More than 1,000 people move to Florida each day. And, make no doubt about it, from those newcomers to hurricane-battered coastal residents development is moving inland.
In Southwest Florida, the remaining pockets of land for cattle and horse are threatened as segments of Old Florida, homesteaded for generations, are vanishing as new development replaces them.
There's a large tract of undeveloped land not too far from the Lee County Civic Center. The birds on a recent morning seemed quite happy, drowning out the din of traffic from State Road 31 or neighboring Pine Island Road.
The Alva Country Days Festival is Saturday, March 29, from 1 to 7 p.m. in the heart of Alva on property owned by the Alva Church of God. Admission is free. In addition to agricultural exhibits, there will be live music, artisans and educational programs.
On this day, a handful of men and a woman and stand before what appears to be thousands of pieces of metal piping that, when pieced together, will corral livestock for an upcoming festival — a festival highlighting what remains of rural Lee County.
The men appear to be stumped, but Amanda Cochran has faith in them. They have until Saturday, after all, to figure it out when the community gathers for a country festival in Alva: “If you give us a measuring tape and some duct tape, we can build anything just a couple hours. It's all right. These are pretty smart, fellas. Don't let the beards fool you,” Cochran says.
Cochran has been in the forefront trying to preserve the life that she and her family have known and relished in Southwest Florida for five generations. She lives on the north side of the Caloosahatchee River in Alva.
“The river itself is medicinal, literally," she says. "I'm grateful that I live out here. I work in town every day, and when I start to make that drive home, I can feel the exhale of being able to experience the kind of life that we live. And I want that for everyone; to be able to come out on weekends and enjoy our fresh air, our natural environment, our many species that live out there.”
And she's not alone. She and many others resolve to do whatever they can to preserve the rural way of life here. But so far, it's been an uphill battle with the Lee County Board of County Commissioners approving another zoning change. That likely means a new development is on its way to northeastern Lee County.
About 2,000 people currently call the Alva and North Olga area home. The latest proposal could double, triple, even quadruple that number. That's why people born and raised in the country, such as Todd Reed, say they aren't giving up. Reed says he understands that there will be growth. He just wants it to be responsible growth.
“So I've lived on acreage my entire life. I like the space, but I mean, growth is obviously inevitable. It's the world we live in," Reed said. "We want the thought process. We want the safety of what our future for us and our grandkids hold."
He's hoping that the greater Lee County area will come to Alva on Saturday afternoon to get a glimpse of what they're fighting so hard to preserve.
"Our goal is to reach all of Lee County, because Alva and really LaBelle ... are really the last uncharted territories of not giant roadways and everything," Reed said. "So we want the whole community to come out see and have a fun time. To just enjoy the livestock, the agriculture, and actually what built really our whole country, not just this area, but how we started out."
Alva is the first known platted settlement in Lee County. Until the change by the Lee County Commission, homes could be on no less than one acre. But many homes on the north side of the river are considered ranchettes with five acres or more. Neal communities, which sought the zoning change, would like to build 1,100 homes on just a few hundred acres of what was agricultural land. That, say Reed and Cochran, is not responsible growth.
The pioneering spirit that settled Alva still exists today, Reed said.
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