Preserve the PUD:
Save the Cocohatchee Bay Preserve

The Short Version  (Longer Version with History Below)

 

Lodge Abbott has asked Collier County to reopen the 2008 Cocohatchee Bay PUD settlement and to rezone the “golf course” land to residential.  The Board of County Commissioners will be voting on these two issues at their March 24th meeting. 

 

Once the Settlement Agreement is opened, two paragraphs will be revised and five paragraphs will be deleted from the 2008 Settlement. All of the changes to the original settlement will benefit the developer. 

 

Gone will be the paragraph requiring him to contribute $3 million to affordable housing.

 

Gone will be the paragraph limiting his total number of dwelling units.

 

Gone will be language stating the acceptable deviations in development standards.

 

Gone will be paragraph 8 that restricts land use of the parcel adjacent to us as “golf course or forever as green open space.”

 

A petition asking County Commissioners to vote “NO” on opening the PUD is being circulated in GEOTL.  Currently it has 106 signatures representing 67% of Glen Eden’s 97 homes.  The percentage would be higher but not all homeowners have been in Glen Eden in recent weeks and some homes are occupied by tenants.  It is safe it say; however, that the majority of Glen Eden homeowners are opposed to reopening the PUD and opposed to rezoning the land from golf course to residential.

 

The reason for our dissent is that we don’t trust that the developer will actually follow through with the building proposal currently approved by the Planning Commission (62 single family homes on ½ acre lots.)  There is no legal document binding him to that proposal. 

 

When asked if the developer could revert to his December 31, 2013 proposal for multi-family housing or come back to the Planning Commission multiple times with changes that would secure the most profitable use of this property, County Attorney, Jeffrey Klatzkow  stated, “With respect to any future requests that the Developer may have, all property owners have the right to request changes to their current zoning.  We have long-standing PUDS (Planned Unit Developments) that have had multiple changes to their zoning, as conditions over the years have from time-to-time warranted changes.  If several years down the road this Developer, or its successor, sees the need to modify this PUD, they may apply to the County to do so.  No agreement made can prevent this, as a PUD is an ordinance of the Board of County Commissioners, and ordinances can be amended.”

 

So, it becomes a matter of trust.  Can Lodge Abbott be trusted to do what he currently says he will do?  This is the same developer that sued Collier County for over $240 million in 2005 when it rejected his request to soften its Bald Eagle Management Plan when trying to get his 5 high rise towers approved on the west side of Vanderbilt.

 

Collier County taxpayer funds were already spent to negotiate the 2008 Settlement Agreement which awarded the developer multiple concessions in order to avoid litigation. 

 

Some Glen Eden residents are asking why would Collier County want to dissolve a settlement that was negotiated in good faith and allow the developer to replace it with new terms that benefit only him.  Can we trust this developer to do what he says he will do?  These are all very important questions that all of us should be asking right now.

 

If you were among the 700+ area residents who attended the March 19, 2014 Neighborhood Information Meeting at St. John’s Church, then you should plan on attending this second Neighborhood Information Meeting on February 26th at 5:30 to be held at the Naples Grand Beach Resort in the Orchid Ballroom. 

 

This is not a “Done Deal!” Plan to attend the BCC meeting on March 24th and let County Commissioners know how you’d like them to vote.  Collier County Commissioners need to know that concerned citizens are watching them as they make these important decisions. 

 

 

Summary of Cocohatchee Bay PUD 2000—Present

Based on Planning Commission documents, NDN articles and

Interviews with Environmentalists

 

In 2000, Lodge Abbott (LA) rezoned land (532 (?) acres) west and east of Vanderbilt Drive near intersection with Wiggins Pass Road.  On the west side, the land was mostly mangrove wetlands that stretched south into Turkey Bay. 

 

In 2000, LA submitted plans to build 5 high-rise condo towers and 3 holes of a golf course on the west side of Vanderbilt and the rest of the  golf course + 2 single-family residences on the east side..

