Florida counties and municipalities are required to have comprehensive land use plans that spell where and how much growth is permitted. And in such a plan, much of Collier County east of Interstate-75 is designated as rural estate or urban estate.
Estate meaning five acre or so tracts of land for every home.
But anyone who has spent time snarled in traffic jams along eastern Immokalee and Vanderbilt roads can see from the saturation of gated communities, apartment complexes and shopping centers that the Comprehensive Land Use Plan may not really be the guiding force for that it was intended to be.
At a hearing in the matter Tuesday night, Collier County Commissioner Burt Saunders floated the idea of a year-long moratorium on high-density rezoning applications while the county figured out a way to speed up road projects that ultimately may help with all the traffic problems.
Prior to the meeting he said he received hundreds of emails in support of the idea. And of the close to 40 people who spoke directly to the commissioners Tuesday night, nearly all spoke in favor of the moratorium.
The boundaries of the proposed moratorium were on Immokalee Road east of I-75 until Oilwell road, which is a 10 mile stretch, and Vanderbilt Road, east of I-75 until it ends. Vanderbilt is in the midst of a 7-mile road extension, that, when completed, will extend it further east of Oilwell Road.
Saunders said that for far too long developers have been under the impression that the commission will allow for higher density — which it has been doing.
“What we are in effect doing is on a case-by-case basis, parcel-by-parcel, we're changing our comp plan. And I think that for long range planning, that's not the best way to proceed. So first objective will be to have the board consider scheduling a public hearing on an ordinance to take a pause,” he said in his pitch to fellow county commissioners.
All but one commissioner, Bill McDaniel, remained silent during discussion after public comment.
Still, Saunders called for a motion to have an official public hearing on the matter. He was met with silence, officially sinking the idea.
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