Loading...
CCPC Minutes 04/03/2025April 3, 2025 Page 1 of 24 TRANSCRIPT OF THE MEETING OF THE COLLIER COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION Naples, Florida April 3, 2025 LET IT BE REMEMBERED that the Collier County Planning Commission, in and for the County of Collier, having conducted business herein, met on this date at 9:00 a.m., in REGULAR SESSION in Building "F" of the Government Complex, East Naples, Florida, with the following members present: Joe Schmitt, Chairman Chuck Schumacher, Vice Chairman Paul Shea, Secretary Randy Sparrazza Michael Petscher Michelle L. McLeod Charles "Chap" Colucci Amy Lockhart, Collier County School Board Representative ALSO PRESENT: Raymond V. Bellows, Zoning Manager Mike Bosi, Planning and Zoning Director Heidi Ashton-Cicko, Managing Assistant County Attorney Derek Perry, County Attorney's Office Kevin Summers, Manager - Technical Systems Operations April 3, 2025 Page 2 of 24 P R O C E E D I N G S MR. BOSI: Chair, you have a live mic. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Okay. Good morning, all, and welcome to the Planning Commission meeting, April 3rd, 2025. I would ask that the planning commissioners please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. (The Pledge of Allegiance was recited in unison.) CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Commissioner Shea, could you please take the roll. COMMISSIONER SHEA: Chairman Schmitt? CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Here. COMMISSIONER SHEA: Vice Chair Schumacher? COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER: Here. COMMISSIONER SHEA: Secretary Shea is here. Commissioner Sparrazza. COMMISSIONER SPARRAZZA: Here. COMMISSIONER SHEA: Commissioner Colucci? COMMISSIONER COLUCCI: Here. COMMISSIONER SHEA: Commissioner McLeod? COMMISSIONER McLEOD: Here. COMMISSIONER SHEA: Commissioner Petscher? COMMISSIONER PETSCHER: Here. COMMISSIONER SHEA: Amy -- Ms. Lockhart? MS. LOCKHART: I am here. COMMISSIONER SHEA: We are all present, sir. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Excellent. And, Ray or -- do we have any addenda to the agenda? MR. BELLOWS: No changes. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: No changes. Okay. Our next meeting is on April 17th. Go ahead. MR. BOSI: I did want to say that right now we have no petitions scheduled for the May 1st Planning Commission meeting, and we've passed the deadline. That was Wednesday. So I think we're -- it would be appropriate for a motion to cancel the May 1st meeting because no petitioners are there. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: I make a motion to approve that we cancel the May 1st agenda -- Planning Commission meeting since there's nothing on the agenda. COMMISSIONER McLEOD: Second. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Anybody second? COMMISSIONER McLEOD: Second. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: All in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER COLUCCI: Aye. COMMISSIONER SHEA: Aye. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Aye. COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER: Aye. COMMISSIONER SPARRAZZA: Aye. COMMISSIONER PETSCHER: Aye. April 3, 2025 Page 3 of 24 COMMISSIONER McLEOD: Aye. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Any opposed, like sign. (No response.) CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Okay. It passes. That's interesting that there's nothing. MR. BOSI: And just speaking with Ray, there's a number of petitions that we have there, but for whatever reason, the applicants have not been very aggressive to get them forward, and there's a lot of questions surrounding future economic activity, things like that. So we'll continue to monitor and let the Planning Commission know in terms of workload. But right now we've -- our summer is looking pretty light, but that could change within a month. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: And we think that the Costco petition will come in midsummer even regardless of whether we're out of season? I guess, basically -- is that going to be problematic, or will the Board want us to defer that to the fall? MR. BOSI: No. And the way that we've always processed it related to the summertime break for land-use petitions has been the Planning Commission can proceed as forward. And we do have a Zoom option so, you know, participants, no matter where they're at, they can participate. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Okay. MR. BOSI: But the Board has a policy not until the last meeting in September, first meeting in October before they'll hear anything that is controversial that has any -- that's in any of our seasonal areas. So us moving forward with the advisory role that has been requested of the Planning Commission regarding the Costco PDI, it will be -- it will be probably July; one of the meetings in July that we'll have that hearing. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: And I would recommend that it be the only item on the agenda. MR. BOSI: Yes. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Because I would expect it's going to be a lot of participants. MR. BOSI: Agreed. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Okay. Next item, then, is approval of minutes. Well, I've already -- let me go back. The next meeting will be April 17th. Are there any projected commissioners who will not be able to be present for that meeting? COMMISSIONER COLUCCI: I will not be. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Chap is the only one. Okay. So it looks like we'll have a quorum. What's on -- what's it look like for the 17th, just the two petitions associated with the car storage area? MR. BOSI: We have the car storage, which is the -- on 951 south of the 41/Collier intersection. That's a GMP and a PUD. And then we also have a GMP only for a future housing project, 160 acres, off of Sabal Palm in the sending area. It's only the GMP because it's a large scale. It's 160 acres. It takes two rounds of hearings with the Planning Commission, two rounds of hearings with the BCC. So at that hearing we'll put forward the Growth Management Plan amendment. We'll give you, as an informational piece, the PUD so you can see what they have -- they April 3, 2025 Page 4 of 24 currently have in the PUD for the design standards, the specifics, but there will be no action on the PUD. It will only be the GMP because you're going to be at a transmittal hearing. And then at adoption we will bring the PUD together with that GMP. So you'll have full visibility on both of them. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Okay. Okay. Next item, approval of minutes, March 6th, 2025. Do I hear a motion to approve those minutes? COMMISSIONER PETSCHER: So moved. COMMISSIONER SHEA: Second. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Second. It was moved and seconded. And there's no discussion, no corrections to be made, so I ask that we vote with a motion and second. So please vote. All in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONER COLUCCI: Aye. COMMISSIONER SHEA: Aye. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Aye. COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER: Aye. COMMISSIONER SPARRAZZA: Aye. COMMISSIONER PETSCHER: Aye. COMMISSIONER McLEOD: Aye. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Any opposed, like sign. (No response.) CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: So it passes unanimously. And from Ray, BCC report? MR. BELLOWS: Yes. On March 25th, the Board of County Commissioners heard the conditional use for the 350-foot-tall communication tower. That was denied by a vote of 5-0 for the proposed location and that the tower should stay at its current location until they come up with another site. MR. BOSI: And Mike Bosi, Zoning director. Just to give you a little bit more specifics. There was a strong presence from the Seminole and the Miccosukee Tribes in objection to it. And if you remember, at the Planning Commission there was just the owner of the Skunk Ape Research Center -- CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Right. MR. BOSI: -- that had came and spoke against it. Well, some of the indigenous tribes came and spoke against it, and because of that, the Board was very concerned about its impact. And instead of saying -- instead of continuing it until they were able to find an alternative location, they just -- they took action on it. They denied it and said bring back a better location after -- and make sure that as you're going through the site selection, you've got direct lines of communication with the indigenous -- the indigenous tribes to make sure there's no -- there's no issue in terms that location and inference with, you know, their native practices. