A developer is proposing a new 1,325-unit housing development near Estero, Florida. However, while the Lee County Planning and Development Staff watch the developer’s presentation, some residents disagree with this development project.
Corkscrew Farms developer presented a lengthy PowerPoint presentation made by representatives from Camprop Inc. and several consultants from several organizations who make up the proposed Corkscrew Farms project team.
The Corkscrew Farms site sits on a Density Reduction/Groundwater Resource district, which is a problem for many of the citizens living in nearby Estero. Florida. The DR/GR districts were created to preserve areas that are crucial to resupplying underground aquifers.
The development proposal goes against the DR/GR that is set on the area. The current standard only allows 136 housing units to be built on the proposed site.
Camprop’s developers say the decades-long agricultural activity has negatively affected the Corkscrew Farms site. The site has sod, watermelon and cucumber farms. Consultants on the project have said that the introduction of fertilizer has hurt the water tables by redirecting the water away from its natural flow.
In exchange for developing more homes, Lee County is requiring Camprop Inc. to restore the land and historic water flow that has been spoiled because of the agricultural activity that has taken place on the site.
“Almost 66 % of the land will be restored, preserved with conservations on them,” said Ray Blacksmith, president of Camprop Inc.
During the comment period, Estero activist Patty Whitehead disagreed with the developers’ characterization “smart growth”. A statement that was made in the presentation to further maintain the claims the developer made about restoring land on the site.
“It is a complete perversion of smart-growth principles,” Whitehead said.
Whitehead also said that approval would lead to “the widening of Corkscrew Road to service all the point sources of congestion represented by the gate and entrances to new developments.”
Whitehead cited studies that bigger roads lead to more use causing even more congestion.
“Widening roads to solve traffic congestion is like loosening your belt to cure obesity,” cited Whitehead from a recent traffic study.
However, Joe Cameratta, CEO of Camprop Inc., said that the developer wouldn’t be responsible if Corkscrew Road must be widened.
Peter Cangialosi, environmental director of the Estero Council of Community Leaders, expressed his concern that the development would mean increased interaction between humans and wild animals.
After the two-day hearing, the hearing examiner will make her recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners on the proposal. The public will know what the decision is in the incoming weeks.