
The voluntary RLSA program allows developers to build more intense towns and villages on property with lower conservation value, in exchange for preserving more environmentally sensitive land, through a credit system. It’s designed to prevent urban sprawl, addressing state concerns about the protection of wildlife and wetlands dating back to the 1990s.
Otherwise, ranchettes can be built on every 5 acres under the current zoning.
County reviewers recommended approval of the town.
The land for the town has been in agricultural use for decades. It’s been used for row crops and pastures.
County commissioners gave a thumbs up to the town in concept in June 2021, when it approved Longwater and Bellmar.
“We’re 100% consistent with that agreement,” Yovanovich said.
One of the requirements: To establish fiscal neutrality, which the developer did through an independent assessment. The assessment shows the town will pay for itself when fully developed, with no additional burden on county taxpayers for the services and infrastructure it will require, from roads to water and sewage.
Town divided into zones
The town would be divided into five context zones.
A Neighborhood Zone would make up 80% of the town, with a mix of housing, neighborhood-scale goods and services, parks, schools, recreational uses and open space, taking up more than 1,234 acres.
Here’s the breakout for the other zones:
● Town Core – The most dense and diverse zone with a fullrange of uses and the most activity. Size: About 35.6 acres.
● Town Center – A less dense zone with a wide range of uses including goods andservices, culture/entertainment andhousing. Size: Nearly 21 acres.
● Business Park – A large zone with office, light industrial and lightmanufacturing uses in a park-like setting. Size: Roughly 165 acres.
● Affordable Housing – A zone for low andmoderate income housing, located inareas next to educational orcommercial uses. Size: Approximately 88.2 acres.
Plans include 882 affordable housing units on two sites.
The town has a 20-year build out.
A change of heart?
Planning Commission chairman Edwin Fryer voted against Longwater in 2021. At the time, he raised concerns the village could burden the county – and taxpayers.
Fryer came to a different conclusion about the town after spending an “extensive amount of time” with county staff and management to understand the net benefit of the new town.
He ticked off half a dozen points to explain his change of heart, including the conservation of more land, the inclusion of more commercial and light industrial development, a “very real” commitment to provide affordable housing and the ability to reduce the traffic and “wear and tear” on existing public roads through the “internal capture” of residents by meeting their essential needs.
Vice chairman Joe Schmitt moved to the approve the petition. A second came from Randall Sparrazza, who suggested that it might be good to involve Habitat for Humanity in the development of affordable housing in the town.
Several neighbors spoke in opposition to the petition, raising concerns about the town’s impact on traffic, wildlife and their peaceful way of life in the rural estates.
Town still faces opposition
Matthew Schwartz, executive director of the South Florida Wildlands Association, continued to oppose the project, and the RLSA program in general.
He’s argued the land is still prime habitat for the Florida panther and the county has not considered the environmental impacts enough. Once again he suggested the county hold a public workshop to hear from biologists with U.S. Fish and Wildlife about any concerns they may have about the RLSA program and the cumulative impact of 45,000 acres of new development.
In reply, Schmitt emphasized the data is the data and the rules are the rules. To suggest the RLSA program is flawed, or the county should start all over again, he said, is unreasonable and unrealistic.
“That’s just not going to happen,” Schmitt said.
He pointed out the plans will be subject to reviews by state and federal agencies, and the South Florida Water Management District, which will consider its environmental impacts. That includes the Army Corps of Engineers, which will have to approve a permit.
The petition is expected to go before county commissioners for a vote this summer.