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: But still with an understanding of the degradation that currently can occur without that tower being present. MR. BOSI: And it was also a direction to continue to talk with the Park Service, because right now the reason for that tower was the decommissioning of the tower at that Carnestown. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Right. MR. BOSI: That tower is still at its present location. The federal government -- April 3, 2025 Page 5 of 24 the Park System has purchased that property. They want to decommission the tower, but there's conversation that's going on recognizing that that tower is absolutely in need for communications in that area. So until we're able to find an alternative location or if the Park Service would agree that a tower and their welcome center, which they intend to -- you know, to develop is not incompatible uses because you're going to have a lot of public there. You're going to need reliable cell service. And having a tower, because of the safety aspect of it, there are some benefits, and there is some logic to it. So there's a lot of discussions that are going to have to take place as to where that new location is going to be; if it's going to be a new location, or if they're just going to reconstruct the tower that's there with a newer structure at its current location. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Okay. MR. BOSI: So more to come. MR. BELLOWS: And -- CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Ray, anything else? Go ahead. MR. BELLOWS: Yes. The Board also approved the Tamiami 500-acre MPUD and companion GMPA, and that was on the summary agenda. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Okay. And I -- and you did have a discussion as well in regards to the LDC amendment. The Board provided guidance. Was that the meeting they provided guidance with the issues of golf course conversion? I know we heard the -- we did the LDC. We did the review. MR. BOSI: There was the -- CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Go ahead. MR. BOSI: The Planning Commission heard it and made recommendations that the staff basically take a lighter -- a lighter approach to modifications to it. We asked the Board, do you want us to move forward with the simplified version or go back to the version -- or go back -- come back with a modified version as requested by the Planning Commission, and they made the decision to make no changes to it. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Okay. MR. BOSI: And then -- and also, as I mentioned before the meeting started, the recommendation that the Planning Commission made, you know, to support the renting of urban guesthouses within the urban area, the Board of County Commissioners decided against that, not to move forward, and it was primarily because -- that they could not regulate duration, and the impact of short-term rentals and Airbnb and the VRBO issue was something they felt would have the potential to really disrupt neighborhoods in a way that they didn't feel that it was -- in their term, the juice was not worth the squeeze. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Okay. All right. And next item is Chairman's report. I have nothing. ***There's nothing on the consent agenda, so we'll move to the first public hearing. That is a -- PL2023016891. That's the Amatout, is it, land -- MS. EMBLIDGE: No. Armantrout. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: -- on Sunset Boulevard. MS. EMBLIDGE: Armantrout. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Oh, Armantrout, okay. Armantrout, that's -- now that I look at it. All right. With that, first we'll do any -- are there any -- is there -- oath of anybody who wishes to speak; please stand for the oath. THE COURT REPORTER: Do you swear or affirm the testimony you will give April 3, 2025 Page 6 of 24 will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? (The speakers were duly sworn and indicated in the affirmative.) CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: And disclosures, starting with Amy. MS. LOCKHART: Staff materials only. COMMISSIONER COLUCCI: Staff materials only. COMMISSIONER SHEA: Staff materials only. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Likewise, staff materials only. COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER: Staff materials only. COMMISSIONER SPARRAZZA: Staff materials only. COMMISSIONER PETSCHER: Staff materials only. COMMISSIONER McLEOD: Reviewed materials and visited the site. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: All right. With that, Margaret, it's all yours. MS. EMBLIDGE: Thank you. Good morning, Commissioners. I'm Margaret Emblidge. I'm a certified planner with LJA Engineering representing the applicant. We have some of our project team with us today. Let me do this. You'll see on the screen this list consists of all the team members. Here today, though, we have Karen Bishop, Jim Carr, and Jim Banks. Tim Hall was not able to make it, but we're prepared to answer any questions regarding environmental conditions. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: I think Karen just made it in time. MS. EMBLIDGE: Yeah. MS. BISHOP: I bring up the rear. That's my job. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: All right. Go ahead. MS. EMBLIDGE: So the location of the project is at the corner of Sunset and Whitaker, which is approximately a block east of Santa Barbara Boulevard. The applicant is requesting to rezone the 5.28-acre parcel from the rural agriculture to the residential single-family one-acre zoning district subject -- as I mentioned, the location. The applicant intends to plat the parcel into three parcels so that they can construct a single-family -- one single-family per lot. Just as a sidebar, we -- the property was previously three parcels, and at some point in time it was combined, and now the owners want to plat it so that they can -- so that the other family members can build a single-family residence on the property. And here's a concept plat layout on what they're looking at. I mean, this isn't exact. We'll know better once we get to the actual plat application, but I thought this would be helpful for you to see what -- what they're initially thinking. And again, here's the surrounding zoning and parcels. And I wanted to highlight that in the agriculture zoning district that surrounds the property, there are several parcels that are small parcels that don't meet the five-acre requirement, specifically -- let's see. These parcels here are .74-acre parcels. And the reason why I bring that up is that it points out that this area is an area in transition from a five-acre agricultural area, and this proposal is consistent with the area. The subject property is designated urban residential subdistrict which allows a density of -- a base density of four units per acre, and based on the intent of creating three parcels, this would be consistent with this urban residential subdistrict, which it would result in a density of 1.76 acres -- units per acre. And this is just a highlight of where it lands on the Future Land Use Map. We did have a -- conduct a neighborhood information meeting on January 9th at April 3, 2025 Page 7 of 24 the South Regional Library, and there were no attendees from the public. And we did not receive calls or emails from the public regarding the request that -- we did not receive those. I did communicate with staff, and I don't want to speak for them, but I understand they did not receive any communications from the public. So in conclusion, the applicant agrees with the staff report and recommendation for approval. The request to rezone the property is consistent with the Growth Management Plan and also the rezone criteria pursuit so the Land Development Code. This request is compatible with the surrounding properties, as I mentioned previously, and the applicant respectfully requests that the Planning Commission forward this request to the Board with a recommendation for approval. And that ends my presentation. I'm available for questions. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: All right. I don't have any -- see any questions from my colleagues. I'll ask the question. Is this -- this is in the Water/Sewer District -- MS. EMBLIDGE: Yes. