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NEW COMMUNITIES PLANNED TO RISE ON THE LAST REMAINING LARGE SWATHS OF LAND IN EASTERN COLLIER COUNTY ARE EXPECTED TO EXPAND HOUSING INVENTORY BY 11,650 UNITS

BY SETH SOFFIAN

Collier County’s housing supply will be getting a shot in the arm in the indefinite future as developers push east into some of the county’s last large swaths of available land. Spearheaded primarily by county namesake Collier Enterprises, at least five large-scale communities have moved through various stages of planning and approvals on former farmland. Most of the development will unfold along Oil Well Road east of Golden Gate Estates.

Three of those communities—the villages of Rivergrass, Bellmar, and Longwater—are part of Collier Enterprises’ proposed Town of Big Cypress, approved in 2020 and 2021 by the Board of Collier County Commissioners for up to 7,850 homes. Each village encompasses about 1,000 acres.

Also in 2020, Sarasota-based Neal Communities was approved to build up to 1,800 homes as part of 642-acre Hyde Park Village on Oil Well Road east of Everglades Boulevard. And in October, the Collier County Planning Commission voted unanimously in favor of a new Barron Collier Companies community called Brightshore. The 681-acre development still needs final approval for what will be 2,000 homes north of the intersection of Immokalee Road and Everglades Boulevard, six miles north of Oil Well Road.

All five communities sit within the county’s Rural Lands Stewardship Area (RLSA). Encompassing 185,000 acres around Immokalee, the RSLA allows for development on land with low conservation value, such as farmland, in exchange for preservation of more environmentally sensitive areas.

The RLSA program—enacted by Collier County in 2002 in response to state orders to direct development away from wetlands and wildlife habitat and avoid urban sprawl—began in earnest in 2005 with the establishment of the bedroom community of Ave Maria, also on Oil Well Road.

While the new developments have faced challenges over concerns about environmental impacts, increased traffic, and required costneutrality to the county, they ultimately would bring 11,650 new housing units to eastern Collier on more than 4,300 acres.

Positioned between Golden Gate Estates and Ave Maria, the new communities would collectively add a town approximately half the size of Ave Maria.

BARRON COLLIER COMPANIES

An aerial of the town of Ave Maria, developed by Barron Collier Companies. Since the opening of the community in 2007, more than 3,900 new homes have been sold in the town, which has a planned build-out of approximately 11,000 residents with housing options that include single-family, condo, and villa homes.

Collier Enterprises has “a demonstrated track record of success in planning awardwinning, sought-after projects in Southwest Florida … all with a consistent focus on responsible stewardship for the unique environment of the place the company has called home for more than a century,” according to the development’s website.

Responsible Development

As stipulated for projects in the RLSA, developers must set aside land elsewhere to be preserved.

In Big Cypress, for instance, Collier Enterprises says 12,300 acres will be preserved in exchange for the three 1,000-acre villages, as well as a 515-acre town center that will link all three villages on both sides of Oil Well Road and along the eastern side of the proposed Big Cypress Parkway.

Rivergrass, approved by a 3-2 vote of county commissioners in January 2020 ahead of their 4-1 approvals for Longwater and Bellmar roughly 18 months later, has seen progress

Above: There are more than 40 businesses in the Ave Maria Town Center. The town includes other amenities, including a water park, soccer and baseball fields, amphitheater, dog park, trails, playground, bocce and tennis courts, and private schools. It is located at the intersection of Oil Well and Camp Keais roads in the Rural Lands Stewardship Area (RLSA), where future communities, such as the Town of Big Cypress, will be taking shape. Left: Collier County Planning and Zoning Division map of the RLSA.

slowed by an unsuccessful lawsuit from the Conservancy of Southwest Florida that has been appealed.

But commissioners ultimately have decided the proposed communities meet the rules outlined by the RLSA, which itself is open to a public review period typically every five years.

Along with varying housing mixtures—including 880 attainable housing units—all five community plans include varying amounts of commercial development, town space, parks and other amenities, such as a golf course in Rivergrass and school in Big Cypress.

“These are the lands that are set aside for this kind of development,” planning commissioner Robert Klucik said during a public meeting in October in support of Brightshore.

While Klucik, who lives in Ave Maria, recused himself from the vote due to a conflict, he and other planning commissioners described Brightshore as an exemplary model of development within the RLSA in part because of its location on the least sensitive land in that area. The RLSA sits between the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge to the south and the Okaloacoochee Slough State Forest to the north.

