Collier County commissioners this week denied plans to build a new church in a Golden Gate Estates residential neighborhood after a public hearing on the matter. The 4-1 vote occurred despite the county planning commission’s earlier approval to allow the single-story, 5,000 square-foot Iglesia Pentecostes Peniel Church on 5 acres at the corner of Eighth Street Northeast and 22nd Avenue Northeast in Golden Gate Estates. The commissioners said that while the nondenominational church would likely be good for the community, the conditional-use commercial project does not fit the Golden Gate Estates master plan for a neighborhood of single-family homes, so the majority voted not to allow the project to move forward. Commissioner Andy Solis was the only board member who voted for the project.
At a mid-April breakfast event, the 35 area nonprofit agencies—chosen from a record number of applicants—were awarded grants from the...
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