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: -- or will these be on septic? MS. EMBLIDGE: Yes, they are in the Water/Sewer District. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: That's what I thought. MS. EMBLIDGE: And there are main lines that are near by. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Okay. Michelle. COMMISSIONER McLEOD: Because you brought up the lots off of Polly. MS. EMBLIDGE: Yes. COMMISSIONER McLEOD: It made me look at even a little bit further east. Is there an air -- is that an airport? MS. EMBLIDGE: Yes, it is. COMMISSIONER McLEOD: I've never -- MS. EMBLIDGE: That's a private airport, and it's part of a planned development. COMMISSIONER McLEOD: Okay. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: It's a -- Wing South. It's part of the development. You pull your airplane right into the garage. COMMISSIONER SPARRAZZA: It's been there for 50 years. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Been there forever. Fifty, yeah. COMMISSIONER McLEOD: Very interesting. Okay. I'm glad you made me go out east and take a look at that. Okay. That's it. MS. EMBLIDGE: All right. Thank you. Anything else? CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Yeah. When you buy your airplane, you can -- you can get your own hangar and pull right in. COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER: Pull right in, yeah. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: I didn't realize it's been there 50 years. COMMISSIONER SPARRAZZA: Yep. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Wow. Anyways, we're digressing. COMMISSIONER McLEOD: Yeah. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Any other questions? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: And do I hear a motion for approval? COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER: Public? April 3, 2025 Page 8 of 24 CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Oh, thank you. Any public comments? MR. SUMMERS: (Shakes head.) CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Nobody signed up? No calls? No nothing? Okay. Then we'll ask the commissioners if they have any concerns or if they'd like to make a motion. COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER: Any staff report on this? CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Well, we'll hear staff report. Thank you. I'm getting way ahead of myself. COMMISSIONER SPARRAZZA: If you'd come -- MR. BOSI: Mike Bosi, Zoning director. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: If I'd come to the meeting once in a while, I'll remember. MR. BOSI: And I concur with the presentation that Margaret has provided, but what I would point out is there's no deviations being sought within this. This is straight to RSF-1, so the LDC regulations that have been adopted and have been deemed appropriate are the ones that will be applicable to the project. And just to give you also an understanding of what they could ask for, because of where this sits within the urbanized area they could ask for up to four units an acre. They are leaving a lot of density on the table, and I think it's in the spirit of compatibility. So in that regard, with the fact that there are no deviations, that they are -- they are looking for a larger lot configuration similar to the existing leftover ag or existing ag within the area, staff is firmly behind this project, and we think that it's a project that fits within the character of the area. And we do agree that this is an area that is starting to transition to alternative uses. But this helps set a pattern of -- of a residential density that is similar towards what currently exists. So staff is in support of the project. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Okay. COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER: Chair, I'd make a motion to approve as presented. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: All right. Any seconds? COMMISSIONER SPARRAZZA: Second. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: I guess all in favor, signify by saying aye. COMMISSIONER COLUCCI: Aye. COMMISSIONER SHEA: Aye. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Aye. COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER: Aye. COMMISSIONER SPARRAZZA: Aye. COMMISSIONER PETSCHER: Aye. COMMISSIONER McLEOD: Aye. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Any opposed, by like sign. (No response.) CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: No opposition. It passes unanimously. MS. EMBLIDGE: Thank you. COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER: Thank you. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: I thought we'd give Karen time to talk as well, but she missed a big opportunity. April 3, 2025 Page 9 of 24 MS. EMBLIDGE: Yeah. I'm sure she's disappointed. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: ***All right. Next item, PL20230016622, and that's the Sainvilus Subdivision. And do we have a petitioner here? It's all yours. But we'll first take an oath. Anybody wishing to speak, please stand for your oath. THE COURT REPORTER: Do you swear or affirm the testimony you will give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? (The speakers were duly sworn and indicated in the affirmative.) CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Disclosures. Amy. MS. LOCKHART: None. Staff materials only. COMMISSIONER COLUCCI: Staff materials only. COMMISSIONER SHEA: Staff materials only. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Likewise, staff materials only. COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER: Staff materials only. COMMISSIONER SPARRAZZA: Staff materials only. COMMISSIONER PETSCHER: Staff materials only. COMMISSIONER McLEOD: Reviewed the materials, got some clarification from staff, and I did go out to Immokalee yesterday, and I visited the site. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Okay. With that, sir, the floor is yours. MR. SAINVILUS: All right. Good morning. And my name is James Sainvilus. I'm the developer. And I would like to start by thanking you guys for being here this morning and having to -- for us to present to you. And I want to start by addressing the people in Immokalee that -- I'm from Immokalee and graduated '97. And I went to college, went for an engineering degree. Came back. I was a teacher at Immokalee Middle School. I taught seventh grade because I had a teaching certificate for physics since I was in engineering, so I had that. And I wanted to start with that by saying that Immokalee is a place where if I want to do anything, I want to do it there. And right after I graduated, I became a teacher in Immokalee. Tried to be an example to the people, the young kids in Immokalee. And also I became an engineer for the city. I worked for the BCC for 15 years building a wastewater plant -- water plants. And also I switched over when I find out there was a position in Immokalee CRA and MSTU. I applied for the position and actually worked for the CRA for seven years. So I know what's going on in Immokalee. And my dad moved from Haiti straight to Immokalee in 1980, so -- and we live in Forrester Avenue, which is where the project is actually being proposed right now. So technically, I know the area and I know what Immokalee is actually going through and what they need. So by saying that, I want to address that to -- again, to the people in Immokalee, that I understand what's going on there, and I came back. And many of -- many of Immokalee, they don't go. They stay in Immokalee to help out the -- help out whatever way they can. But I came back, and I want to propose this development by presenting these homes to people like teachers, firefighters. So there are a lot of Habitat homes being built in Immokalee, great, and they are low-income base. So a lot of people are not qualified to get into these homes, and that is why I'm presenting these homes to where they can be April 3, 2025 Page 10 of 24 compatible. So right now, if you buying anything in Immokalee, you can't really compare it with any home being sold within the Immokalee. There's nothing that's been sold in Immokalee that you can compare it with. In fact, I bought this lot with this home in it. They had to go to Naples to compare the house I'm buying in Immokalee to give me a proposal based on the appraisal value. So my home was appraised based on the Naples value, so I had to pay a lot of money for it. So my point is that if we have these homes that I'm presenting, I'm proposing, they will bring the value within Immokalee and Ave Maria. So these homes will basically be presenting more like, if you do an appraisal -- if you worried about your property values not increasing, it will definitely increase your property value because it is not affordable home. It is market-value homes that we are proposing to the people with low -- I mean, not low, but middle income that can afford it and being able to -- to being able to invest in town, because you may want to buy a second property and, instead of going to Ave Maria, you can just buy it here in town. And then if you want to rent it or if you want to park your money by buying more homes, this is the place, because they will be worth almost the same amount as Ave Maria prices. So that's what I have to say. And I do have my developer -- my civil engineer here, and my architect is here to go over the plan of where the project is being proposed and the location of all the changes that are going to be made. Thank you. