They dotted the rural landscape with signs expressing favoritism of cows over condos. They’ve unsuccessfully attempted to unseat a developer-friendly County Commissioner with someone more like-minded -- and they’ve attended public hearings en masse imploring decision makers to hit the pause button on drastic eastward expansion of clusters of homes in rural Lee County.
Wednesday residents of Olga and North Alva — many opposed to more development in that area — will get to speak their minds again when the Lee County Board of County Commissioners meets to decide on a zoning application.
The meeting begins at 9:30 a.m. in the commission chambers on downtown Fort Myers.
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At issue are close to 800 acres of rural pasture and wetlands that are up for sale. Neal Properties, which already owns some 350 acres nearby, is interested in buying and developing the land but first it needs the blessing of Lee's commissioners.
A hearing examiner sided with those rural land owners who are looking to sell to the developer after three days of public meetings in September. There, the bulk of speakers said the planned community of more than 1,100 homes does not fit in with the rural landscape of Alva and Olga. The hearing examiner’s recommendation, though not binding, has been passed along to the commission.
Should the project get the green light, the number of people in these small rural enclaves will more than double from the 2,000 or so people there now.
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