Council approves removing 14.2 acres from Yellow Fever Creek preserve for water storage project after contentious public hearing

The City Council voted to amend the comprehensive plan and the future land use map to allow about 14.2 acres of Yellow Fever Creek Preserve to be used for a city water‑storage and pumping facility, measures staff said are needed to support utility expansion in the northeastern portion of Cape Coral.

Principal planner Chad Boyko told the council the change will remove approximately 14 acres from the park acreage recorded in multiple elements of the city comprehensive plan and permit a future rezoning and infrastructure project. He said the selected site is an upland portion of the preserve that staff and utilities identified as hydraulically favorable for meeting potable and irrigation peak demands.

Nut graf: The decisions — a city‑initiated text amendment and a companion future‑land‑use change — cleared the council despite strong resident opposition at a packed public hearing. Supporters cited pressing utility needs and cost savings; opponents said the project would erode a protected preserve, harm wildlife and lower nearby property values.

Residents who live beside the preserve complained that construction would bring months of noise, heavy truck traffic and permanent loss of protected green space. Entrada neighborhood representatives said they have maintained and paid to support the preserve and urged the city to move the facility a few hundred feet or look for alternate sites to avoid intruding on protected land.

“No one here is arguing the city doesn't need water infrastructure,” resident Noel Tolbert said. “We are asking: why here, why this preserved land, and what can be done to mitigate construction and lighting impacts?”

Utilities Director Jeff Pearson told council the site was selected because it lies within the city’s hydraulic transmission system and would give the water system the storage and pressure to meet morning and evening peak demands and keep reclaimed fire hydrants pressurized. He said the upland location also reduces wetland impacts compared with other possible sites.

Multiple speakers urged the council to commission an independent ecological study and to require buffering and lighting restrictions if the project proceeds. Several commenters and members of the council also noted that future road extensions could reduce the buffering between the work site and homes.

Council members voting against the measures said they favored preserving the land and urged staff to study other alternatives and state grant opportunities. Those voting for the amendments cited long lead times for utility projects and the need to avoid future service interruptions and rate increases.

Actions: The council approved Ordinance 85‑24 (comprehensive plan text amendment) and Ordinance 6‑25 (future land use map amendment removing about 14.2 acres from Yellow Fever Creek Preserve to permit public‑facilities use) by recorded votes; each measure carried on a 6–2 tally.

Ending: Staff said the site permits immediate design work and later permitting; councilmembers asked staff to continue neighborhood outreach and provide more detail about proposed buffers, lighting mitigation and construction sequencing. Several councilmembers also requested a list of alternative locations and potential state or federal funding sources that might reduce impacts to preserved land.