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Okay. MR. SANDORA: Hi, everyone. I do have a PowerPoint. Is there a way that we can plug it in? I'm Canon Sandora. I'm the civil engineer on the project, and thanks for the opportunity to be here today, and I'm glad to be representing James. And, you know, he's an Immokalee guy and wants to do something positive for Immokalee and provide some much-needed working-class, you know, homes so people can -- they don't have to leave Immokalee to, you know, find a nice home. They can stay right in Immokalee. So just on, like, a high level of the project, you know, James isn't really pushing the envelope on the project. He's just staying within the base density that's allowed for -- per the Immokalee Area Master Plan. So it's -- which is six units per acre for the medium residential subdistrict. So he's not proposing any bonus densities or something, you know, trying to get all this density on a -- you know, on a four-and-a-half-acre site. You know, he's just staying within the limits that are right in the master plan. So we've looked at all areas of the project that should be considered. You know, we've really thought out the site plan to make it suitable and everything. It's just a two -- it's a two-story home. So, you know, I guess you can go up to 35 feet, but it's -- we're just doing a two-story home, two-car garage. They're attached on one common wall, so it's kind of -- you know, that's the -- there's one that's on its own because, basically, 4.52 acres times six gets you to 27, so we've got -- so there's 26 that are attached with one common wall, and then we have one single-family that gets us to the 27 units. That's kind of a high level of the project. I guess I can go into the details a little bit. And if you guys have any questions, feel free to interrupt me and stuff like that, so... Principal uses, they're residential detached single-family units and attached April 3, 2025 Page 11 of 24 single-family units with that zero lot line. So they're kind of like villas, if you will, but they're each -- everybody's on their own property, so -- and then just typical accessory uses, you know, for -- that you would see, you know. So getting -- this is just a slide about the density here, as I mentioned, you know, 4.52, and then we get the base unit. You know, we're just sticking to the base. No bonus densities. Here's an overview of the site plan, and if -- for you guys to take a look at it. And there's -- you know, Forrester Avenue is where we're connecting on the north. Then you have Roberts Avenue on the south. So basically, our road -- Forrester Avenue is basically a dead end, so we're basically extending the dead end and having a culvert -- a cul-de-sac there. And, you know, we don't want that road to be a throughway for a number of reasons. One of them is we don't really want -- I mean, we prefer not to have that be through traffic, you know, people driving through the -- that neighborhood right there, maybe to -- there's a school over there and, you know, people try and cut through to avoid the school, and it provides extra traffic on a little residential road. You know, people like to live on a dead end and stuff like that. And since Forester's a dead end, there's really not much traffic on Forrester at all, so it can -- it can easily handle the additional traffic there. There's a few homes that are connecting right off of -- right on Roberts. There's one -- there's basically three units there connecting on Roberts. And by having that road shortened and not go all the way to Roberts, it also provides more open space, more green area, more room for landscaping. You see we have a nice -- that lighter green area is for detention, so we're providing plenty -- you know, plenty of room for stormwater on site, so... And we have sidewalks on both sides. I wanted to mention that, too. And also we put in a sidewalk connecting to Roberts. That was something with -- when we had the -- when we had the CRA meeting, when we had the neighborhood information meeting, that's something we added to provide a pedestrian connection. So if anybody's walking, they could just connect right to Roberts. There's some -- there's some -- down Roberts there's some stores and stuff that people might want to just walk to, so... CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Randy, you have a question? COMMISSIONER SPARRAZZA: Yes. If I may real quickly. Are these 960 square feet under air? So they're fairly small? They're condo size? MR. SANDORA: That's one floor. So they're -- that's just the -- That's just the first floor right, Bill? MR. GLASS: Yeah. MR. SANDORA: Okay. MR. GLASS: The upstairs is larger. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: It's a townhome. It's upstairs, downstairs. COMMISSIONER SPARRAZZA: Right, upstairs, down -- I couldn't imagine that -- from the layout here -- all right. So they're probably 16-, 1800 square, something like that? MR. SANDORA: Right. MR. GLASS: They're actually larger. I don't know the exact number, but the April 3, 2025 Page 12 of 24 second floor -- CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Sir, you have to come to the microphone, please, or -- COMMISSIONER SPARRAZZA: Or relay to him. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Or relay. If you're going to speak -- COMMISSIONER SPARRAZZA: All right. That's fine. I just wanted to make sure -- MR. SANDORA: He's going to present the architectural plans in a minute. COMMISSIONER SPARRAZZA: All right. Thank you. MR. SANDORA: So -- sorry, I showed on there, and it, you know, caused -- you know, it makes you think that, but, you know, he's going to present that in a second, so... So getting into kind of a little bit more of the specifics on the site plan, you see, you know, we're providing the stormwater management system is .82 acres, so that's a -- you know, a good portion of the site for a detention area. You know, we're providing the Type B landscape buffers at -- to the adjacent properties. We're providing Type D landscape properties on the roads. We're providing the required open space, which is 2.71 acres; 60 percent of the site. And I talked about the sidewalks on both sides. So, you know, you see the connection that we talked about on -- or on Forrester there. COMMISSIONER McLEOD: Can you show the sidewalks? MR. SANDORA: The sidewalks, they're right here. So you see them here. You might even be able to see them back here a little bit better. COMMISSIONER McLEOD: And then did you say there were sidewalks out to Roberts? MR. SANDORA: Yes. There's a sidewalk right here that -- from the culvert that connects down and goes directly south towards Roberts. