After failed attempts by previous owners to develop land in the Murdock Village area, Kolter Group LLC got the green light to move forward with its development plans for 670 residential units, a 150-room hotel, 250,000 square feet of regional commercial space and another 150,000 square feet of commercial and governmental space.
The Charlotte County Planning and Zoning Board on Feb. 10 approved Kolter’s request to amend an ordinance for a previous developer’s proposed project that never came to fruition.
The Kolter project will consist of multiple parcels located north of El Jobean Road, south of Seymour Avenue, east of the Como Waterway and west of Collingswood Boulevard, within the boundary of the Murdock Village Community Redevelopment Area in Port Charlotte.
“This development is more aligned with the Murdock Village CRA,” said Linda Stewart, planner with Morris Engineering & Consulting LLC, noting the previous proposed project would have consisted of 2 million square feet of commercial, retail, restaurant, destination entertainment and accessory storage uses.
There would have been two hotels with conference centers, totaling 500 rooms, five hotels with a combined 750 rooms and a 45-acre water park called Lost Lagoon.
The Board of County Commissioners approved the previous project in January 2020.
County Principal Planner Jie Shao said it is “staff’s professional opinion that this PD zoning may be considered as compatible with the land-use pattern of the surrounding area.”
The development will have a 25-foot buffer within the planned development, which will be near the West Port Community, she said.
Resident and business owner Linda Lowe, whose office is next to the north side of the property on Seymour Avenue, shared concerns with the planning and zoning board
She said Toledo Blade is only a two-lane road in that area and agreed with a resident earlier in the meeting who said that the county should build and repair roads before ground is broken for new projects.
“I understand we have to let them do what they want with their property, but we have to make sure we’re taking care of the county,” she said.
Becca Bond, transportation planner for the development, said there is a “scheduled improvement for Toledo Blade; it will be widened from two to four lanes.”
But Lowe said there is another problem — the acreage in Murdock Village is the site of a large homeless camp.
Stewart said the developer is aware of the situation and is working with the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office.
Board Chair Michael Gravesen said some of the land is county-owned and that Kolter purchased “a chunk from the prior group.”
The remaining county-owned acreage will be transferred to Kolter upon the closing, he said.
The Board of County Commissioners has the Kolter project as an agenda item for its March 25 meeting.
