Battle lines in Lee County
Bonita Bay wants to build 2,500 homes north of the river but residents are fighting back
BY ROGER WILLIAMS I rwilliams@florida-weekly.com
I n a state and county (Florida and Lee) celebrated for unpredictable development stories, yet another one is being added to the oddball

JIM GREEN

list: while the housing market and the economy remain in crisis, a developer eager to build thousands of homes in east Lee County is facing energetic opposition from planners, politicians and local residents, all of whom might benefit in some ways.

The developer is the reputable Bonita Bay Group, which is now seeking to permit a community called North River Village, to be built on 1,200 acres stretching eastward from State Road 31, roughly along the Caloosahatchee between the river and State Road 78.

Oddly enough, although such a plan might mean a massive and resurgent boost to the local economy, even some Realtors who live and work in the area - and whose bread and butter might conceivably come from home sales there - are strongly opposed.

"They bought this land knowing the allowable density was 900 units, and now they want to change the county comprehensive plan to increase that density by roughly 2.5 times, which shouldn't happen," says Jim Green, a Realtor and the secretary of Alva, Inc., a highly organized group of citizens opposed to the project.

FLORIDA WEEKLY GRAPHIC

The point of contention comes not from the notion of developing the nearly two-square-mile section of what is now mostly agricultural land surrounded by 5- or 10-acre home sites on the western flank of Alva.

On the contrary, nearly all the opponents of the plan, from County Commissioner Frank Mann to the Conservancy of Southwest Florida's planner, Steven Brown, to Smart Growth Director Wayne Daltry, to citizens groups such as Alva, Inc. and the Bayshore Citizens Association, insist that they are not "anti-development." Green, for example, strongly supported Verandah, a Bonita Bay development on State Road 80 east of I-75, because it boosted the economy, enlivened the east side of the county, and met the parameters of the County's comprehensive planners, he says.

"And Verandah, like River Hall (another big development east of SR 80 and Buckingham Road), empties onto a four or six-lane highway, not a little two-laner," which describes both State Road 31 and State Road 78.

Their opposition stems instead from a fear of increased density nobody except Bonita Bay has planned for - a density that could help overwhelm roads and services along with flora and fauna, and forever alter a way of life many residents living in the area prefer.

But proponents of the plan - to create about 2,500 homes in clusters here and there along the riverfront property - say the development would not only shovel millions of dollars into the Lee County economy over the next few years, but would help preserve the environment. Bonita Bay aims to bring in water and sewer services instead of relying on wells and septic systems, to provide public access to the river, and to create the company's trademark "green spaces" - walking trails and maintained open areas. There will be no golf courses, says Susan Watts, a vice president and spokesperson for the company.

"We've done the studies, and this is only going to be a boon for the county," Watts insists. "So we're trying to move through the entitlement phase now. We're positioning ourselves to be ready when the market turns around, which we feel confident about."

The company could begin to build homes in about three years, she estimates - after infrastructure has gone in, and the company has jumped a plethora of preliminary hurdles.

The opposition

Commissioner Mann, who lives in Alva and who will run for re-election in the fall, is staking his political future in part on opposition to the plan - and already Mann says that he no longer enjoys the financial support of Bonita Bay or other pro-development organizations and people.

"This is the first real test we're going to have right here, as to whether common sense prevails instead of simple profit motive, and it's a beautiful test case," he says.

"Eventually, this will come before the county commission. Bonita Bay has a right to build out at one unit per acre, there. So are we going to cave in to the whims of profit-driven people or hold them to the rules, fairly and honestly?"

For Wayne Daltry, director of Lee County Smart Growth, the planning rules laid down for the area carry both good sense and sensibility: that is, they have the sense to allow growth at a rate which can accommodate inevitable increases in the county population, and they have a sensibility that promotes development without letting it outrun resources.

"We have 650,000 people, and we have planned - best guess - for another 350,000 or 375,000 in the coming years, and we base our transportation plan on where they can best go, and we make a long-term promise to invest money in those areas, and people count on that.

"Then in comes new development, and in places we said, 'These aren't the places we want to do new development,' they start speculating. Their logic is, our comprehensive plans have to change because we have all this opportunity. Well, I don't know which market they're looking at, but they're trying to make a commitment of public resources over a 10 and 20-year period, when we don't know if we can cover what we have planned."

At the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, officials argue that the rule for any increase in density ought to be tit for tat.

"To increase their density, Bonita Bay would need to demonstrate where that density will be retired, but they haven't done that," says Steven Brown, an environmental policy specialist. "They're asking for a gift density of almost 2.5 times."

In other words, for every additional home or "unit" built over the density, an additional acre should be "retired," or preserved, elsewhere by the developer. So 2,500 homes at North River Village, roughly 1,500 units more than the current allowable density, ought to require Bonita Bay to set aside a 1,500-acre property elsewhere for natural preservation, he adds.

Not only that, he says, but wildlife would be deeply affected in the area, and "wildlife shouldn't have to bear the burden of resuscitating the economy and creating jobs.

