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Lee County commissioners approve DRI entitlement revisions and companion rezoning for northern parcel
Summary
The Lee County Board approved a revision to a long-standing Development of Regional Impact (DRI) and a companion rezoning of 430 acres to mixed-use, preserving a 4,400-unit cap while shifting entitlements among housing, commercial and hotel uses; commissioners noted local road maintenance concerns for Coconut Road.
Lee County commissioners voted Aug. 20 to approve revisions to a multi-jurisdiction Development of Regional Impact and a companion rezoning that will allow a shift in entitlements while retaining the plan’s 4,400-dwelling-unit cap.
County staff told the board the DRI (D R I 2024000001) covers about 2,740.7 acres across three jurisdictions, with 1,217.9 acres in unincorporated Lee County. Staff said the DRI is currently entitled for 3,912 dwelling units and the applicant asked that the overall DRI entitlements be adjusted to 4,400 units, a net difference of 488 units; retail and office square footage would be reduced while hotel capacity would increase. "The 4,400 dwelling units that they're asking for has always been the cap," county staff said, noting the DRI was originally approved in 1994.
The companion zoning request seeks to rezone 430 acres in the DRI’s northern portion to a Mixed Use Plan Development to allow 729 dwelling units (100 single-family and 629 multifamily), about 25,000 square feet of office, 27 golf holes and 318 hotel rooms, according to staff. Staff also said the change in land-use mix offsets in the traffic impact statement, and that reviewers concluded there are no additional negative transportation impacts from the entitlement shift.
Richard, speaking on behalf of the applicant, was present to answer commissioners’ questions. A commissioner moved to approve the DRI entitlement revisions and the motion carried; the transcript records an objection but does not include a roll-call tally. Later the board considered and approved the companion rezoning request; the hearing examiner had recommended approval and commissioners recorded no roll-call tally for that vote either.
During discussion of the zoning request, Cecil Pendergrass, vice chairman of the Lee County Board of County Commissioners, raised constituent concerns about Coconut Road, which he said is more than half a mile long and that the county owns roughly 20 percent of it. "It's a nightmare trying to get all three of these together," Pendergrass said, urging cooperation among the village and city jurisdictions that share control of the roadway and suggesting transferring maintenance responsibility as a possible solution.
The board recessed to public comment; the chair read the names of three individuals on the record (Anne Creamer, Bernard Creamer and Edward Lozelli) though no remarks from them appear in the transcript. The board adjourned after the votes.
Votes at a glance: The board approved the DRI entitlement revisions (motion to approve recorded; objection noted; outcome: approved) and approved the companion rezoning to Mixed Use Plan Development for the northern parcel (motion to approve recorded; outcome: approved). The transcript does not record individual vote tallies or the names of all movers and seconders.
What’s next: The approved entitlements and rezoning adjust the parcel-level permissions within the existing DRI framework; the transcript does not specify implementation milestones or permit timelines.
