Bonita Springs Council to vote on Revana Lakes project

The developer seeking to build an upscale home community along Bonita Beach Road will try one more time to receive approval from the city of Bonita Springs before looking at other options.  

The City Council meeting to vote on the Revana Lakes project is scheduled for Oct. 15.  

The city’s Local Planning Agency voted 5-1 against the project during a marathon meeting Aug. 28. It was the second time the LPA recommended against the project.  The planning agency voted against the project in July 2024, and Council followed suit a month later.  

Southwest Florida-based Seagate Development seeks to build 299 homes and 100,000 square feet of retail and office space on the north side of Bonita Beach Road across from the Palmira golf community.  

Seagate owns 204 acres, 114 in the city and 90 acres in unincorporated Lee County. Seagate wants to annex the 90 acres into the city and change the land use from Density Reduction/Groundwater Resource to Urban Fringe Development. The DRGR was created in 1990 to protect the county’s water supply. Development was limited to one home per 10 acres. 

LPA staff did not take a position for or against the change in land use. Its report said the decision rested with Council but noted that approving the change would represent a major shift in city policy. 

LPA members were reluctant to approve the development because removing the DRGR designation would set a precedent within the city. LPA member Ray Townsend praised the quality of the project but said he couldn’t approve it because of the DRGR designation and made the motion to deny. 

Tammy Hartford was the only LPA member to vote in favor of the project. 

Seagate’s presentation Oct. 15 will be similar to the one presented in August with small modifications, said Alexis Crespo, the lead planner for the project and vice president of planning for RVi Planning + Landscape Architecture.  

“I think the main thing we have to focus on is why this property is different than the rest of Bonita’s DRGR area,” she said.  

The property is adjacent to an arterial roadway, has water and sewer nearby, no protected species and doesn’t contribute to the groundwater, which is the purpose of the DRGR, she said.  

“That makes us different than the other areas of the city because they’re worried if they say yes to us, everyone else is going to pop up and want the same thing. … Other properties are in rural areas off substandard roadways and ours is right on Bonita Beach Road across from intense, dense development and master plan communities,” she said. 

Seagate has other options if the city denies its development.  

“Next month’s decision will be the final go around,” Seagate CEO Matt Price said at the August LPA meeting. “If it doesn’t work now, I’m going to have to figure out the next step.” 

Seagate could seek approval from Lee County to build on the 90 acres. Thanks to a new state law, the developer could build affordable housing on 30 of those acres zoned industrial without any density requirements, but that’s unlikely because Seagate is a high-end developer, Crespo said.  

“We’re trying to build a project that makes sense for this piece of ground,” Price said. “There’s other opportunities we have that we can do with this site.” 

Seagate decided after being turned down last year to try one more time. The developer spent the year talking to LPA staff and holding public meetings.  

Seagate made one major change to its plan. It agreed to expand the office and retail space to 100,000 square feet at the request of the LPA staff. 

“I still think the best solution for this project is what we are trying to do, which is a relatively low-density, high-rent community that will be built out over time,” Price said.