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Planning board forwards Lake Lonely mining petitions to commissioners with recommendation to approve
Summary
The Charlotte County Planning & Zoning Board voted to forward a large‑scale plan amendment and rezoning for a 223‑acre Lake Lonely LLC site (PL‑23‑00005; Z‑23‑41‑19) to the Board of County Commissioners with staff’s recommendation for approval. Staff said the site meets location and acreage requirements and the applicant backed the staff analysis.
The Charlotte County Planning & Zoning Board voted to forward two petitions from Lake Lonely LLC — a large‑scale plan amendment (PL‑23‑00005) to change future land use from Agriculture (AG) to Mineral Resource Extraction (MRE) and a companion rezoning (Z‑23‑41‑19) from Agriculture to Excavation Mining (EM) — to the Board of County Commissioners with recommendations of approval.
Jay Shaw of the county’s Community Development Department told the board the subject property contains "approximately 223.14 acres," is outside mapped MRE‑prohibited areas and prime aquifer recharge zones, and meets the minimum acreage and location limits for MRE designation. Shaw said a conservation easement will be required before any commercial excavation permit is issued and noted technical reviews and permits (traffic, stormwater and state agency reviews) follow if the county commission approves the land‑use and zoning changes.
Derek Rooney, attorney for Lake Lonely LLC, said he accepted Shaw’s professional testimony and asked the board to approve the requests, adding that "this is an area of concentration of mining within Charlotte County" and that the proposal fits the siting criteria in the comprehensive plan.
A local resident, Christopher Zeitler, urged caution in public comment, saying he had seen hydrology changes near other mines and describing increased dump‑truck traffic near State Road 31 that he said made local roads more dangerous: "I've seen... ponds, canals, as well as, other water features that have either disappeared or in the rainy season have actually flooded us out," he said.
After discussion about required traffic improvements, state and county engineering reviews, and other technical conditions, a board member moved to forward PL‑23‑00005 to the Board of County Commissioners with a recommendation of approval; the board approved the motion. The board then moved and seconded to forward Z‑23‑41‑19 to the commission with the same recommendation.
The petitions will next be considered by the Board of County Commissioners at their public hearings. If approved at the commission level, applicants must still complete required permitting and technical reviews before excavation or site work begins.