Brightshore “looks ideal,” planning commissioner Paul Shea said of the environmental intent of programs in the RLSA, calling it “one of the best projects we’ve seen.”

“We would love to put the whole thing in preserves, but we can’t,” planning commissioner Joe Schmitt said at the meeting. “People own this property. They have the right to develop it.”

Price Points

Targeted sales prices and affordable housing have been important discussion points with all the pending communities.

After voting against approval of Rivergrass in January 2020, County Commissioner Burt Saunders voted in favor of sister communities Longwater and Bellmar 18 months later, in part because Collier Enterprises committed to devoting 15 percent of their 5,350 units to affordable housing.

Hyde Park was approved in June 2020 with the developer at the time targeting price ranges from $168,000 for multi-family to $373,000 for single-family homes. County housing staff recommended the developer commit to setting aside 215 of Hyde Park’s 1,800 units for low- or moderate-income housing because of changing market conditions. No requirements were established.

Now, as Brightshore joins the mix of pending projects, it does so under revised RLSA requiring developers to set aside affordable housing units, although they need not be on site. The requirement is part of revisions approved by the county in July 2021 after a years-long delay caused by a host of factors, including the Great Recession.

Brightshore’s proposal includes providing 170 low- or moderately priced units. If those are built off-site rather than among Brightshore’s 2,000 homes, the county could purchase the land for it using money already allocated for that use. That would enable the county to maintain the affordable price and control the targeted income levels for those homes as long as it chooses, according to county planning Director Mike Bosi. “We would have control of that in perpetuity,” Bosi told the planning commission.

Bear Country

The perceived potential impacts on wildlife also vary with each project. Hyde Park, for instance, faced less pushback from environmental groups over its potential impact on the Florida panther despite sitting almost immediately west of more-controversial Rivergrass – both on the northern side of Oil Well Road.

Longwater and Bellmar, meanwhile, are positioned on the southern side of Oil Well Road, extending south of Golden Gate Boulevard’s termination into the future Big Cypress Parkway. That puts them closer to the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge.

But these communities and newly proposed Brightshore have support in environmental corners for the land that is being preserved in exchange for development rights—as the RLSA program intends—as well as for elements meant to minimize human and wildlife interactions.

Those include more wildlife crossings, dark sky lighting, bear-proof trash cans for residential and commercial properties, and homeowners guides for “living in bear country.”

In gaining approval for Longwater and Bellmar, Collier Enterprises agreed to use more than the minimum required credits it earned in exchange for setting aside 12,300 acres for preservation for the Town of Big Cypress. That leaves fewer credits for future developments.

Brightshore, if approved, would bring the total land preserved through the RLSA program to just under 50,000 acres, Bosi told the planning commission. “That’s an economic benefit to the county,” Bosi said, “at no cost to the taxpayer.”

RURAL COMMUNITIES AT A GLANCE

*BELLMAR Developer: Collier Enterprises Acreage: 1,000 Location: South of Oil Well Road, east of Everglades Boulevard Homes: Up to 2,750 single- and multi-family Timeline: Approved 4-1 by the Board of Collier County Commissioners in June 2021

BRIGHTSHORE Developer: Barron Collier Companies Acreage: 681 Location: North of Immokalee Road at intersection with Everglades Boulevard Homes: Up to 2,000 single- and multi-family Commercial space: Up to 120,000 sq. ft. Timeline: Approval unanimously recommended by Collier County Planning Commission in October 2022

HYDE PARK VILLAGE Developer: Neal Communities Acreage: 642 Location: North of Oil Well Road, east of Everglades Boulevard Homes: Up 1,800, including 300-1,000 multi-family residences Commercial space: At least 45,000 sq. ft. Timeline: Approved 4-1 by the Board of Collier County Commissioners in June 2020

*LONGWATER Developer: Collier Enterprises Acreage: 1,000 Location: South of Oil Well Road, east of Everglades Boulevard Homes: Up to 2,600 single- and multi-family Timeline: Approved 4-1 by the Board of Collier County Commissioners in June 2021

*RIVERGRASS Developer: Collier Enterprises Acreage: 1,000 Location: North of Oil Well Road, east of Everglades Boulevard Homes: Up to 2,500 single- and multi-family Timeline: Approved 3-2 by the Board of Collier County Commissioners in January 2020

* Bellmar, Longwater, and Rivergrass are connected by the proposed Town of Big Cypress. Note: The total commercial space for the Town of Big Cypress and Rivergrass, Bellmar, and Longwater villages is 1.575 million square feet, according to the developer.