Developer wants to go back on county settlement, abandon golf course plans to build homes

March 14--It's a North Naples development 14 years in the making, held up for years by a debate and lawsuit over county and federal rules protecting bald eagles.

Now, nearly six years after a $240 million lawsuit ended in a settlement with Collier County that paved the way for the 590-unit Cocohatchee Bay Planned Unit Development, the developer wants to amend the agreement. Lodge/Abbott Associates LLC wants to eliminate a $3 million payment to the county's affordable housing trust fund, abandon a golf course, add 94 acres and build 280 more homes on the property along Vanderbilt Drive and Wiggins Pass Road.

Years after the development of five 15- and 20-story high rises drew crowds of opponents, neighboring Tarpon Cove residents are urging county commissioners to stand by the June 2008 settlement.

It mandated that if the golf course is abandoned, the land -- except for two single-family homes allowed there -- "shall remain forever as green open space," dedicated to boardwalks, bicycle paths, drainage or a lake, nature trails, a wildlife sanctuary or other similar uses in its PUD.

To overcome that hurdle, Lodge/Abbott needs a supermajority -- four of five -- county commissioners' votes. Opponents hope to sway two.

"It's ridiculous," Tarpon Cove resident Joe Wood said of the plans to change the PUD. "It's not fair. It's not right."

"Everybody back in 2008 negotiated in good faith. We thought it was a done deal," he said this week. "The beach area stays the same. That was all part of negotiations."

Wood pointed out the golf course parcel, on the east side of Vanderbilt Drive, is about two feet lower than Tarpon Cove, separated by a drainage canal that passes under Wiggins Pass Road. He said it sometimes floods during heavy storms and any development would aggravate that.

"We're in danger of being flooded," Wood said. "The water needs some place to go. Collier County could end up being liable."

Lodge/Abbott's attorney, Richard Grant, said the golf course was abandoned in favor of single-family or low-rise multifamily homes with a 35-foot height limit.

"The market demand for golf in Collier County and nationally is not what it once was," Grant said.

He maintained drainage won't be a problem, noting, "It will be designed by competent engineers to insure that discharges and runoff are appropriately managed "

D. Wayne Arnold, Lodge/Abbott's certified planner, will outline the new plans at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in North Naples.

The changes must be recommended by county planning staff and the county planning board before they go before county commissioners.

--

The debate over the Cocohatchee Bay PUD dates back to 2000, when commissioners approved five high-rise towers -- a 15-story tower and four 20-story buildings -- including one within 30 feet of a dead tree where bald eagles were nesting.

At a public hearing, Lodge/Abbott's representative told commissioners the project wouldn't move forward until the eagles no longer nested there. Another representative didn't anticipate building for four years.

The developer then obtained a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service permit, agreeing to phase the project to lessen disturbance to the eagles and to buy an eagle habitat, land with an artificial nest tree, about a mile away.

In May 2005, the developer asked commissioners to approve the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's bald eagle protection rules over stricter county rules, but only Commissioner Tom Henning voted in favor. A month later, Lodge/Abbott sued, contending Collier was harming the value of its $240 million property and they'd already spent $45 million to develop it.

The June 2008 settlement allows 590 units in five high-rises around the nesting tree, increased the 15-story tower to 17, or 175 feet, and allows the towers to be within 100 feet of each other if they were angled. The developer also had to build a berm on Vanderbilt Drive to shield towers from view.

In return, Lodge/Abbott agreed to pay $3 million to the county affordable housing trust fund; $3 million for safety improvements on Vanderbilt Drive bridge, and build a pathway on Vanderbilt Drive's west side. That work has been completed.

Now, the developer wants to rezone the golf course property to allow 55-plus senior group housing, single- and multifamily homes, tennis and racquetball courts, a clubhouse and other amenities. While zoning on the full 626-acre property allows 1,879 homes, developers are seeking up to 870, including adding senior group housing to the west parcel. Plans also include boat docks.

Wood is among a half-dozen Tarpon Cove residents who wrote Commissioner Georgia Hiller, the district's representative, asking her to stand by the settlement; the district's former commissioner, Frank Halas, helped finalize it.

Residents cited the effect on the environment and wildlife, overdevelopment and increased traffic. Some bought their homes, knowing only a golf course would be built next door.

Bruce Smith, who retired after 34 years in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Water Protection Division, called the Cocohatchee River watershed a "distressed area" that would be harmed by 280 homes placed on the proposed golf course's land and stormwater runoff.

"This is valuable preserve land that will forever be destroyed by this housing development," Smith wrote.

Donna and Julius Scuteri contended it would threaten wildlife, vegetation and increase traffic, writing in an email, "It would be despicable to turn our part of Collier County into an urban sprawl."

Henning and Commissioner Tim Nance declined to comment until they hear the plans and Hiller didn't want to draw conclusions before the public hearings. Other commissioners couldn't be reached.

"I'm not going to let anybody build something that hurts a neighbor," Hiller said, adding, however, "If someone just doesn't like it, that's not a fair reason for denial."

___

(c)2014 the Naples Daily News (Naples, Fla.)

Visit the Naples Daily News (Naples, Fla.) at www.naplesnews.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services