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Mike. COMMISSIONER PETSCHER: Where is that -- where does it come in on Forrester Avenue? Because Forrester Avenue is very small. MR. SANDORA: Yeah. It just -- COMMISSIONER PETSCHER: Is it right in front of that house, 1104? MR. SANDORA: 1104? COMMISSIONER PETSCHER: Right in front of -- where exactly on Forrester Avenue are you coming into? MR. SANDORA: Yeah. It is very short, so it kind of dead-ends right up here. So it's just on the south side of Forrester. There (indicating). Do we -- COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER: Mike, I think you're on the wrong side of 111th [sic]. COMMISSIONER PETSCHER: I'm on the wrong side? COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER: Yeah. That's Immokalee Middle. If you want to keep going out -- COMMISSIONER McLEOD: It's between Forrester and Roberts. COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER: Is that a track? COMMISSIONER PETSCHER: Yeah. Is it right next to the track? COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER: No, you've got to keep going to your left. COMMISSIONER McLEOD: Yeah. It's on the other side of 11th. April 3, 2025 Page 13 of 24 COMMISSIONER PETSCHER: Oh, the other side. COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER: There you go. You see that vacant lot? MR. SANDORA: Yeah. It's on the west side of 11th. COMMISSIONER PETSCHER: I see it. Perfect. Thank you. MR. SANDORA: We're only asking for one deviation, and it's -- instead of a 60-foot-wide road right-of-way, it's a 45 feet -- -foot right-of-way, which still provides room for sidewalks on both sides and still 11 feet of open space within the right-of-way. It's a common deviation that I've seen on a lot of PUDs and stuff like that, so... Just to get into the traffic, you see how many trips that we're adding. For the -- for instance, for the p.m. peak hour, there's 29 additional trips for the development, which the roads can more than handle. It's not a significant impact to these major roadways, State Road 29 or Lake Trafford. There's ample available capacity on these roads for the additional traffic. That's what this is showing. We're only -- we're only adding 10 trips to State Road 29, three trips to Lake Trafford Road, you know. You see there's ample capacity here available. And then you can see exactly where we're adding the trips. So right here on Forrester and this -- this is kind of a better map that shows where the other roads are. You know, you're basically -- there's a total of 16 trips coming in. This is for the p.m. peak hour, 16 trips entering the site. There's nine trips exiting that's on Forrester. And like you said, Forrester is very short. It basically dead-ends right here. So there's not much traffic on that road at all, so there's plenty of capacity on these roads to handle those additional trips. So, now, Bill, you can -- CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Michelle, do you have a question? MR. SANDORA: Oh, do you guys -- COMMISSIONER McLEOD: Can you go back on the other map that you had? MR. SANDORA: This one? COMMISSIONER McLEOD: Yes. So you say now that there is an exit on Roberts? MR. SANDORA: There is -- oh, right now? COMMISSIONER McLEOD: Well, no. I mean, in your plan. MR. SANDORA: Oh, in our plan. So there's three units that are just going to have driveways directly off Roberts that are proposed. COMMISSIONER McLEOD: So they get off of Roberts, and they go right into their garage? MR. SANDORA: Yeah, I can -- I can -- maybe when I show this at the same time -- these units are just right off of Roberts. COMMISSIONER McLEOD: Okay. MR. SANDORA: And there's -- there's other homes on Roberts, so there's actually an existing home right here that's going to be tooken down and then, you know, this is going to be put up, so... COMMISSIONER McLEOD: And are you asking for the deviation on Roberts, too, besides Forrester? MR. SANDORA: I don't -- COMMISSIONER McLEOD: Just on Forrester. MR. SANDORA: It's in the -- it's in the PUD documents. Like, it's in Exhibit F, I April 3, 2025 Page 14 of 24 think, that it's a commitment that we're going to be connecting there, I think, but... MR. BOSI: Mike Bosi, Zoning director. And if you look at the display that's currently on the -- the deviation, the 45-foot-wide right-of-way is only for the dead-end section that they're showing. They are not proposing any modifications to Roberts. Roberts is an existing roadway. That is going to stay. They're just going to have driveway cuts off of that for the three units that are facing Roberts. The rest of the units will be off -- will be off of the northern street. MR. SANDORA: Forrester. MR. BOSI: Forrester. And that 45-foot right-of-way is shown here as they showed, a 20-foot -- 24-foot travel lane and 5-foot sidewalks and 11 feet of open space. COMMISSIONER McLEOD: Okay. Can you show that on the map again; where is that deviation? Just in the cul-de-sac. MR. SANDORA: Yeah, it's this road. This right-of-way is 45 feet. COMMISSIONER McLEOD: Oh, uh-huh. MR. SANDORA: This right-of-way. This is the proposed road, so yeah. COMMISSIONER McLEOD: Okay. Thank you. MR. SANDORA: Bill, do you want to -- MR. GLASS: I'm Bill Glass with G2 Architecture. I was on the Estero Design and Planning Group for five years, so I applaud your dedication and your time. Not really a lot to -- again, these are attached singles. We did that for a lot of reasons. I'm actually living in a villa right now, and we love it. We don't even know our neighbors are there, and we just mingle with them in the driveway when we're picking our -- driving out or whatever. It works really well. It's a nice way to get singles on a house without all that space between them. I apologize for the square footage on the second floor not being shown, but it's much larger than the downstairs, because the garages are covered. It's probably another 13-, 1400 feet. These are large units. I kept waiving that flag to James and saying, "You're probably large for the Immokalee market," but that's really what he wanted. He wanted these to be family homes, not cracker boxes. And we -- we tried to accomplish that. That's really all I have. I mean, if you -- I'm glad to answer questions. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Michelle. COMMISSIONER McLEOD: Yeah. This may be outside our purview, but are you going to have fences in between for privacy of these residences? MR. GLASS: We weren't planning on it, I don't believe. COMMISSIONER McLEOD: So they're just, okay, wide open? MR. GLASS: We try not to chop them up. Maybe landscape, you know, between them, but -- MR. SANDORA: Yeah. MR. GLASS: -- not fences fences. COMMISSIONER McLEOD: Okay. And then that open space, the dry detention area, is there a way that all the residents can enjoy that area, that open green space that's a requirement? MR. GLASS: Well, it's pretty wet three or four months of the year, I would imagine. But, yeah, it's in between. COMMISSIONER McLEOD: It's called a dry retention area. But you're right, it's April 3, 2025 Page 15 of 24 probably wet in the -- MR. GLASS: I thought about putting a horseshoe pit in the one behind our building, but it was January. By April I knew better. COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER: I just had a question real quick for the architect. Is that -- your square footage plan, is that -- is that per unit or total for that whole building? MR. GLASS: It's only the first floor. I apologize to you. What we were trying to do is get a lot coverage calculation, and my drafter in the office dropped the footage from the second floor off the -- off the slide, and I'm -- I didn't see it. COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER: So it would be, like, 1800. So it would be another -- MR. GLASS: So it's 1610 footprint, plus the second floor, which is probably 13-, 1400 feet of living area. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Yeah, 25 -- (unintelligible) 2500. COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER: So you're, like, 1200 square feet a unit, basically? MR. GLASS: Bigger -- they're bigger than that. They're, like, over 2,000; 2200 feet. MR. SANDORA: It is per unit. MR. GLASS: Per residence. COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER: Oh, the square footage calculation is per unit, not the footprint? MR. SANDORA: Right, right. MR. GLASS: Right. It's just per unit. COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER: Thank you. MR. SAINVILUS: I'm sorry. I wanted to answer your question. Yes, the dry retention area will definitely be used for people within the area. Because when I was growing up in Immokalee, we had -- called Oakhaven. I was there for, like, a year. So whenever there's no more water there, we play soccer within the area because it's a dry area, so people can actually use it. COMMISSIONER McLEOD: Okay, great. MR. SANDORA: About the fence, if you guys -- if, you know, there was a requirement to do a fence, we would definitely do one. We definitely wanted to do a landscaping for sure to provide privacy. COMMISSIONER McLEOD: Okay. That would be nice, good landscape. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Anybody else? COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER: This is also going to be -- these are going to be purchased -- this is going to be a fee simple, correct? So it will be its own HOA. MR. SANDORA: Yes. COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER: So once the developer turns over, it goes to the residents, correct? MR. SANDORA: Yes. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: I just want to note two areas in the petition. One, of course, you've already addressed is the deviation. The second, though, is this is in a wellfield risk management special treatment area, and with that, for my colleagues on the Board, there are special requirements in the LDC that are very strictly reviewed during the April 3, 2025 Page 16 of 24 application process. So that has to be notified. It doesn't require any movement on our part from a standpoint of Environmental Advisory Council, but we just note that it is a wellfield risk management area. That's part of the water -- area of Immokalee sewer -- water/sewer -- Immokalee source of water for that area. MR. SANDORA: Okay. Is there an environmentalist on the Zoom call? We had -- were they able to join? They were supposed to be here today, but they had a -- something came up. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: All right. MR. SANDORA: Some type of emergency here. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Do we have any questions? Amy, did you -- I have no question. I just wanted to point out that it is a wellfield treatment area. MR. SANDORA: Yeah. We had -- our environmentalist was -- had some type of emergency or something, so -- but, okay, thanks. We've done all the environmental and stuff, and we understand the wellfield. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Okay. And it was clear, you stated in the environmental review as well, that it includes black bear -- from a standpoint, the black bear plan, from a standpoint of dealing with the bear population out in that area. MR. SANDORA: (Nods head.) CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Okay. Anything else from the petitioner? You've concluded. Staff, anything? MR. BOSI: As designated within the staff report, staff has reviewed it for consistency with the GMP. We do note there are -- one deviation that you guys discussed. Staff is supporting it based upon it being a dead-end -- a dead-end cul-de-sac, and it seems sufficient enough space to provide for all the necessary arrangements with sidewalks on both sides of the street. They're consistent with the density that's allotted to them through the medium residential within the Immokalee Area Master Plan. And staff is supporting the -- supporting the project and can answer any questions the Planning Commission may have. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Okay. Charles, do you have any? COMMISSIONER COLUCCI: James, could I ask you a question? MR. SAINVILUS: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER COLUCCI: It seems -- we're talking about a project here that -- anybody can buy one of these units, correct? MR. SAINVILUS: Correct. COMMISSIONER COLUCCI: I'm just trying to get my head around where your head is. Your intention, it seems to me to be affordable housing without designating it as such; is that correct? MR. SAINVILUS: Keep it as medium income. COMMISSIONER COLUCCI: Okay. So it isn't an affordable housing project? MR. SAINVILUS: It's not affordable housing project where you've got to make X amount of money, but -- I think MT something. COMMISSIONER McLEOD: AMI. April 3, 2025 Page 17 of 24 MR. SAINVILUS: AMI, something like that. It's not. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: It's market rate. MR. SAINVILUS: Market rate. COMMISSIONER COLUCCI: Okay. Thank you. COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER: I don't think a teacher can afford market rate right now. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: I don't know about Immokalee, though. COMMISSIONER McLEOD: Yeah. Immokalee is different. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: I think -- I mean, they're pretty attractive units, and I think it's a -- I'll make my comments when we are to talk, but I just want to open it up for -- any public speakers? MR. SUMMERS: Yes, Commissioner. You have one public speaker, Sylvia Ocanas. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Sylvia, please approach the lectern. Either one, either one. MS. OCANAS: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I'm glad to be here. I do have -- COMMISSIONER McLEOD: Good morning. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Silva, could you put the microphone down? Thank you, Silvia. MS. OCANAS: Short people usually have to. Can you hear me? CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Yeah. MS. OCANAS: Okay. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I'm glad to be here. I do have a concern. I know there was a lot of neighbors that showed up on the first meeting once we heard about it. But it's going to happen, and we do need more affordable housing, I do agree, but being that it's a dead end, I do have a very large concern -- because it happened a couple of years ago with -- in fact, I'm a retired Collier County public school employee for 33 years, and I have been a resident of Collier County for -- since 1980, and in Forrester, I've been there since 1994, so I've seen it grow over the time that I've been there, and changes. But one of my concerns is -- major concerns is an emergency evacuation if something was to happen on a dead end, and we have all this added traffic coming in of people who have moved in on a 4.52-acre and 27 units. We encountered -- at one time a hurricane had blown a large avocado tree which blocked the whole road. There was no access. So my concern is can we not have two accesses, one through the Roberts, which is a two-way street, not a dead end. You have access to go that way instead of a dead end where if something like that was to happen, it -- there would be no way of coming out. We really had a hard time. In fact, at the end of North 11th Street, there was another large tree where it blocked the whole residence there. They couldn't even get out of their residence. That's my -- one of my main concerns. And the other main concern is there will be no property management company to enforce any proper maintenance on the little bushes that they will be putting or landscape they will be putting around those homes, which will mean that if it's not properly taken care of, everything will be outgrown. And if you've gone down on certain areas of Immokalee, people don't care about their landscaping half the time. April 3, 2025 Page 18 of 24 And I would like to know if they are just going to be putting bushes, because my -- my understanding it's only going to be 15 feet from the houses to the area -- the easement all the way around. If there could be a 6-foot cement wall around those areas, because if they have a bush, if they don't keep maintenance on it, there's no one in control of that, it will be outgrown, and it will not be very nice. But those are my two main concerns is the emergency evacuation being it's only a dead-end street and only one way out. If something was to happen, there should -- I would think -- and I would love to have two ways out towards the Roberts and Forrester, both sides, because that is -- that is a very deep concern, only because we've seen, with hurricanes, that has happened where it does block the whole road. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Okay. Michelle? COMMISSIONER McLEOD: Yes. Silvia, thank you for coming today. So you live on Forrester? MS. OCANAS: Yes. I've been there since 1994. COMMISSIONER McLEOD: And what address? 1218? 1212? MS. OCANAS: At the dead end, 1225. COMMISSIONER McLEOD: Okay. And -- because I just have this concern about the deviation. So when we shorten the allowable space there, does that mean that there's less -- so the sidewalk's going to be closer to the road, or how -- MR. BOSI: No, no. There's -- there's -- there is -- COMMISSIONER SPARRAZZA: Four feet, I think. MR. BOSI: There is -- there's -- I think there is space between the road and -- I used to call it devil's strip. There is -- there will be a -- there's grass between where -- the road, and then there's grass and then there's a sidewalk within that 45-foot right-of-way. COMMISSIONER McLEOD: Okay. So -- yeah, there's just a shorter space to the road there. What do you think about that? I mean, I just -- I hate bringing things closer to the street. I like landscaped areas, wider, and it is on a cul-de-sac, and that's -- you know, staff is reasoning it, you know, it's a cul-de-sac, but still, there's people who live on that street. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: It's a fairly common request, very common, in fact, throughout the county. It's a small street. COMMISSIONER SPARRAZZA: Small. