Lee County pauses Lee Plan overhaul, advances SE changes

Lee County commissioners hit pause on their proposed overhaul of development guidelines in unincorporated Lee to allow more time to study the sweeping changes. 

Commissioner Kevin Ruane agreed with constituents who felt the process to comprehensively update and amend the Lee Plan is happening too quickly. 

“I feel like there’s a gun to my head,” Ruane said at a Sept. 15 commissioners meeting, adding that he doesn’t see the “9-1-1 urgency” of adopting hundreds of pages of edits right away. 

At the same time, commissioners are moving ahead quickly — if not urgently — with a separate set of proposed, relatively sweeping changes to development guidelines in southeastern Lee County. 

The Southeast Lee County Community Plan amendments are more urgent because the current rules are holding up specific commercial development applications in the area, commissioners said. 

The final public hearing to adopt the Southeast Lee Plan amendments is tentatively set for Oct. 21, county Communications Director Betsy Clayton said. The hearing date could change depending on when state officials complete a required review of the amendment. 

As the two proposals progress at their own pace, here’s a look at where they’re headed. 

Lee Plan amendments 

Lee commissioners postponed hearings on the Lee Plan overhaul after a public outcry that inundated Ruane’s office with emails and requests for meetings. 

“There’s a lot of anxiety, would be the proper word,” he said. 

The primary complaint — among others — is that too many changes seemed to be moving through the adoption process too quickly for most people to understand them. 

The updates call for eliminating 17 community plans while relocating some of their provisions elsewhere in the Lee Plan. 

The changes are designed to streamline an aging Lee Plan and support future development needs while maintaining protections for natural resources. 

“These changes were actually brought forward to make it better for our community as we grow,” Commissioner Cecil Pendergrass said. 

But commissioners indicated that they, too, need time to digest and understand the changes. 

“I want to have the right information to make the right informed decision,” Commissioner David Mulicka said. 

The commissioners on Sept. 15 unanimously adopted a motion by Ruane to pause, for now, the progression of public hearings leading to a final adoption vote. The decision also requires Lee staff to engage in further public outreach while giving officials and community stakeholders time to review the changes. 

The Lee Communities Coalition, an alliance of civic and community organizations from Pine Island, Buckingham, Captiva and other areas of the county, applauded the decision. 

In a statement, TLCC Coordinator Nadine Slimak said “this whole process should be put on hold until the state-mandated review of the Lee Comprehensive Plan” due in 2028. 

“That’s the ideal time to sit down community by community and talk about what’s working and what’s not,” Slimak said. 

Commissioners in April 2025 asked staff to begin working on the Lee Plan amendments and related changes to the Land Development Code. 

According to county staff, the amendments do not increase allowable densities and intensities. 

SE Lee Plan final hearing scheduled 

The Southeast Lee Community Plan offers development guidelines for a sprawling area south of Lehigh Acres and east of Bonita Springs and Estero. 

The commissioners proposed amendments that loosen development restrictions in the area, allowing more commercial and some residential growth, especially along major corridors. 

As with the Lee Plan amendments, a group of community stakeholders said the plan should undergo a more in-depth review before moving forward and raised concerns about building in the area, much of which has been restricted from development to protect natural resources. 

There is also greater urgency to advance the update because it could affect current development proposals. Lee commissioners in April 2026 asked staff to develop the changes in response to 11 privately initiated Lee Plan amendment applications, according to a county staff report. 

“I certainly want to move forward with these 11 applications,” Ruane said. “I want to make sure we don’t have any hesitation with them.” 

Southeast Lee is made up in large part of the Density Reduction/Groundwater Recharge area. The changes would remove a requirement that limits commercial development to 300,000 square feet throughout the DR/GR. 

Instead, the plan would allow “a variety” of commercial, industrial and office uses. It would limit each development to a maximum 0.25 floor-area ratio. 

It also would allow up to 1.15 residential units per acre in the DR/GR, where one unit per 10 acres is the norm, and allow for some nonresidential uses. 

County staff said the changes would not affect preservation lands in the area. 

Parts of the DR/GR have been developed despite restrictions, in some cases through lawsuits, county staff reported. 

The area holds county wellfields, panther habitat and mines. It also includes a growing community of residents who would be well served by greater commercial growth, the plan’s supporters say.