Planning changes continue for the Cocohatchee Bay planned unit development in North Naples, which originally was approved in 2000. The Collier County Planning Commission met Tuesday to discuss the future of the fifth and final tower of the residential project on the property, along with creating space for a new fire station.
In 2005, Detroit-based Logan Abbott Investments Associates, developer of the Kalea Bay high-rise waterfront condominiums, sued the county to remove Collier’s bald eagle protection rules to allow it to develop near an eagle’s nest. The county settled in 2008, resulting in the Cocohatchee Bay PUD. Kalea Bay and the Kinsale Golf Club are the existing approved residential and golf course developments located within the parcel.
Kalea Bay is under construction with four of five towers having been built. Construction on the fifth tower is expected to begin after this year’s eagle nesting season, but Lodge Abbott is seeking an increase of allowable dwelling units from 590 to 600. This would change the maximum building height from 17 stories to 20, totaling 250 feet.
The fifth Kalea Bay high-rise will be the northernmost tower, adjacent to the Arbor Trace community. Planning Commissioner Christopher Vernon said he had suspicions that the original settlement agreement called for the fifth tower to be 17 stories to provide a less drastic increase in height from the Arbor Trace high-rises to the other four Kalea Bay towers.
“I’m not trying to chastise the county 15 years ago, but maybe the county didn’t do its job in properly getting in writing what should have been in writing,” Vernon said. “That’s my nuanced concern, and that’s what I want the Board of County Commissioners to really look hard at.”
Residents from surrounding communities attended the meeting, opposing the 20-story height. They argued the original settlement stated there would be no more increases in density. However, the planning commission didn’t receive the transcript from the 2008 discussion and was unable to verify that detail.
Chairman Edwin Fryer said the county commission should obtain a copy of the transcript so it can analyze if future density was part of the agreement.
The other part of the Cocohatchee Bay PUD, Kinsale Golf Club, began construction in March on the east side of Vanderbilt Drive and originally was approved for two residential units off U.S. 41 just south of Tarpon Cove if the course was ever discontinued. Now, there is a proposed amendment to substitute those units for a zoned essential service with plans to build a 10,000-square-foot fire station with emergency access to 41 and south to Tarpon Cove.
Although discussions to construct the station are in the preliminary stages, Lt. Sean Lintz with the North Collier Fire Control and Rescue District said the area is an ideal location to provide quicker emergency response to 41.
“It’s definitely a legacy move for us. Our community needs it,” Lintz said. “We’ve identified a response and need for this area, so we definitely need this station.”
The planning commission voted 6-1 to recommend these amendments to the Board of County Commissioners, with the request for the board to be shown the transcript from the settlement agreement discussion.
The Board of County Commissioners will be further discussing the donation from the developer to the county of a 1.6-acre parcel of land at the southeast corner of Wiggins Pass Road and Vanderbilt Drive across from Cocohatchee River Park Marina for public parking. The discussion of these three amendments is scheduled for the board’s meeting on Oct. 10.