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: It's -- and I would guess that -- and I'd look to Mike Sawyer. But, Mike, I would assume that that is going to be, like, a 25-mile-an-hour street, if that. Maybe 10-mile-an-hour. So it's very common, and it's a cul-de-sac. And I understand your concern, but these type of it cul-de-sac type designs are pervasive throughout the county. We typically do not mandate that they have a secondary access. It's only -- what was it, 20 -- how many units was it again? MR. SANDORA: Twenty-seven. COMMISSIONER McLEOD: Twenty-seven. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: That's what I thought. So it's -- though it would be desirable, it's -- I don't have any reason, unless staff thinks otherwise in regards to access -- and I'll leave that up to staff when they discuss, but it's -- it's a typical design, cul-de-sac. Everybody in this county -- MS. OCANAS: I understand. April 3, 2025 Page 19 of 24 CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: -- wants to live at the end of the cul-de-sac. MS. OCANAS: I understand. The thing is, it's a dead-end street. It's a very small road. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Yes. MS. OCANAS: It's not even, really, a two-way road, it's so small, and to have extra -- I mean, you're -- CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Let me correct you on that. It is a two-way road. MS. OCANAS: Yes, yes, but it's a very small -- because there's only residents that live there. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Yes. MS. OCANAS: And now we're going to have 27 units. You figure 27 units, two people, two cars on each unit. That's added traffic. And if there was an emergency, you should have availability to have exit on the other side, especially because the other one is a larger lighted area, and that's the area -- CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Okay. I'll -- I'm going to ask staff, then, as far as -- as far as what I read in the staff report, this has been reviewed by both Fire and the Sheriff's Office, and there were no concerns raised that I'm aware of. MR. BOSI: Correct. It has been reviewed by all the agencies, and Transportation has signed off on it. And you pointed out, we don't have a requirement that projects have to have two access points. We encourage two access points, but we do not -- it's not a requirement. And the way that -- and if you think about it, there is access off to Roberts, but it's only for the three -- the way this is designed, it has -- the water management cuts off -- cuts off the ability for the traffic that comes from the north from Forrester down to Roberts to even be able to access it. So the way that this is designed, it would -- if we forced an interconnection for the entire project through to Roberts, they would have to redesign the arrangement for where the water management is. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: And account for through traffic and all the other types of things that would happen, yes. MR. BOSI: Yeah. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Anything else? MS. OCANAS: No. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Thank you. MS. OCANAS: Thank you. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: In regards to that -- and I'm going to ask the petitioner if they have anything to respond, but I would like the petitioner to address the issue of -- they said there was no management company, but I am going to mandate that there's going to be some kind of an HOA. MR. SANDORA: Yeah. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: That there would be an HOA, that would be either through some kind of a management company that would be hired as the HOA consultant -- but that would be responsible for maintaining all of the common areas through an HOA dues or any other type of requirement. But I'll leave that -- if you want to address that, please. MR. SANDORA: Yeah, there has to be an HOA to maintain common areas, so yeah. April 3, 2025 Page 20 of 24 CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: So it will be through an HOA either -- it will be formed by the residents, but they'll have some kind of a management company as well to manage the HOA? I know it's a minor cost, but... MR. SANDORA: That's the typical way. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: They don't have to have it. I mean, they could do it themselves. COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER: They have to have a board of directors. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: They have a board of directors, yes, and comply with Florida Statutes, yes. MR. SAINVILUS: Yes, sir. COMMISSIONER SPARRAZZA: They would be required to set up the full gamut of all the documents. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Right. COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER: The developer. COMMISSIONER SPARRAZZA: The developer, correct, yeah. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: The developer, yeah. Okay. Rebuttal from the applicant? Anything that was discussed? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: I see none. Paul, do you have a question? COMMISSIONER SHEA: Yeah. Actually, I was going to -- had the same comment as you on the HOA. I will point out I live in a community with 550 doors, and we only have one exit/entrance. I'm not saying it's right -- MS. OCANAS: Yeah. COMMISSIONER SHEA: -- but it's around -- it's around the county. MS. OCANAS: Well, we did encounter that huge avocado tree. When it came, there was no way we could get out. Everybody just brought their saws and started -- you know, and called. But there was another one at the end of North 11th, and it was a private resident, and they couldn't get out. It just totally blocked out. So that is a concern. When there's redeveloping and there's an opportunity of getting two exits, I don't -- I don't see why there cannot be because of that reason, even if on those residents, they have an emergency, that would be -- I mean, they have a -- what is it? A cul-de-sac. They have to turn around to get in there. I hope there's enough access for that, too, because -- CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Okay. Well, thank you for your -- (Simultaneous crosstalk.) COMMISSIONER SHEA: They were trying to avoid a through traffic. MS. OCANAS: I'm sorry? COMMISSIONER SHEA: They were trying to avoid making that a public road and through traffic all the way. Unless it became gated, that would be the only way to stop that concern. MS. OCANAS: Yeah, yeah, and it is possible to do it that way. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: All right. Thank you. Any other -- MS. OCANAS: Thank you. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: -- public speakers? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: No other public speakers. April 3, 2025 Page 21 of 24 Again, I offer one more time if the applicant has any rebuttal. None. Staff report, please. MR. BOSI: As noted within the staff report, staff is supporting the petition, the deviation. We think it is appropriate. It's been reviewed by all reviewing agencies. There have been no negative comments received. This was the first time we did hear about the request for the cut-through. We recognize that it could be done, but we do not have the code that says that it has to be done. So it's the applicant's discretion. And we feel that the number of units that are being proposed are relatively low in that regard. And for those reasons, staff is supporting the project as it's presented. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: All right. Mike. COMMISSIONER PETSCHER: I have a question for staff. You state in your staff report that it's consistent with the future goals of the GMP. Do you believe that it's consistent with the current surroundings and current values of the community? MR. BOSI: If you look at the block that's basically Forrester, Roberts, and 11th, that area is very underdeveloped. I think it is a project that's going to benefit the Immokalee community with 27 market-rate -- market-rate units that will have an uplifting effect upon property values within the area because of the new construction and the amenities that are provided for. So in that regard, I think this fulfills what the Immokalee area master plan was trying to promote within this area medium level of density within an area that is looking for -- and remember, the entire -- the Immokalee urbanized area is contained within a CRA, meaning there has been a determination of blight within this area that -- and you want to promote new development. This is the type -- and this is the type of development that fulfills the mission of the CRA and the Immokalee Area Master Plan, bringing new construction, new housing units, and an opportunity to provide for more households. And when that more -- and when they do hit that critical level -- and it's getting close -- Immokalee is going to have a -- the addition of some additional goods and services because the market will start to respond to these new developments. So these are the type of projects we really want to -- we want to support for the long-term health and the long-term diversity of housing but also other land uses within the Immokalee community. COMMISSIONER PETSCHER: I have one more question for -- is this a wood-frame construction or concrete block construction. MR. GLASS: The idea was to do the lower floor in block and the upper floor in wood, but it hasn't really been determined yet, and we're not in the -- out of building yet, but it wasn't going to be all wood. That was -- that was not what we were going for. COMMISSIONER PETSCHER: Okay. Thank you. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Michelle. COMMISSIONER McLEOD: The reason why I like this project and that it's at market level is because -- so I'm on the Housing Alliance Board, and talking to a lot of people about Immokalee and the affordability of Immokalee -- and this is what I'm hearing is that a lot of the people in Immokalee are doing -- they're starting to own their own businesses, whether it's landscaping or what have you, and they're starting to make money at a level that would not justify them for affordable housing. And so this project at market rate as to what, then, like, teachers and firefighters April 3, 2025 Page 22 of 24 can afford to pay out in Immokalee, I think that this is something that would be better suited for, then, that missing middle. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Okay. Well, let me close the public hearing. Are there any other public speakers? MR. SUMMERS: No, sir. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Then I'll close the public hearing and open it up for Board discussion, then. Go ahead, Michelle. Anything else? COMMISSIONER McLEOD: No, that's it. Thank you. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Well, I'll make a comment. I think it's a great project for Immokalee. As long as I've been in Collier County -- I commend the developer for moving forward with this. I think it would be a welcomed addition to Immokalee. It's market-rate housing, and I know it's -- you know, it's going to depend on what you can build it for and your breakpoint and when you can -- what you can sell it for. We're not here to debate that, but I fully understand what it is, and I think it's going to be a product that is going to be probably very successful in the Immokalee area. So with that, any other discussions from -- COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER: I had a couple points. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Go ahead. COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER: When we say "market rate," you know, these townhouses could be up probably around 400,000 -- CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Yep. COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER: -- which is probably about 35-, 3600 a month in mortgage payments. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Yep. I don't know if these guys priced it out. COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER: That's just what the market rate out in Immokalee is right now for new construction. It's 385-, 365-, 395- on the new-construction home. You take that square footage, you divide it out of what these are going to be at, my concern is that you're going to end up having a bunch of investors and this turns into a rental situation, because I don't see -- CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: I understand. COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER: I've been married to a teacher for a long time; 3600's a pretty big number for a teacher to crack. So that's my only -- I think it's a phenomenal project for the area. I'm just concerned that it's not going to fit the market rate. It's going to almost kind of price itself over. And that's not our concern, I get it. I understand staff said it fits the square foot -- or the units per acre fits. All that fits. Again, my concern is that it's not going to end up what we want it or think it to be. COMMISSIONER McLEOD: I have -- CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Michelle, go ahead. COMMISSIONER McLEOD: So to that point, from what -- in going out there and talking to, like, the teachers out there, they are not living in Immokalee. They are living in Ave Maria and with these price points. So now the way I see it is that this gives them the opportunity to stay in Immokalee instead of finding housing in Ave Maria. So there is a market for that $400,000 price range. I think. I don't know. I don't practice real estate. But this is what I'm hearing: Teachers are not living in Immokalee because they can't afford the -- or they don't qualify for affordable housing, so they go April 3, 2025 Page 23 of 24 outside of the area. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Yeah. Well, I can't -- I don't think -- and, Chuck, I appreciate your comments, and you did state it's beyond our purview. I can't stipulate how they -- how they market it or whether an investor buys three of them and rents them. It's -- I think that's something that -- between the developer and how he can control that from happening, but that's beyond our purview. We're here to address the zoning. And I think it's a welcomed project. Is there any other comments from members of the Board? (No response.) CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Do I hear a motion of any sort? COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER: I'll make a motion to approve? CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Is there a second? COMMISSIONER McLEOD: I'll second it. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Michelle, second. All in favor, signify by saying aye. COMMISSIONER COLUCCI: Aye. COMMISSIONER SHEA: Aye. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Aye. COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER: Aye. COMMISSIONER SPARRAZZA: Aye. COMMISSIONER PETSCHER: Aye. COMMISSIONER McLEOD: Aye. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Any opposed, like sign. (No response.) CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: It passes unanimously. COMMISSIONER COLUCCI: Shouldn't we be adding a stipulation to this approval regarding the retention of a management company. COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER: That will fall by itself. That will dictate the statute. Chapter 720 regulates that. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: That's a -- COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER: So that will be his -- that will be the developer and the residents at the time of turnover. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: The developer's going to have to address that in his documents, and it will be Florida Statute they'll have to comply with whether it's an HOA. COMMISSIONER COLUCCI: Okay. COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER: It would supersede anything we would try to levy. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Yeah. And we've already stated the deviation and, of course, the wellfield management area. With that, it passes unanimously. COMMISSIONER SCHUMACHER: Congratulations. Thank you. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: All right. With that, staff, any -- MR. BOSI: Nothing further from staff. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: Nothing further. And just to note, again, the 1 May meeting has been canceled. And what else? I saw you point. April 3, 2025 Page 24 of 24 All right. With that, I make a motion that we adjourn. COMMISSIONER PETSCHER: Second. CHAIRMAN SCHMITT: All in favor? Aye. We are adjourned. ******* There being no further business for the good of the County, the meeting was adjourned by order of the Chair at 10:06 a.m. COLLIER COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION _________________________________________ JOE SCHMITT, CHAIRMAN These minutes approved by the Board on ____________, as presented ______ or as corrected ________. TRANSCRIPT PREPARED ON BEHALF OF FORT MYERS COURT REPORTING BY TERRI L. LEWIS, RPR, FPR-C, COURT REPORTER AND NOTARY PUBLIC. 5/15/2025 X