 

Property on the west side contained an active bald eagle nest and based on federal laws protecting that endangered species, LA understood construction would have to maintain a 1500’ buffer zone around the nest tree as long as the birds were there.  Once the eagles had vacated the nest; however, the developer planned to build within that 1500’ zone.  This is evidenced by his submission and approval of two different site Master Plans to be approved by the BCC.  One plan would be used while the eagle nest remained and would minimize construction within the 1500’ buffer zone.  The second Master Plan would allow development within the1500’ zone, and would come into use once the eagles had vacated the nest

 

To assure the public, environmentalists and BCC, the developer’s reps stated that no construction would occur while the eagles were still there in the nest.  Based on these restrictions, the rezone was granted with the two separate Master Plans and what the public thought would be sufficient protection for these eagles.

 

Between 2000 and 2005, federal and state wildlife agencies redefined their standards for eagle protection zones and eagles were removed from the endangered species list.

 

In 2005, LA wanted to begin construction, but found himself stuck with a Collier County approved Master Plan that was more restrictive regarding bald eagle management than state and federal agencies were allowing. 

 

LA went over the county’s head and got a permit from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to develop his property close to the eagle’s nest tree.    LA planned to mitigate the impact of his invasive tactics by putting up an artificial tree on an adjacent 93- acre parcel that he also owned.  His plan was for the eagles to leave their nest tree and move into the artificial tree.  With federal permit in hand, the only thing standing in his way was a commitment made in 2000 to Collier County that required him to wait for the eagles to leave the nesting tree before building within 1500’ of it.

 

In 2005, LA asked Collier County to amend the PUD and remove that requirement to wait until the eagles had vacated the nest before construction within 1500’.  The Conservancy and concerned citizens voiced opposition and the BCC denied the developer’s request.

 

LA filed a Bert Harris Property Rights claim against Collier County for almost $240 million in lost property value and an additional $45 million loss in money spent so far on the project. 

 

Part of the Bert Harris process is that disputing parties are required to attempt to resolve their differences and Collier County decided to negotiate a settlement.

 

As part of the settlement, the county abdicated any and all authority to protect the bald eagle nest.  The county also allowed LA to build four towers 20 stories tall and one tower 17 stories tall (county zoning laws limited tower height to 15 stories).  In the settlement, LA promised $3 million for affordable workforce housing and $3million for safety improvement along Vanderbilt Drive (bridge improvements and sidewalks).  Also as part of the settlement, he promised to never build more than 2 homes on the golf course parcel east of Vanderbilt Drive. Language in the settlement said that if the golf course was not built for any reason, the land east of Vanderbilt would remain green space forever.

 

Based on the 2008 Settlement, the PUD plan and Master Plan were amended.  Then the economic downturn halted construction and the eagles were given a reprieve.

 

Now that the economy has improved and development projects have begun again, LA has started construction on the west side of Vanderbilt Drive.  He has clear-cut the wetlands back to the mangroves and has graded the land to suit his plans for development.

 

Now that golf courses are no longer popular or profitable, he wants to build houses on the golf course parcel. 

 

LA has submitted a Settlement Agreement Addendum that would open the Amended PUD settlement and amend it further by restating one paragraph and removing 5 paragraphs one of them being paragraph 8 from which this quote is taken, “These restrictive covenants shall each provide that if the golf course development area or golf course use is ever discontinued or abandoned for any reasons, then all of the GC Parcel including without limitation the entire golf course development area, except for those portions allowed for the two (2) residential units, shall remain forever as green open space and be limited in perpetuity to the uses expressly allowed in Paragraph 5.3 of the amended PUD Preserve Parcel. Any revisions to these restrictive covenants will require a supermajority vote of the Board of County Commissioners.”

 

Because of an ordinance that has passed since 2008, it will take just three County Commissions to vote “YES” to reopen and amend the PUD.

 

LA is simultaneously asking the county to rezone the golf course parcel to residential.  It will take 4 county commissioners to vote “YES” to rezone the land.

 

 

THIS VOTE WILL OCCUR ON MARCH 24th 2015