"In Lee County, to our mind, this creates sprawl in an area where the end of agriculture will be the result. And wildlife depends on agricultural lands as much as on wild lands," Brown says. "When you leapfrog out and create new dense development lands, you work a hardship on wildlife."

Brown acknowledges that bringing in a sewer and water system would be good in theory, "so then it becomes less of a local issue - the sewage goes somewhere else. But they're a long ways from existing infrastructure, which means they're creating sprawl, and they could still do water and sewer at 900 or 1,000 units. But then it would cut into their profits."

And profit is the name of the game, says Green. "I'm planning a little development (18 homes) called Caloosa Shores on the river in Hendry County, and my development is going in at 2 acres per unit, not 2 units per acre. So maybe I won't make as much as I could if I crowded the density, but I assure you, I'll make a profit. And I'm sure Bonita Bay is a lot smarter than I am, so they can make a profit, too."

For Mike Smith, who lives west of the planned North River Village in Bayshore just northeast of I-75 and SR 78, traffic is already a major problem, and it's going to get worse when Babcock development workers and residents begin using U.S. 31 to move south and north from Lee County. (The Babcock Ranch in Charlotte and Lee counties is owned by Kitson & Partners. They envision nearly 20,000 homes and 6 million square feet of commercial and office space on the property.)

"I would say that Bonita bought the land, they knew what the zoning was, they knew what the comprehensive plan called for, and if they want to develop within those parameters, we don't really have any objection," Smith explains.

"But we're the gateway through which everyone in Babcock will pass to go shop or go to college or wherever - at least for many years. And so will everybody coming from the Bonita developments in Hendry County, or from North River Village, when they want to go to (Fort Myers). Even though they don't live in your neighborhood, they come right through you and use all the roads. If you look at the road infrastructure, we're going to be completely overwhelmed."

Not afraid of change

For those who support North River Village, much of the fear of its opponents can be allayed by reasonable explanation.

"Change is never easy for anyone," Watts says. "But the county has rules that will require us to pay for our impacts, and there may be additional fees to make sure we're creating problems for others on the roads.

"We've done traffic impact studies for North River village, and calculated our impacts, and they're primarily south in 31, so the folks in Alva are quite away from that. And 78 is not a destination to the east."

As for the development itself, cluster building will allow for extensive on-site preservation of green space, Watts says, and water and sewer utilities will help preserve the river in ways that adding 900 new septic systems would not, if the land were developed according to the current county plan, without Bonita Bay.

And already the economic impact is starting to be felt, because "there's a lot of work for biologists, land use planners, designers, and engineers," Watts adds. "And when the market picks up, there will be significant jobs in construction. And you start paying impact fees. And once houses start going up, taxes and ad valorem revenues come in."

The notion of having a Bonita Bay kicking off the future here - with public access to the river - instead of less responsible developers, is hugely appealing to some residents.

Joe Sterlocci, for example, moved onto Duke Highway across the street from the Bonita Bay property from Naples Bay, and spent three years putting up the home he wanted, then discovered what was going to happen to a rural retreat on the river.

"I went to all the meetings, and Bonita Bay was very accommodating to the neighbors," he says.

"I'm pleased with Bonita Bay for many reasons. They are still involved in the project they started in early '80s in Bonita Springs. I look at them as neighbors, long term. They still have 400 employees down there, and they put money into the project, which they'll do here. So our property values will go up.

"And I'm concerned about the environment, about water and sewer, which they're brining to site. I like the way they shepherd a project through with restoration, clean marinas, everything done with the environment in mind."

And just as important as the environment, Sterlocci argues, are people.

"One of the concerns is the amount of jobs. They will probably put (millions of dollars) into our community over the next 20 to 30 years, and you have people in the trades leaving here now to go to Mississippi or Tennessee, so when commissioners vote against something like this, it's a problem."

And it creates confusion in government, which isn't good for anybody, he adds.

"Parts of government have economic development councils encouraging developers to come, and here we have a developer willing to invest millions, and some people are discouraging them.

"I think the density will enhance our quality of life, and that's the biggest concern. They'll clean out the creeks, make the river cleaner, bring in water and sewer, they believe in cluster building, and what's the alternative? You could have 900 trailers on that property, as long as they were 'homes,' if you push away Bonita Bay."

For Bonita Bay, perhaps, the fight at North River Village is less a fight than just another step, and one of many the developer is making eastward, into Hendry County. There it owns thousands of acres in the planning stages for new communities, both along the Caloosahatchee near the Lee County line, and south of LaBelle.

"The entitlement (permitting) phase is always the hardest part, no matter where you are," says Watts.

Frank Mann agrees.

"There's no way I can see that our staff can okay this, based on our comp plan, so it's going to have to come before the commission, sooner or later."

And what will the commission do?

"I just don't know," Mann says. "When River Hall tried to increase the density significantly, the commission finally voted it down 4 to 1, after supporting it 4 to 1 - I was the one - but losing on a technicality. Then I threw a hissy fit, and we voted 4 to 1 against, the second time around - Tammy Hall was in favor.

"So maybe we can do that again."