Those with dreams of wilderness-style living in the Everglades could soon make them a reality after the Collier County Planning Commission voted unanimously in favor Wednesday of the proposed Collier Rod and Gun Club at the Preserve.
The project is planned southwest of Oil Well Road and State Road 29 and east of Ave Maria. The main goal of the project is to provide a recreational retreat in the wilderness of eastern Collier County, away from booming development in most parts of Southwest Florida.
The property is within the Rural Lands Stewardship Area district, which encourages property owners to protect their environmentally valuable land, known as stewardship sending areas, in exchange for stewardship credits to be used in a stewardship receiving area.
There are three separate projects planned for the property—the stewardship sending area project, a conditional-use project and a baseline development. San Fransisco- and New York-based architecture firm Hart Howerton is designing the project and is partnering with local developer Barron Collier Cos. Hart Howerton has experience with similar projects around the country, such as Santa Lucia Preserve in California and Palmetto Bluff in South Carolina.
“We firmly believe that together Hart Howerton and Barron Collier have a deep understanding of developing sensitive environments and design these projects to respond to a unique set of conditions in the existing landscape,” said Louise Le Gardeur, associate principal at Hart Howerton.
The 260-acre stewardship sending area project is where 225 single-family homes will be placed on the northeast corner of the property, accompanied with a compact rural development called The Homestead that will provide services, such as dining, a general store and educational amenities.
“As with the residential aspects of the property, the dining experience at Collier Rod and Gun Club at the Preserve is woven into the natural environment,” Le Gardeur said. “For example, we intend to employ low-light designs that conserve energy and protect night skies when dining under the stars.”
Those who wish to purchase a house at the preserve must go through a wilderness training program, and the purchased home can’t be rented. About 60% of the property is planned to be kept as open space as to the west of the cabins will be a linear park with a 10-foot-wide multiuse trail.
The developers also are asking for a conditional-use project to be used mainly for recreational purposes, such as golfing and shooting. The golf course design will follow environmental management practices established by the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf.
“The conditional-use project is establishing itself among the best in the world and setting the standard for rural golf in a natural setting,” Le Gardeur said.
The sporting area will have an outdoor pistol-shooting course, a five-stand pavilion for clay shooting and an archery facility. Rifles will not be allowed on the property, and the shooting activities will be limited to 8 a.m. to dusk. The conditional-use project will be capped at 300 club members and will hold 20 lodging cottages only usable by club members.
A third component of the project, which was not part of the vote, is still under the permitting process and holds plans for a housing development. The baseline development project plans to have 30 condominiums situated on more than 840 acres of land.
All three aspects of the project must go before the Board of County Commissioners for approval before starting development. Pending permitting, the developers hope to have the stewardship sending area and conditional-use parts of the project built in the next five years.
